After beating Utah Valley University last Tuesday, Utah first baseman TJ Bennett said the team was building some positive mojo, but few would have guessed that mojo would translate to a series win over then-No. 17 Stanford the following weekend. Tonight, the Utes will look to continue riding that wave when rival BYU (11-12) comes to Spring Mobile Ballpark.
In their previous series, the Utes relied on everybody being able to step up and play key roles to be successful versus Stanford on the road.
“In all three games we had a lot of guys play a lot of different situations,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg. “We’ll continue to do that and keep everybody involved. It seems to work. Guys are getting great experience.”
Freshman third baseman Dallas Carroll and his twin brother Dalton Carroll are two young players who have been gaining experience. Dallas had four big RBIs in the Stanford series, and Dalton claimed the win on the mound Sunday.
AJ Young has also been hot at the plate for Utah. He belted his team-leading third homer Friday, and he did so off Cardinal ace Mark Appel, who had yet to give up a home run. Tyler Yagi has also been coming through in key situations as topping Utah’s staff in RBIs with 10.
“We really did a nice job battling and beating a good team on the road,” Kinneberg said. “I felt like our guys really hung in there and played outstanding when they needed to.”
Competition against Pac-12 foes will take an intermission with the BYU game, but the Utes still view this contest as an important one.
“It’s a different dynamic between us than it has been in the past, being in the Mountain West together,” Kinneberg said. “It’s still a rivalry — it always will be, but I’d say it’s a little different now.”
BYU is also coming off a series win in their previous matchup. They took two of three games against Kansas.
Right-hander Trey Nielsen will be getting the start for the Utes with only 1.2 innings of work under his belt thus far in 2013 and a 4.29 ERA. He’ll be countered by BYU’s freshman right-hander Keaton Cenatiempo, who is bringing a 1-1 record and 5.40 era into tonight’s game.
Cenatiempo could have a rough outing if Braden Anderson continues his offensive tear. Anderson leads the Utes in conference play at the plate with a .438 batting average. He went 4-4 last Sunday against Stanford and scored two runs.
“We need to keep the momentum going — that’s important,” Kinneberg said. “We have to continue to get more at bats, get better at the plate and learn our field. We’re going to dice it up a little bit on Tuesday.”
The action will get underway at 6 p.m. and the team will hold an autograph session for fans after the game.