Utah made a strong campaign for Pac-12 legitimacy this weekend at Stanford (11-7), taking two of three games from the No. 17 team in the country. The Utes capitalized on strong starting pitching from their staff and success at the plate to notch wins number one and two in conference play.
The Utes clinched the series with a 7-5 victory behind a dominant pitching performance from freshman Dalton Carroll. Through 6.1 innings of work, Carroll mystified the Stanford lineup. He allowed only five hits and one run as the Utes offense built a 7-1 on 14 hits, including a three-run shot from Trey Nielsen in the fifth.
“For the first seven innings, we probably played the best baseball that we’ve played all the way around,” said Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg. “Dalton [Carroll] was terrific, and although we took a blow in the eighth inning we held on and won as a team.”
Chase Rezac took over pitching duties in the eighth and struggled to get outs. The Cardinal manufactured four runs on three hits and a walk before Rezac could retire a batter. Josh Chapman quickly replaced Rezac when Stanford looked to make a comeback and slammed the door on their effort. Chapman tallied his second save on the season in two innings of work.
“It was huge to win on Sunday on the road,” Kinneberg said.
Saturday’s win on the road was another landmark victory for Utah. It took 10 innings, but the Utes were able to notch their first Pac-12 win. Strong starting pitching again kept the Utes on track for success.
Joe Pond shut out the Cardinal through six before finally allowing two runs to sneak across in the seventh.
“That was big for us. We’re still not where we want to be yet,” Kinneberg said. “We had a lot of opportunities to score runs and we’re just not getting the key hit yet.”
Despite getting the U deep into the game and into a position to win, Luke West recorded his first win of the season by closing out strong.
“It was big for Luke to throw four innings and get the win,” Kinneberg said. “I can’t say enough about his effort today.”
Stanford took the first game of the series behind its ace and number-eight pick of the 2012 MLB Draft, Mark Appel. He fanned 11 Utes through eight innings for his fourth consecutive game with double digit K’s. However, it wasn’t his best outing as he gave up his first four-bagger of 2013 to freshman AJ Young in the second. It was the last time the Utes would have the lead as the Cardinal put up three in the bottom of the frame.
Utah attempted to climb back in the ninth by stringing together hits and plating two runs, but eventually fell 6-4.
Utah returns home to Salt Lake City to BYU on Tuesday at 6 p.m.