Wolverines blank Logan 7-0 in NUL matchup

<strong>LOGAN—</strong> Joldy Watts pitched a complete game shutout for the Providence baseball team Monday, propelling the Wolverines to a 7-0 victory over the Logan Royals.

“I was nervous in the bullpen,” Watts said. “I didn’t feel as good as last time. I was a little rusty in the first inning but I loosened up in the second inning and the guys did a good job behind me. I was able to get ahead and put myself in a good spot.”

The Wolverines gave Watts a 4-run cushion to work with in the top of the second inning, sparked by a leadoff single from Matt Stranski. After Justin Petersen advanced the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, the Wolverines went up 1-0 on an RBI-single – one of four hits in the inning for Providence.

Two hits, a walk and an error later, the Wolverines went up 4-0 and never looked back, finishing with 11 hits and allowing six base-runners on the night.

Petersen had a big night at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBI’s, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly. Petersen made it 5-0 on a single to center field in the third, 6-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and put the finishing touch on in the seventh with another single to center.

“We just came out and got hits early and got base-runners,” Petersen said. “I just went up there and tried to put a bat on the ball and make solid contact. I just did what I was told and got the job done.”

Working his second game in a week, Watts struck out the side in the second inning, allowed two hits and walked only one in seven innings. And, after striking out 11 batters against Smithfield in his last appearance, Watts followed up with eight strikeouts against Logan to improve to 2-0 this season.

Watts effectively jumped ahead of batters in the pitch count, allowing no more than one base-runner in any given inning except for the second, and overcame two throwing errors to preserve the shutout.

Providence improved to 22-4 overall, including 19-3 in league play, and all but wrapped up the No.1 seed for the league tournament, which is scheduled for August 4-11. Logan fell to 11-11 overall, and 11-10 in NUL play, half a game behind Brigham City for the No. 3 seed with two games left to play.

“Our guys were ready tonight,” Providence head coach Jared Jensen said. “Our guys stayed back and put the ball in play. We want to keep playing well and have some momentum going into the tournament. We’ll be ready and it’ll be a lot of fun.”

The Wolverines host Smithfield Tuesday, the first of two meetings with the Blue Sox this week. The teams will also meet Friday, with both games scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Logan concludes its season with Brigham City on Friday, and Hyrum on Monday, at 6 p.m.

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