Although most of Salt Lake City is still covered in snow, the Ute baseball season is underway.
The coaches and players are excited to get out from under the bright lights of the Eccles House, where they have been practicing for the past six weeks, and into some fresh air. Hitting into a net and running on fake grass doesn’t do it for these guys, but a trip to Los Angeles, Calif., on Friday should give them the fix they’re looking for.
“We’re looking forward to finally getting outside,” said senior pitcher Brian Budrow said. “It’s not much fun sitting in here for six weeks, throwing off a rubber mat and not being able to go out and break your cleats in a day before you play.”
The Utes start the 2009 baseball season with a 12-game road trip, and their first is a three-game series against Loyola Marymount starting Friday. Their first home game won’t be for another month, when they face BYU at Franklin Covey Field on March 12.
The preseason pollsters have projected that the Utes will finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference this year. This ranking follows a year in which Utah played a mediocre conference season of 10-14, but finished third after making a deep run in the MWC Tournament.
With many of last year’s starters returning, Utah is looking to continue what it started for 2009.
“A lot of the returners kind of felt the success that we had in the tournament,” said senior second baseman Corey Shimada. “Hopefully we can carry that momentum on to this year.”
Welcome back
The U has four returning starters around the horn, with sophomore shortstop Michael Beltran and Shimada being the center pieces of the defense. Beltran was picked by the coaches and select media as a member of the MWC preseason All-Conference team. Shimada, along with Beltran, was selected by www.rivals.com for the preseason All-Conference team.
“It’s a great honor to be selected as some of the best players in our conference,” Shimada said. “But it’s still a preseason accolade that doesn’t mean too much ’cause you still have to go out there and play.”
Beltran led all freshman in the conference in hitting last season with an average of .389 in conference play and was fourth overall. Shimada led the team in steals with 21 on 28 attempts and was sixth on the team in hitting, with a .329 batting average.
Coach Bill Kinneberg said in order to have a good defense, you have to be solid up the middle. It takes a lot of pressure off the pitcher knowing there is a solid crew behind him8212;Beltran and Shimada make one of the conference’s best middle infield combinations.
“It builds some confidence in our team knowing that we have some experience in the infield,” Shimada said.
Rounding out the infield at the corners are senior Austin Jones at first base and junior Nick Kuroczko at third. Jones started all 54 games for the Utes last season and was sixth in the conference in RBIs with 51. Kuroczko started the last half of the season in 2008 and batted .330 for Utah. He committed just four errors at third base, accumulating a .927 fielding percentage at one of the most hit-to positions on the field.
On the bump
Former Ute ace pitcher Stephen Fife left the team early to fulfill a career with the Boston Red Sox organization. Budrow is the senior leader on a shorthanded pitching staff of 11 this season and is expected to fill the void of losing Fife.
Budrow finished the 2008 season with a paltry 6-5 record, despite finishing the conference fourth in ERA (3.49) and fifth in strikeouts (73). Kinneberg expects a lot out of Budrow this season because of his experience.
“He’s better than he’s ever been,” Kinneberg said. “We really feel good about our Friday night guy.”
Another juco transfer is making a buzz on the team. Jordan Whatcott, a junior from South Mountain Community College, put up impressive numbers last season. He went 6-2 with an ERA of 1.83 in 79 innings.
“I played with him before in a tournament in high school and he’s got an arm on him,” Budrow said. “He was a huge pickup for us, replacing that lone starter. He’ll be a good add-on.”
Juniors Andrew Wilding and Bryn Card will be the other two starters. Wilding might get the Saturday spot instead of Whatcott, depending on how the preseason turns out. Card will be the fourth man in the rotation.
“Hopefully between now and when we play BYU we’ll settle in on the order and the three guys that are going to start on the weekends,” Kinneberg said. “But we feel very confident in those four guys, whichever way they go.”
Juco power
Utah’s outfield doesn’t have quite the experience of the infield. Although Utah has a deep lineup in the outfield this season with a five-man rotation, the Utes have only one returning starter, center fielder Cooper Blanc. The next two positions will be filled mostly by incoming juco transfers.
Blanc was second on the team in steals with 14 last season and hit for an average of .354. He will hit in the sixth spot, a position that gives him an opportunity to pick up some RBIs.
Right field has been locked up by Rick Cornu, a junior out of San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Calif., who earned a spot on the team after Fall Ball. Cornu has been selected to bat second this season after transferring with a .372 batting average.
“Cornu is going to be a big part of our plans this year,” Kinneberg said.
Filling the left-field position is still up in the air for Kinneberg. He plans on allowing the three remaining outfielders to alternate between games. Juco transfers Kevin Hussey and Zach Jones have the experience and freshman Gavin Green has played well in the off-season, giving them some depth in the outfield.
Pitcher Brian Budrow and the Utah baseball team are preparing to start the season on the road. The team?s early season road trips are tradition with Utah weather preventing outdoor play.
