GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Houston Baptist pounded out 10 hits, but Utah Valley came through with the clutch base hits as the Wolverines downed the Huskies, 5-1, to claim the Great West Conference Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon at Kraft Field.

Zane Gray (5-1) held the Huskies scoreless on eight hits, struck out four and walked two in seven innings for Utah Valley (34-22). Junior righthander Dalton Schafer (3-10) took the loss for HBU (22-40), giving up four runs on eight hits, striking out three with no walks in six innings.

Junior rightfielder Kolby Arnst went 2-for-4 with a triple, while junior designated hitter Robbie Buller went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Junior leftfielder Luke Clements went 2-for-3 and scored a run, while junior catcher Asai Adame also went 2-for-3 for the Huskies.

Centerfielder Chris Benson, the tournament MVP, went 4-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and a run scored for the Wolverines, who claimed their second-straight tournament title. Second baseman Cole McWhorter went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.

The game was scoreless through three innings, but Utah Valley broke through with a pair in the bottom of the fourth. McWhorter led off with a single up the middle, and Benson brought him home with a double to left-center. After Benson stole third, first baseman Goose Kallunki drove him in with a groundout.

The Huskies put two runners on the third, fourth and fifth, but couldn't scratch across a run.

Arnst tripled to right to lead off the sixth, but he slid past the bag on the wet artificial turf and was tagged out. Buller followed with a single to left-center that would've put the Huskies on the board.

Catcher Court Zollinger led off the seventh with an infield single, and rightfielder Billy Burgess singled to right to chase Schafer from the game. Freshman reliever Kobie Hajdik walked third baseman Willie Pratt to load the bases, but got Kurt Doxey to ground to second to get a force out at home. McWhorter lifted a sacrifice fly to right, then Benson followed a two-run double to left-center to put the Wolverines ahead, 5-0.

Clements singled to center to lead off the top of the eighth, and went to second on shortstop Collin Hetzler's comebacker to the mound. Arnst sliced a fly ball down the right-field line, but Burgess made a great sliding catch and Clements went to third. Buller ripped a double down the left-field line for HBU's only run of the game.

Arnst, Hetzler, senior first baseman Beau Warren and senior righthander Stephen Nikonchik were named to the all-tournament team. Arnst hit .458, with a tournament-high 11 hits, a double, a triple, six RBIs and four runs. Hetzler hit .409 with nine runs and an RBI, while Warren hit .360 with a double, a home run, five RBIs and two runs. Nikonchik went 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA, a complete game and seven strikeouts for his second-straight all-tournament selection.

In addition to Nikonchik and Warren, HBU's other two seniors, Chase Hernandez and Jamie Storey, also had outstanding tournaments. Storey went 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA, while Hernandez went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA, a complete game, seven strikeouts and also doubled in his only at-bat.

The Huskies have much to look forward to next season, with Arnst returning after leading the team with a .343 batting average for the season. Buller broke the HBU single-season home run record with 16, passing the old mark of 15 set by Jeremy Green in 2003. He is now tied for third on the Huskies' all-time list with Danny Cataline (1998-2001) at 26. Going into his senior campaign, Buller is tied for seventh with 132 career RBIs, tied for fourth with 45 doubles and tied for fifth with 184 hits on the all-time lists. Sophomore centerfielder Jake Gonzalez had 21 doubles, which tied for fourth on the single-season list, and also had four home runs and 46 RBIs, which was second on the team.