Utah Tech could not overcome an early-inning deficit as the dropped the first game of their "Old Hammer Rivalry" WAC road series at Utah Valley, 11-1 in seven innings, on a windy Thursday night at UCCU Ballpark. 
 
The Trailblazers (8-20/6-7 WAC) found themselves an early 5-0 hole through three innings complete after UVU scored two runs in the second and three more in the third.
 
Utah Tech got off the deck and started the fourth with runners on the corners and no outs, but only managed to push across one run, which came on an Aaron Perez one-out groundout.
 
Utah Valley (14-17/6-4 WAC) broke the game on the home fourth with five more runs on five hits en route to a commanding 10-1 advantage. The Wolverines tacked on a Calyn Halvorson solo home run in the sixth, and would retire the Blazers in order in the seventh to end the game via the run rule. 
 
The Trailblazers were limited to just two hits on the night, a Hunter Katschke single in the fourth inning, and an Ethan Royal two-out single in the Utah Tech fifth. 
 
The two teams will play the middle game of their WAC series on Friday afternoon beginning at 2:05 p.m.