While everyone’s attention was on the Runnin’ Utes and March Madness, the Utah baseball team was hard at work during Spring Break in preparation for its showdown with UCLA.
Unfortunately for the Utes, their Spring Break didn’t go as well as the basketball team’s. Coming into a series with UCLA, Utah had won five of its last six after starting the season with just two wins in the first 13 games. But the Bruins put a halt to that run, sweeping the Utes in the three-game slate over the weekend.
Two of the games were won handily by the Bruins and one game came down to the wire. UCLA ran over the Utes by a score of 14-2 to start the series, but the following game was much closer as Utah fell by a score of just 3-0. But the Utes couldn’t match that production in the Sunday game, dropping the final contest of the weekend 11-2.
“UCLA is by far the best team we have played all year,” head coach Bill Kinneberg said. “They took just about everything that we do well away from us on the offensive side.”
In Friday night’s game, the Bruins blew the Utes out of the water. Junior Bret Helton squared off against one of the nation’s top pitchers in James Kaprielian, and struggled mightily, staying on the mound for just 1.1 innings. He allowed seven runs on seven hits, and the loss dropped his season record to 1-3.
“[UCLA’s] pitching was outstanding all the way through,” Kinneberg said.
Freshman Trenton Stoltz relieved Helton and pitched 5.1 innings, while allowing one run on six hits. Sophomore Dustin Hughes and freshman Spencer Johnson also saw time on the mound for Utah.
Junior Kody Davis was 2-for-3 at the plate while scoring a run himself, while freshman Andre Jackson went 2-for-2 and Cole Taylor was able to get to the plate, even driving one out of the park for his first career home run.
Utah finished with seven hits on the day compared to UCLA’s 19.
Game two was much closer than the prior game, but had the same outcome. Junior Dalton Carroll again was strong as he went 6.2 innings on the mound, but his loss drops him to 3-3 on the year. Carroll allowed three runs on five hits during his time on the mound, striking out four batters as well.
Senior Brock Duke came in after Carroll and pitched the remaining innings. He didn’t allow any runs or hits and was able to get a strikeout in his short time at work. Utah’s pitchers really controlled the Bruins for most of the game and held them to just five hits, which was a large drop from the previous game.
However, the offense couldn’t help the solid pitching performance and they were shut out. Utah only registered three total hits, one from Cody Scaggari, one from Wyler Smith and the final from Josh Rose.
In the final game, the score was tied 2-2 in the fourth inning before the Bruins got hot at the plate. They drove in four runs in the fourth inning and drove in another four runs during the fifth inning.
Freshman Jayson Rose pitched 3.2 innings while allowing six runs on five hits. He struck out two, his record dropped to 1-3 on the year. Junior Nolan Stouder relieved him but was in the game for less than a full inning.
Stouder allowed four runs on four hits before giving way to freshman Tanner Thomas, who went three innings and allowed no runs on three hits.
Junior AJ Young led the Utes at the plate, as he went 3-for-4 and drove in both the Utes’ runs. Additionally, Young hit his second home run of the season.
“They swung the bats as well as I’ve seen a team swing in a long time,” Kinneberg said. “It was a tough weekend all the way around, and we have to find a way to bounce back next week.”
Next up for Utah is an in-state rivalry game with BYU tonight. The game will be at Smith’s Ballpark and is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
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