As has been the case for most of the season, the Utah pitching staff has made it increasingly difficult for opposing teams to score runs against the Utes.
However, as of late, Utah’s opening-night starter has struggled to capture the form he had earlier in the year. Junior Bret Helton was that starter, but he hasn’t seen a victory since that season-opening contest.
That was until this weekend. Helton came in for relief duty in the second game against Arizona State and performed well. Not only was Helton an influential piece to a monumental victory over the Sun Devils, but he also gained back some of his early-season mojo.
“Well I think it was a perfect scenario for him and for us,” head coach Bill Kinneberg said. “I think he benefitted from not starting on Thursday and I think this role will benefit him not starting for a bit. I think it was a real big step for all us.”
Kinneberg said he wants Helton to be pitching on Friday nights like he has been prior to last weekend. Helton is a team leader, despite the recent slide, and Kinneberg believes his pitcher has the team in mind moving forward, no matter the decisions made.
“He’s not going to react to anything,” he said. “He understands what going on.”
Rose impresses once again
After a career game against Cal a few weeks ago where he registered 11 strikeouts, freshman Jayson Rose again came with the heat in his start against Arizona State, striking out six batters in his six innings on the mound.
Earlier last week, Kinneberg said he didn’t expect a record-breaking performance from Rose against the Sun Devils but was hopeful that he would keep progressing while pitching against some of the best competition the nation has to offer.
The head coach got his wish as Rose, who stumbled earlier in the game, settled down and put Utah in a position to win the series.
“Coming back a day early for a freshman to be where he’s at right now is tremendous,” Kinneberg said. “He competes so hard. I don’t think he had his best stuff but he battled and got going. He really got it going. He made it a terrific start for us.”
Freshman mistakes don’t lead to lack of confidence
With the lead late in game three, the Utes turned to freshman Tanner Thomas to bring home the win. He’s been in the same type of situations before his first collegiate season, but the result wasn’t what he was looking for.
With the lead, Thomas couldn’t keep the Sun Devils off the board and allowed them to tie things up before being pulled for another pitcher. Despite the unfortunate experience for the freshman, Kinneberg believes it was a good experience for a young pitcher to go through.
“[Thomas] has to understand that we have the confidence in him to put him in a situation like that,” Kinneberg said. “He’s done it before. Yeah, he didn’t do it this weekend and hopefully he understands what wasn’t there for him…and learns from that situation and moves on. We’ll do it again.”
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