OREM (ABC 4 Sports) - Despite winning a 3rd consecutive Great West Conference tournament title, finishing the season with Division I high 47 victories, including 32-straight, the Utah Valley University baseball team did not receive a bid to play in the NCAA tournament.
"We were hoping extremely hard that something good was going to happen for us," UVU coach Eric Madsen told the Salt Lake Tribune. "I don’t feel people recognized the pressure the kids played under all year. They knew they couldn’t lose a game."
Utah Valley clinched its third straight Great West Conference Tournament title on Saturday in a 10-6 win over Houston Baptist. However, the Great West does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and UVU was hoping for one of 34 at-large bids. The Wolverines were considered a bubble team due to their strength of schedule, although, they did beat three Pac-12 teams, including No. 4 Arizona.
The 27th-ranked Wolverines were 47-12 on the year and had won 40 of their last 41 games. UVU led all Division I teams in wins (47), scoring margin (+4.0), batting (.350), slugging (.523), on-base percentage (.436), runs (522), runs per game (9.0), hits (711) and total bases (1062).
A bid would have been the first such appearance in an NCAA Tournament by a Utah Valley team, in any sport, since the school became eligible for postseason play in 2008. The Wolverines have had individuals reach NCAA regional and national tournaments in wrestling, cross country, men's golf and track & field.
