“[Sunday’s] game was the epitome of how this team has to play in order to become a factor in this conference,” U baseball coach Tim Esmay said.
The Utes won Sunday’s game against UNLV, which was the last game of the series, 5-3.
The game was headlined by an amazing performance by starting pitcher Mitch Maio, in what was just his third start of the season.
Because of the impressive start, as well as a save in the second game, Maio was awarded the Mountain West’s Pitcher of the Week honor for the second time this season.
Overall, the U baseball won two of the three games it played against conference foe UNLV. The Utes’ record has now risen up to 14-12, and they are 2-4 in conference play.
After losing the first game, 16-14, the Utes came back to defeat the Rebels in the final two games, 8-6 and 5-3.
Before the series started, Esmay believed that it would be an offensive series, and it seemed as if he was correct after the first game.
Ace pitcher Jason Wylie did not pitch as well as he usually does, and gave up 5 earned runs in 5.1 innings of work.
“Jason pitched well, but he was really getting up there in the pitch count and so we had to take him out,” Esmay said.
Although Utah did put up 14 runs, the hitters could have produced even more had they not stranded 12 runners on base.
The loss was the Utes’ fourth straight, all of which were conference defeats. But things changed as the pitching got better.
“Our pitching really tightened up in the last two games, with Cheyenne [Rushton] and Mitch pitching extremely well,” Esmay said.
Rushton started the second game of the series and only allowed 5 runs (just 3 earned) in 6.1 innings of work.
The bullpen provided major relief for the Utes, as Ryan Reisbeck allowed one unearned run in 2.1 innings, and Maio got the save in the last third of an inning.
The offense for the Utes did not play as well as it had the past few games, but it got the job done with 8 runs.
Adam Castleton and Donnie Saba knocked out homers for the Utes, and Saba ended up leading the team with 3 RBI.
The rubber match was the game Esmay had been waiting for, in which the offense would not produce as well as usual, forcing the pitching staff to get things done.
“I challenged the pitching staff, and told them that it was on them to hold leads, and they responded very well,” Esmay said.
Maio pitched incredibly well, as he only allowed 3 earned runs and picked up the complete game. At one point, he had retired 16 straight Rebel batters, until the ninth inning.
Nate Weese had a tough time attempting to extend his hitting streak, but got the job done. After getting beaned three times and striking out one, Weese nailed a single in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 21 games.
Now, the Utes will not have the week-long break they are accustomed to, since Southern Colorado (19-7) will face them today and Wednesday at Franklin Covey Field.
“I am going to try to get guys who haven’t had a lot of innings and at-bats in the game,” Esmay said. “It will be a good chance to see some of the other guys get a chance.”
Doug Mackay will get the start today, and the lineups will be shaken up in order to give many of the players a rest before conference play resumes on the weekend against San Diego State.