Having lost four of its last five games, the U baseball team needed a quick pick-me-up before continuing on with its conference schedule.
A game against UVSC proved to be just what the doctor ordered. Although it wasn’t a pretty start, the Utes came away from Orem on Tuesday night with a 12-6 win over the Wolverines to boost their overall record to 8-12.
Utah starting pitcher Bryn Carter struggled with his control in the early going, and the fielders behind him didn’t help out much, either. Carter allowed just two hits in his two innings of work, but because of wild pitches, a bean ball and a fielding error, the scoreboard showed 4-1 in the Wolverines’ favor when he was relieved by John James at the beginning of the third inning.
The Ute offense wasn’t able to figure out UVSC pitcher Marcus Moore until the top of the fourth inning when Cooper Blanc bunted home Jesse Shriner to cut the Wolverine lead to 4-2.
Once the floodgates were open, the runs came pouring in for head coach Bill Kinneberg and the Utes. Cody Guymon and Blanc both connected on RBI singles, and infielder Austin Jones ripped a double up the middle of the UVSC defense, which — thanks to a Wolverine throwing error — scored a pair of runs to give the Utes their first lead of the game.
Utah would sustain its efforts on the offensive end for the rest of the game, scoring one run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, then going off for three in the top of the ninth inning.
Leading the Utes on the offensive end was Dustin Hennis, Cody Guymon and Corey Shimada. Hennis led the Utes with four hits and a pair of doubles, Guymon went 3-for-6 at the plate with three RBIs, and Shimada blasted a solo homerun to go along with two other hits. As a team, Utah finished the game with an impressive 20 hits on offense.
However, the Ute defense was far from impressive. Only one of the Wolverines’ six runs was earned because Utah committed three errors and went through seven pitchers.
Nevertheless, Kinneberg and Co. can use the win as a building block as they step back into conference play this weekend against Air Force.
Ty CobbCorey Shimadawhips the ball around the horn.