It’s gut-check time for the U baseball team at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Championship.
Utah (23-31) is facing elimination after dropping a 7-4 decision to the San Diego State Aztecs (26-30) in Wednesday’s first-round action at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, N.M.
The Aztecs took the early lead in the afternoon tilt, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Utah answered the challenge with two runs of its own in the top of the second to tie the game. An RBI double by sophomore center fielder Matt Ciaramella gave the Utes a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth.
Utah tried to add to the lead in the top of the sixth, but Aztec pitcher Mike Moat escaped a bases-loaded jam, stranding three Utes on the bases.
At that point in the game, Utah had left 10 runners on the basepaths already, spotlighting a problem that has recently plagued the Utes in close games.
SDSU tallied two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings to take a 7-3 lead into the ninth inning, where a Utah rally would fall short. The Utes could only produce one more run and the game ended with the Aztecs coming out on top 7-4.
Ciaramella (2-4), Wick Udy(3-4) and Eric Chevalier (3-5) had the hot bats, knocking in three of Utah’s four runs.
Utah hurler Clay Westmoreland picked up the loss from the mound after allowing four runs over six innings.
The Aztecs were led at the plate by Landon Burt (4-5), Anthony Gwynn Jr. (4-5) and Rielly Embry (3-5), who combined for seven RBI on the day.
Already down to its last chance, Utah will face Air Force in the second round of the double-elimination tournament today at 11 a.m. The Falcons lost their first-round matchup against No. 18 UNLV by a score of 10-1. The Utes won five of six games against the Falcons during the regular season.
Three Utes were also named to the All-Mountain West Conference team at the MWC Championship banquet on Tuesday night.
Ciaramella and Jared Pena were selected for the first team and pitcher Brady Martinez was a second-team selection.
Pena and Ciaramella played key roles for Utah this season, hitting .343 and .354, respectively. Pena tallied 33 RBI for the year and he also had a team-high 122 assists while playing second base.
Ciaramella led the Utes in RBI (41), runs (51) and hits (70). He was also named MWC player of the week in April and first-team Academic All-District with his 3.6 GPA.
Martinez led the Utah pitching staff with a 2.95 ERA in 19 appearances on the hill. He is also one save away from tying the Utah single-season save record of seven set by Brandon Page in 1997.
Utah is also coming off a three-game series last weekend against No. 18 UNLV, in which it lost two of three games.
After being blown out 12-7 and 8-2 in the first two games by the conference-leading Rebels, the Utes ended their conference slate on a positive note by notching a 18-8 win.
Freshman pitcher Jason Price picked up the win for Utah, improving his record to 4-1 on the year.
The Utes’ offensive explosion in game three was highlighted by a seven-run eighth inning and Mike Basham’s perfect 5-5, two RBI day from the plate.
Pena (2-4) and Chevalier (3-6) combined for six RBI in the win as the Utes finished their conference schedule with a disappointing 10-20 record.
Despite finishing the season with a sub-.500 record, U coach Tim Esmay says his team still has some unfinished business to take care of at the MWC Championship this weekend.
“Regardless of how the season went, the conference tournament presents a chance to be victorious,” Esmay said.