The U baseball team fell to 1-8 on the season after dropping a three-game weekend set to the No. 7 Tulane Green Wave (8-1). The Utes were outmatched in the field and at the plate and were outscored 19-0 for the series.
The lone bright spot for the Utes was sophomore hurler Jason Price, who went the distance in the first game, giving up only six hits and three unearned runs. His fielders, however, committed two costly errors behind him, and were unable to muster any kind of offense when called upon to do so. The result was a 3-0 loss that turned out to be the best game of the series.
In game two, junior Doug Mackay suffered his third loss of the season, giving up six earned runs on seven hits and two walks. His counterpart, Matt Crowel, threw eight full innings, allowing only two hits and striking out nine en route to a 7-0 Tulane victory.
Game three got even more out of hand, as the Ute pitching gave up nine runs on 12 hits and three walks. Although junior Trevor Eastman managed to go 2-for-3 with two doubles, the rest of the Ute lineup was overmatched by four different Tulane pitchers.
Run production continues to be a problem for the Utes, who stranded a total of 15 baserunners and managed only 15 hits in the series. In addition, Ute batters struck out a total of 32 times.
Senior Eric Chevalier was particularly futile at the plate, going a combined 0-for-10 with four strikeouts. He wasn’t the only cleanup hitter to struggle for the Utes, however. Michael Westfall went 0-for-4 in game one in the fourth spot.
Junior Tyson Olson proved to be a better fit in game three, going 2-for-3. He did not, however, have anything to clean up as the 1-3 hitters went a combined 2-for-12. The Utes head to Cedar City on Thursday for two games against Southern Utah and one game against Central Michigan.
Tulane will face perennial powerhouse LSU on Thursday.