The outcome wasn’t quite what it wanted, but the Utah baseball team learned a lot about itself in its season-opening weekend at San Jose State.
Playing outside for the first time this year, the Utes learned that two errors in the bottom of the tenth inning won’t help them win games. They also learned that to extend a game into extra innings, you can’t walk in the game-winning run. More than anything, though, the Utes learned that they have plenty to improve upon before the conference season begins next month.
Utah dropped all three of the games it played against the Spartans on the weekend to begin their season 0-3. A fourth game, which was scheduled for Sunday, was rained out.
“It’s going to take us a little bit of time to get our feet on the ground and get our perception of the game where it needs to be,” U baseball coach Bill Kinneberg said.
The Utes showed plenty of resilience in their season-opener, coming back from a two-run deficit in the top of the eighth inning to send the game into extra innings. Utah had plenty of chances to score in the ninth and 10th innings with runners in scoring position but just couldn’t get a hit when it needed to. The Spartans took advantage of that offensive lull — and multiple Utah fielding errors — to escape with a 6-5 win in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Brian Budrow had a brilliant outing on the hill for the Utes in the latter portion of the doubleheader, but it was all for naught. San Jose State rallied back from a 6-3 deficit in the final inning and won the game on a walk, 7-6.
“We had chances to win both games, particularly the second game, so it was very disappointing to not come away with a win on Friday,” Kinneberg said. “We just made costly mistakes.”
Cody Guymon, Jesse Shriner and Cooper Blanc led the Utes at the plate in the doubleheader, tallying three hits a piece.
On Saturday, the Spartans jumped out to a three-run lead early in the game, and the home team just kept piling up runs. Utah reliever Stephen Streich was finally able to stop the bleeding late in the game, but not before SJSU had built up a 10-4 lead.
Guymon and Shriner once again provided the offensive firepower. Guymon stroked a pair of doubles while Shriner’s two-bagger knocked in a run.
Kinneberg said he expects the first 10 or so games of the season to be an adjustment period as the Utes acclimate themselves to playing outdoors.
“I think it’s encouraging that we put ourselves in position to win those first two games,” Kinneberg said. “That’s what you hope for, but the bottom line is that we didn’t win them.”