The Utes outscored the USC Trojans this weekend at Spring Mobile Ballpark, 24-22, but lost the three-game series two games to one.
Sunday’s effort once again showed that no advantage is safe when playing Utah. They were down 8-0 heading into the bottom of the third, but came back to tie it at 10 apiece with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Despite their resilience, they were unable to complete the come-from-behind rally for a win. USC scored five in the top of the tenth to seal the victory and win the series.
“Our ability to come back was the bright spot of the ball game,” Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said after Sunday’s loss. “We’re resilient. I’m very proud of our guys for battling back and giving us a great chance to win, but ultimately we didn’t get it done.”
Tanner Banks struggled in his second start since returning from a hand injury. Luke West came in to relieve Banks in the third, and managed to keep it close. He wasn’t able to shut them down completely though, as the Trojans continually applied offensive pressure.
“[USC] had a whole bunch of hits and a whole bunch of base runners,” Kinneberg said. “Our pitching has been our strength all year, and it caught up to us today. Days like this happen.”
Utah capitalized on the USC bullpen’s struggles in the sixth and strung together 7 runs, shrinking the deficit to just one run, 10-9. Kody Davis continued a successful weekend at the plate nabbing two RBI in the inning.
“That was a really big inning for us,” Davis said. “We knew we would have a shot in this game. We know we have nine to play and we play all nine. We don’t want to take our at bats for granted.”
Davis led all hitters for Utah on Friday night to get the series started. He was 4-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Utah stymied USC behind a dominant pitching performance from Mitch Watrous. They claimed a 10-0 victory, marking their first shut-out win on the season.
“Friday night was easy for me. It’s easy when everybody comes out and is swinging it well,” Davis said. “Momentum just carried us all.”
Unfortunately, that momentum wouldn’t last through Saturday. USC mounted a 7-1 lead heading into the ninth inning. Utah made a last ditch effort to knot it up in the bottom half of the frame. Braden Anderson knocked a two-out, two-run single. After a pitching change, Davis came through again with a run-scoring double down the left-field line to make it 7-4. But the last second effort wasn’t enough.
By losing the series, the Utes didn’t make things easy on themselves to close out the season. They’re postseason hopes hung heavily on beating USC. The Utes will need to finish strong, and they’ll start with another road game versus BYU on Tuesday. They’ll travel to Provo for a contest at Larry Miller Field as they look to get some momentum going before hosting Arizona State next weekend.