Utah Valley’s NCAA Tournament run ends with extra innings loss

Utah Valley’s historic run through the NCAA Baseball Tournament came to an end Sunday with a heartbreaking 11-inning 7-6 loss to Cal Poly. Zach Daudet hit a solo home run to lead off the 11th inning …

EUGENE, Ore. (ABC4 Sports) – Utah Valley’s historic run through the NCAA Baseball Tournament came to an end Sunday with a heartbreaking 11-inning 7-6 loss to Cal Poly.

Zach Daudet hit a solo home run to lead off the 11th inning to give the Mustangs the victory. Utah Valley went 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament, earning its first ever postseason win over #12 Oregon on Friday.

“I feel like this game kind of summed up what our season is,” said UVU head coach Nate Rasmussen. “A bunch of guys getting punched in the mouth and having to come back in and just a lot of toughness. Really proud of the group.”

Arizona uses long ball to beat UVU, 14-4

“I just feel like we were never out of it,” said UVU reliever Cooper Littledike. “That’s just kind of how I saw it. I honestly thought we were still in it. We were one swing away. We were one at bat away one. Just one moment away.”

The Mustangs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Wolverines responded by loading the bases following walks to Joseph Barnhardt and Luke Iverson, along with a single from Jayden Smith. Landon Frei launched a grand slam to left field to put UVU ahead 4-1.

Cal Poly answered with five runs in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim a 6-4 lead. Cooper Littledike entered in the inning and ended the inning for Utah Valley.

Dominic Longo II trimmed the deficit to 6-5 in the sixth with a solo home run to right field on the first pitch from Chris Downs. In the seventh, Iverson worked his third walk of the game and later scored on Smith’s double down the left-field line, tying the game at 6-6.

In the bottom of the ninth, Cal Poly put runners on first and second with one out, but Alan Huerta got Nate Castellon to fly out. Carston Herman entered with three of the next four batters being left-handed hitters and recorded the final out to force extra innings.

UVU put the go-ahead run on first in the 10th when Longo II walked, but failed to execute a bunt before a pair of flyouts and a caught stealing ended the threat.

UVU shocks #12 Oregon in NCAA Tournament, 6-5

Herman struck out the final two batters of the 10th, and after UVU went down in order in the top of the 11th, Daudet homered to right-center to send Cal Poly to the regional final against Arizona.

“Just being a part of this group, the culture change was unbelievable this year,” said Smith. “Something super special, and this was by far the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball in my life.”

“It might feel really, really bad right now, but these guys have a ton to be proud of,” Rasmussen said.

This was Utah Valley’s second NCAA Tournament appearance, and first since 2016 when the Wolverines went 0-2.

The Wolverines finish 33-29, winning their first WAC Tournament title since 2016.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

Source: Utah News