There are still 21 games to be played this season, but the Utes (15-17, 4-11 Pac-12) are treating their upcoming series against USC (14-22, 6-9) like it is a critical game.
“I think it’s going to determine if we’re going to make a regional or not,” said Utah outfielder Tyler Relf. “You’ve got to beat the teams that are struggling.”
USC is only struggling by the standards of a strong conference. The Pac-12 features the nation’s top-ranked programs: No. 1 Oregon State, No. 5 Oregon, No. 9 ASU and No. 23 Arizona. Utah has every reason to believe they can take down a team like USC. The Utes have already taken series from both Stanford and Washington State, who each rank higher in the conference than USC.
“I’m not saying USC is bad, but they’re definitely not as good as other teams in the Pac-12,” Relf said. “So we’ve got to come out and give it to them if we can.”
Although USC’s pitching rotation is yet to be announced, the Utes will surely face last week’s Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week this weekend. Sean Silva threw six shutout innings for USC last Friday in a win against then No. 15 Arizona. He allowed only one hit while striking out four — retiring 18 of the 22 batters he faced.
USC dropped the second and third games of the series against Arizona, but picked up a midweek win Tuesday against Loyola Marymount, 5-2.
Utah is also coming off a Tuesday-night win. After falling behind 6-1 in the first inning, the Utes battled back to claim the victory over Utah Valley University 7-6 in Orem.
“It was a good win for us to battle back after giving up six runs in the first inning,” said Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg. “I’m proud of our guys. We had some big hits late, which was a really good sign for me. Like always, I just want to play well this weekend … We need to score runs when we have opportunities.”
The Utes will be going with the same pitching rotation they used against Oregon State last weekend. Mitch Watrous will get things going today. He only allowed one run in the first inning versus No. 1 OSU, but that was all it took for the Beavers to walk away with a win, as Utah was unable to mount any offense.
Dalton Carroll will take the mound Saturday. He also had a strong outing against the Beavers, but a big fifth inning by Oregon State doomed the Utes as they fell, 8-3. Tanner Banks will make his second start since returning from a broken finger on Sunday.
“It seems like it’s been a long time since we played at home,” Kinnberg said. “I’m looking forward to that. USC has a very good team.”
First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. today. Fans who wear black will receive free admission for the “Black Friday” promotion. The action continues Saturday with the start at noon and the finale will also be Sunday at noon.