Baseball

After Tuesday’s loss to Gonzaga, U baseball head coach Bill Kinneberg said, “I know that if we play our game, we’ll continue to improve.”

His Swingin’ Utes did not disappoint their coach Wednesday with an 8-5 victory over New Mexico State.

Juniors Austin Jones and Stephen Fife were the main contributors to the Utes getting back on the winning track. Jones connected on a homer to left-center off Aggie pitcher Tyler Sturdevant in the second inning. Jones and fellow middle-of-the-lineup swinger Jesse Shriner paced the Utes to their eight runs with three RBIs each. Designated hitter Cody Guymon pitched in, going 3-for-5

Fife kept the Aggies on their heels all morning, going seven strong innings. He allowed only three hits and had five strikeouts.

After the Utes used two pitchers in a third of an inning, junior Robert Chimpky came in and shut down the Aggie lineup with four strikeouts in an inning and two-thirds pitched.

The Utes are now 2-1 in the tournament and look to take on the Hoosiers (4-6) who are 1-3 in the tournament so far. The Hoosiers are paced by sophomore catcher Josh Phegley and sophomore utility man Evan Crawford. Thursday’s game starts at 3 p.m.

Chris Kamrani

Lacrosse

The battle for Salt Lake City bragging rights will be at stake as the No. 25 Utah (2-3) lacrosse team faces the Westminster Griffins (4-2) who are currently ranked No. 1 in Division-II.

Utah has faced tough opponents including No. 8 Arizona State, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Georgia and then No. 23 Michigan State. Westminster has played a variety of opponents including powerhouses No. 11 (Division-I) Simon Fraser and No. 11 (Division-II) Southwestern.

Utah and Westminster met last fall, and Utah walked away with a 14-6 win. Most recently, Utah beat Westminster 12-11 in a pre-season scrimmage in another intense game.

Utah will be led by junior attackman Matt Qualey who leads the Utes with an average of 5 points per game. Qualey has notched 9 goals and 16 assists this season.

Westminster will be led by sophomore attackman Roman Schoewe, who is averaging 4.5 points per game. Schoewe has 22 goals and 5 assists.

Many of the players from both teams played together in high school.

The inner-city rivals will play at Juan Diego High School in Draper on Thursday. The face-off will be at 7 p.m.

Tim Haslam