The Utah baseball team (10-14, 7-2 in Pac-12) clinched its third consecutive Pac-12 conference series win this weekend with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Wildcats on Sunday. It was quite the special weekend for the Utes, as they accomplished their first ever Pac-12 series sweep in dramatic fashion, fighting their way back in each game after trailing in late innings.
“All weekend we did a really nice job on both sides of the ball,” Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. “We played great defense, we pitched really well throughout the series and then we had some really timely hitting all weekend. […] I love the fact that we’ve won all three games in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. That’s where you play successful baseball. […] It’s one of those weekends where everything came together for us. That’s baseball, where everything goes the right way, and that’s what happened.”
On Friday, the Utes played their first home conference game of the season just days after falling to UVU by a run. Jayson Rose, 4-2 with a 2.89 ERA, started the game on the mound for Utah, throwing seven innings and allowing just two earned runs. He gave up five hits, but earned 10 strikeouts on the evening. Dylan Drachler earned the save, striking out three in 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief. Josh Tedeschi threw 2/3 without surrendering a hit to the Wildcats.
Down 3-0 in the seventh inning, the Utes rallied to score six runs on five hits to take a commanding 6-3 lead over Arizona. Back-to-back RBI doubles for Josh Rose and DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. tied the game up at three, before Hunter Simmons singled in two more runs giving the Utes a two-run lead. Following Simmons’ clutch two-out single, Dallas Carroll came across the plate to score after a wild pitch, giving the Utes their sixth run of the inning. The Utes won Friday evening’s game by a final score of 6-3.
On Saturday, the Utes found themselves in a similar position down by four in the ninth and final inning. Dalton Carroll started on the mound for the Utes, throwing six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts. Hunter Rodriguez ended up getting the win after pitching for three innings of relief, striking out five batters and allowing just one earned run on two hits.
Facing a four-run deficit with only three outs to go, the Utes strung together an excellent final inning to clinch the victory. Down 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Utah’s Cody Scaggari singled home two runs to make it a two-run ball game.
Following two walks by the Wildcats, with the bases loaded, Max Schuman singled down the left-field line, scoring two more to tie the game at six. Patrick Flynn then popped up to right field, but thanks to some fielding miscues by Arizona, the ball dropped, scoring the game-winning run to give the Utes a 7-6 victory.
On Sunday afternoon, the Utes’ offense seemed to be nowhere in sight, recording just one hit in the first seven innings, before an eighth-inning offensive eruption brought around four Utes to score all of their runs of the day. Josh Lapiana, started the game for Utah, allowing two runs on eight hits. He recorded just two strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. Andre Jackson entered in relief, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings and striking out three hitters. Trenton Stoltz, the game’s winning pitcher, allowed just one hit in the eighth inning, before Drachler clinched his fifth save of the season in the ninth.
One of the biggest Utah highlights of the weekend came during Sunday’s game from Josh Rose. He made an incredible diving catch in right field, and immediately threw out the runner at first to end the top of the second inning on a stellar play.
“When I go out to [right field], and the ball is hit to me, the motto is do not let it drop,” Rose said. “On that play, I really wasn’t looking where the fence was, I was just reacting, made the play, got up and made the throw and it all worked out.”
After just one hit in the first seven innings, the Utes created a strong rally in the eighth inning, scoring all four of their runs. Scaggari drove in Chandler Anderson on an RBI double, before Kody Davis hit an RBI single to center field, tying the game at two.
Rose then set up Keirsey, Jr. after a sacrifice bunt for a two-RBI double, putting the Utes ahead by two. The Utes won Sunday’s game 4-2, clinching their first ever conference series sweep since entering the Pac-12 in 2012. Utah’s seven conference victories this season are the most the Utes have won in any season as a Pac-12 program.
“We didn’t start too hot this year, we changed our mentality around,” Rose said. “We weren’t going to give up no matter what, we’re going to stick to it until the final out of the ninth inning.”
@ArmenMShrikian