The Utah baseball team continues its Mountain West Conference schedule as it travels to Las Vegas to take on UNLV.
This will be the first time this season the two teams face each other. Utah brings a three-game winning streak into the series, while the Rebels have lost their past eight contests.
The Utes have found a closer in Greg Krause, a position that had been up for grabs during the first month of play. Krause was able to pick up two straight saves against Southern Utah and Utah Valley universities8212;his first saves of the season8212;and has been big in the Utes’ streak that includes five wins out of their last six games.
Brian Budrow has been Utah’s ace in the early season. Budrow’s 3-1 record ranks among the top in the MWC, along with his 3.83 ERA. He will get the start in the first game of the series against UNLV.
When the bull pen is struggling, it’s usually up to the offense to get something going. For the past two weeks, Utah’s bats have done just that.
In their past five wins, the Utes have scored an average of nine runs per game. They have done this without the assistance of their early-season slugger, Rick Cornu, who was sidelined with an injury.
Corey Shimada has come into form of late and has been one of the biggest reasons the Utes have been winning. Shimada is second on the team in batting average at .330 and in RBIs with 20. He leads the team in hits with 30 and runs with 20. He was also recently named MWC Player of the Week.
Nick Kuroczko leads the team in hitting with a batting average of .354. If Utah is to continue this success, the players at the top of the lineup will have to keep playing the way they are. The bottom of the lineup has been a bit of a cluster so far this season; all players are from the outfield.
Coach Bill Kinneberg has been shifting players around in the outfield all year. A couple of freshmen have seen some playing time, the most successful being Tyler Yagi. He has all but locked up a starting position in the outfield with his .278 batting average, the second best among outfielders this season.
The experience in the outfield comes from leftfielder Kevin Hussey, a junior transfer from Cochise Community College. Hussey ranks fourth on the team with a .314 batting average in 15 games played. Although he hasn’t started every game this season, he most likely will during conference play.
As of now, Utah is No. 5 in the conference, with UNLV right behind at two-and-a-half games back, meaning that this is a big series for the Utes. Right around the corner is a game against No. 18 New Mexico, which is No. 1 in the conference with a 25-5 record. Whatever kinks the Utes have in their lineup, they will have to figure it out by then.
Tyler CobbThe Utah baseball team listens to pointers from Assistant Coach Bryan Kinneberg before the second game of a doubleheader. The team will travel to Las Vegas this weekend to play a series with UNLV.
