Sin City wasn’t exactly kind to the Utes.
The Utah baseball team traveled to Las Vegas for a three-game series against UNLV and left with a 1-2 weekend.
Utah started the series with an 8-5 win over the Rebels on a cold and windy Friday. Brian Budrow got the start and went six innings with five strikeouts. The bullpen came in to hold off UNLV, giving Budrow his fourth win of the season.
“A road win is always good to start the weekend off,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg in a statement. “The conditions were really tough to play in8212;strong winds and cold. It was a good start to the weekend.”
C.J. Cron, who is batting at a respectable .295 on the season, had a big game for the Utes at the plate.
Cron put the first runs on the board with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He finished the game 3-for-5.
“Brian Budrow really pitched well for six innings and the bullpen hung on,” Kinneberg said. “C.J. swung the bat really well tonight. His home run got us on the board and got us going. It was a big hit for us.”
Utah’s bats were hot again in the second game, but the Rebels’ were hotter.
UNLV got on the board first with a four-run second inning. The Utes tied it up with a four-run third inning after a lead-off home run by Corey Shimada, who was one of two batters to have three hits on the day.
The Rebels put up a run in the bottom half of the third inning, Utah tied the game again in the top of the fifth, 5-5, off of an RBI single by Austin Jones, who brought Nick Kuroczko across the plate.
With every rally the Utes put on the board, UNLV had an answer, and in the bottom of the fifth, the Rebels retook the lead with an RBI single. With the bases loaded, reliever Joe Pond got out of the inning without any more damage, but Utah wouldn’t get any more run support.
The Utes outhit the Rebels 14-12, but fell 7-5.
The final game of the series was an extra-inning grind in which the Rebels won in the bottom of the 10th, 4-3.
UNLV started the game with two runs in the first inning. Utah wouldn’t get on the board till the top of the fourth when Rick Cornu grounded out to second, bringing Shimada across the plate from third.
The Rebels added a run in the bottom of the inning, giving them a 3-1 lead heading into the fifth, where the Utes started to rally.
With one out, Jones belted a homer to left field. The next two batters reached base with the top of the lineup at the plate.
Shimada singled to center field, which brought designated hitter Devin Walker home, tying the game at 3-3.
From then on, only a few hits were made by either team until the big one in the bottom of the 10th.
Greg Krause had checked in for Stephen Streich at the beginning of the inning. Krause started the inning by giving up a hit to Bryan Resnick, who advanced to second on the next at-bat after a wild pitch.
Resnick eventually made it to third on a sacrifice fly, then made it home after a wild pitch by Krause. Jordan Whatcott made the start and went six innings, but Krause left with his first decision of the season8212;a loss.