The U baseball team probably had its best chance of the season to overtake BYU for the second spot in the Mountain West Conference this past weekend, but it could not pull out the series against UNLV.
The Utes were only able to win the second game behind the arm of Mitch Maio, but the other two games showed how much the Utes love playing when Maio is on the mound, as UNLV scored 7 runs in each of the other games to take the series.
Utah is now tied for second place with BYU, but the road ahead looks grim, as the Utes will head to San Diego to face SDSU in a critical series.
Last week, the Aztecs set themselves apart from the rest of the conference, as they took four games, including one suspended game from BYU, and have a conference record of 15-3.
“It’s always tough to play at San Diego State. The big test will be seeing how we respond mentally from the UNLV series,” said U coach Tim Esmay.
Playing on the Road
The road has not been very kind to the Utes. Utah is 13-14 on the road, and has not played nearly as well away as it has at Franklin Covey Field.
The conference record on the road has not been good, as the Utes are 3-6 away from home in MWC play.
Their first conference series was on the road, and the Utes were swept by New Mexico, and the last series against BYU was on the road, where the Cougars were able to take two out of three games in a very well-played series.
Utah will fight an uphill battle against San Diego State this weekend. Not only are the Aztecs more talented, they will have a huge advantage at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Hitting
Hitting off UNLV’s pitchers will seem like cake compared to facing San Diego State pitchers, and if the Utes intend on doing some damage to the conference leader, then the hitters must step up for the Utes.
Players such as Brett Baldwin and Donald Hawes have been the surprisingly consistent hitters for the Utes, while those who have been most consistent for the majority of the year?such as Donnie Saba and Nate Weese?have been silenced of late.
If the Utes hit like they did against UNLV, they will get swept and the Cougars will have the inside track on second place in the conference.