They came, they saw, then they quickly packed their bags and were done on the first day.
The Swingin’ Utes were the first team eliminated in the Mountain West Conference Tournament after losing two quick games to lower-seeded teams.
The Utes could not rebound from their disappointing first game loss to tournament host UNLV and got drubbed in the night cap 12-1 by the San Diego State Aztecs, to get bounced from the conference tournament on day one.
San Diego State followed up a well pitched matinee game against New Mexico, which ended in a 1-0 loss, with another pitching gem in the first elimination game of the tournament.
Steven Hirschfeld pitched eight innings of scoreless baseball behind eight strikeouts before allowing a meaningless run in the ninth to earn the complete game win. The Aztec pitcher allowed just five hits in his long outing.
The Aztecs got off to a quick start in the second inning off the bat of catcher Matt Parker, who singled in Brian Lucas and Brandon Glover.
Frank Lonigro then tripled for the Aztecs to start of the third, and later scored on a Lucas’ single.
The Aztecs continued to pile on runs in the middle inning before exploding for five more runs in the ninth inning to put Utah away for good.
The Utes were held to just five hits and committed three errors on the night to help keep San Diego State in some crucial innings, but it was Utah’s pitching–started by Eric King–that again failed the Utes.
When the Utes entered the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Wednesday against UNLV, questions lingered about the effectiveness of their bullpen.
After their first MWC Tournament game, questions still linger, and for good reason.
Wasting a quality start from starting pitcher Stephen Fife, the Utes’ bullpen gave up two runs in the decisive tenth inning, leading to a 6-5 loss against UNLV Tuesday.
Fife scattered nine hits over 6 1/3 innings, while giving up only one run and fanning six. The sophomore was able to stay calm under pressure and control UNLV’s potent hitting lineup with his curveball. But it was all for naught as the Utes’ bullpen gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings, and experienced yet another late game collapse.
It was a pitchers’ duel throughout the first four innings as each team was held scoreless until Rebels’ third baseman, Xavier Scruggs (2-5, 2 RBI), struck first with a RBI double in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Utes finally found their bats as Bret Baldwin and Jesse Shriner each hit RBI singles. After a throwing error by Scruggs and another RBI single from Nate Burnham, the Utes held a 4-1 advantage after six.
Utah relievers John James and Brett Bruneel combined to give up three runs in the eighth inning, which proved good enough to send the game into extra innings.
UNLV was able to score two runs off of Ute reliever Chad Cullers in the top of the tenth to win the game and send the Utes within a loss of elimination.
In the matinee game, New Mexico got the better part of a pitchers’ duel against San Diego State and held on for a 1-0 win that sent the Aztecs down to the loser’s bracket, where they would go on to play the Utes.
San Diego State’s Bruce Billings pitched a near-perfect game, only to be outdueled by opposing Lobos’ pitcher Bobby Lafromboise in a game starving for offense.
Both pitchers pitched complete games and both pitchers combined to allow just 13 hits.
The lone run came in the first inning when New Mexico’s Matt Hibbitts singled to left to bring in Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Jordan Pacheco.