Despite scary times, Utes make tourney
Early in the season, it seemed the Utah baseball team might miss this season’s Mountain West Conference Tournament for the first time. Utah was 3-9 in the first half of conference play, losing five in extra innings. It would take something big for the Utes to get back into it mentally.
A team meeting and a healthy squad turned the season around for Utah, as it finished the last half of conference play with a 5-7 record, enough to launch it into the No. 6 seed, beating out an Air Force team with a 3-18 conference record.
It was dicey for the Utes this season, as they sat in the No. 7 hole for a good part of the year, losing close games on numerous occasions.
Utah’s game against UC Irvine was the first time that it had an entirely healthy team around the diamond. The Utes showed their full potential by picking up a win and keeping it close for another. They were also able to get a win and take it into extra innings against the No. 2 seed San Diego State last weekend.
With a first-round matchup against rival BYU, which finished 14-8 in the conference, a fully loaded Utes team could make a run in the MWC Tournament again this season. They have the starting pitching, they’ve hung around with some big-name teams this year, and if they play to their potential it wouldn’t be out of the question to see Utah finish in the top three for the second year in a row.
Utes rake in MWC accolades
Whether it was Mountain West Conference Player of the Week or National Player of the Week, winning awards this season wasn’t anything new for the Utah baseball team.
Now that the season is wrapped up, more awards were thrown Utah’s way after a strong finish propelled Utah into the MWC Tournament. Arguably the biggest award that any Utah player won this season was C.J. Cron’s MWC Freshman of the Year honor.
The 6-foot-4-inch freshman was a key player in the Utes’ run to the postseason, having the second-highest batting average at .341 and leading the team with 23 extra base hits.
His biggest accomplishment came in the last series of the season against San Diego State’s ace pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Cron managed to record three hits in the first game of the series against the projected No. 1 overall MLB draft pick.
“It’s really a big honor that the coaches have named C.J. as the Freshman of the Year,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg. “He has done so much for us this year, particularly for a first-year player.”
Corey Shimada, Brian Budrow and Jordan Whatcott also received awards after having a solid season for Utah. All three were named to the All-MWC second team.
Senior leadership had to come from somewhere this season, and the Utes got it from one of the best players in Ute history. Shimada finished the season with a .336 batting average, a team-high of 16 steals (fifth in the MWC) and was second with 67 hits, picking up a hit in all but nine games this season. He also cracked the top 10 in walks with 37 and runs scored with 54. The Murray High School alumnus will leave Utah with records in triples (20), stolen bases (52) and walks (145).
Although Budrow was projected to be Utah’s ace this season, newly acquired pitcher Whatcott turned out to be the chosen one. With a 4-2 record and a 4.02 ERA, Whatcott turned himself into one of the best pitchers in the conference. He was part of three wins against ranked opponents, including a win against No. 1 UC Irvine.
Budrow might have not been Utah’s ace, but he is still one of the top pitchers in the league. Although only picking up four wins on the year, Budrow was third in the conference in strikeouts with 65 and second with 83.2 innings pitched. The senior will play a big role in Utah’s run in the tournament.
“Corey, Brian and Jordan are very deserving of all-conference honors and I’m excited about their selection,” Kinneberg said.
Tyler Cobb/The Daily Utah ChronicleUtah?s C.J. Cron was named the MWC Freshman of the Year. Cron helped the Utes reach the MWC Tournament with his .341 batting average and 23 extra base hits this season.