Looking to get back into the swing of things after a couple of bumpy games, the University of Utah baseball team (9-9 overall, 0-3 Pac-12) is seeking its first conference win this weekend against the No. 12 Stanford Cardinal (11-5) on the road. Game one at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond was scheduled to be played on Friday, but was postponed due to the weather. A doubleheader will now take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT with game two scheduled for 5 p.m. MT. The series wraps up Sunday at 3 p.m. MT.
The Utes are coming off a 9-7 loss against the Utah Valley University Wolverines where the Utes’ defense struggled to keep the Wolverines off the bases. The Wolverines outhit the Utes 11-9. Jacob Rebar fell to 2-3 on the season after earning the loss on the mound. Rebar pitched five innings after he allowed five runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Six other pitchers were then used to try to get the game back in control. The Utes came within one run in the bottom of the seventh, but they had a difficult time offensively in the eighth and ninth innings trying to make a comeback.
The Utes were previously swept by the Washington Huskies in their conference weekend opener this past week after struggling to get runners home.
“We just have to move on — it’s a game,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg. “That’s how it’s played. It’s just getting back on the saddle.”
The Utes are hoping to get back on their feet and end their six-game losing streak that began after dropping game three of the New Mexico State series, a midweek game against Nevada, being swept in Seattle, and falling to the Wolverines.
“We just got to trust the process,” said second baseman Oliver Dunn. “It’s baseball. Losing streaks and winning streaks happen. We’ve been training for moments like this all winter, and now that it’s here we just got to figure it out.”
The Cardinal are coming off a bye weekend because of finals. The team’s most recent play was against the Rice Owls on the road where they split a four-game series. The team had its first road shutout of the year in game two of a doubleheader where it won 2-0. This weekend against Utah will be its first Pac-12 series of the season.
“They’re a good club obviously, they’re ranked,” Dunn said. “But we just look to control what we can control especially now in this situation.”
The pitching for the Utes is there just as much as the depth but being even stronger on the mound and staying consistent will help the defense play a part in getting the job done. Jayson Rose (2-1), Riley Ottesen (3-0) and Josh Lapiana (1-3) are expected to take the mound at some point this weekend. Offensively, the Utes — who rank third in the conference in runs scored at 108 — need to continue getting hits, but they must take advantage when they do by driving in those runs. Right now, the Utes are in fourth place in the conference in batting average at .282, while Stanford is batting .260 on the season.
“They’re definitely a good team but we’re really good, too,” Dunn said. “We haven’t been playing the way that we wanted to, but it’s just trust the process, keep going, and it’s a new day. We’ll be ready for them [Saturday].”
After facing the Cardinal, the Utes will return home to Smith’s Ballpark for a showdown against instate rival BYU on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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