The Utes traveled to the desert Thursday night to face Arizona, but they couldn’t stay hot. The Wildcats edged Utah 4-3 to end their three-game winning streak.
The Wildcats ended a streak of their own. The victory marked their first win in Pac-12 play and ended a six game skid, but Utah made them earn it. The final tally was 4-3 Arizona, but both teams capitalized on the other’s mistakes to put up runs. The Utes only gave up one earned run while Arizona gave up two.
Utah second baseman Kody Davis scored twice by the third inning, giving his team a 2-0 advantage early on. He was hit by a pitch in his first at bat and took advantage of an Arizona wild pitch and a throwing error to get around the bases.
Also in the third inning, Davis tripled down the left field line and scored on a perfect bunt laid down by Trey Nielsen that left all runners safe.
Coming into the game, head coach Bill Kinneberg was hopeful that starting pitcher, Mitch Watrous, would get them deep into the ballgame — but that didn’t happen.
Watrous was able keep the Wildcats off the board through three solid innings of work before Arizona put together a two-run rally in the fourth to tie the game. It started with an error on substitute third baseman, TJ Bennett, who came in to replace Dallas Carroll after an injury sustained in the third. Watrous got out of the inning without giving up the lead, but ran out of gas with two outs in the fifth.
Utah battled back in the sixth and put up a run to regain the lead. Nielsen reached on a fielding error and came around on a Tyler Relf RBI single to the left side of the infield. However, it wasn’t enough.
Arizona’s Johnny Field tripled to left center with one out. He easily scored on a sacrifice fly to knot it up at three in the sixth.
In the seventh, Arizona took the lead for good on another unearned run after Utah’s pitcher, Luke West, booted a bunt that allowed Kevin Newman to reach safety.
Utah had a chance to tie it once again in the ninth. Nielsen drew a full count with two outs and a runner in scoring position. He put a charge into the ball giving it a chance, but it ended up in the Wildcats’ center fielder’s glove to end the game.
“I am proud of how the guys battled,” Kinneberg said. “Although we made two crucial errors that ended up costing us. Neither team played particularly well tonight. It was kind of an ugly game.”