Utah may have started slow at the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge over the weekend, but they certainly finished with a bang.
After a tough loss to Michigan State in their first of three games, the Utes bounced back with a big victory over No. 10 Indiana on Saturday and pulled out a close game against Nebraska on Sunday.
Following an 8-5 loss to the Spartans, Utah had to rebound against the Hoosiers, one of the top teams in the nation. With the game tied at three after nine innings, the teams played six frames of extra baseball. In the 15th, Ute senior Cory Hunt drove home the winning run to take the game 5-4.
Utah got it done on the mound against Indiana in platoon style, as Tanner Banks, Zach Adams, Nick Green and Josh Chapman helped the Utes to victory.
“Banks, Adams, Green and Chapman were really the story of tonight’s game,” said Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg in a press release. “Nick was spectacular through seven innings, and Tanner was also great. That was a really good team that we beat tonight, and this is a big win for us.”
As good as the Utes’ pitching was, its offense struggled some in extra time.
“I am a little disappointed that we had our leadoff guy on almost every inning from the ninth to the 15th inning and it took until the 15th to get that key hit, but on the bright side, we had a lot of chances with runners in scoring position and we will get better at that,” Kinneberg said. “Cory came through in the late innings with two clutch hits. He hit both of those balls the way you are supposed to hit them.”
With momentum at a high after Saturday’s win, Utah beat the Cornhuskers 4-3 on Sunday afternoon to finish the weekend 2-1. Kody Davis went 2-for-3 at the plate while batting in a run. Senior catcher Konnor Armijo also went 2-for-3 at bat. Hunt and senior outfielder Tyler Yagi both went 2-for-4, with Yagi scoring a run. Dalton Carroll and Bret Helton took care of things on the bump.
“Again we got fantastic pitching and defense today,” Kinneberg said. “Nebraska is a very offensive team, so for Dalton and Bret to pitch the way they did, it was pretty good. We got the bats going a little bit and got plenty of hits, so it was an all-around good effort today.”
The Utes will look to carry the momentum from the weekend into their next three-game set against Loyola Marymount this weekend.
“It was a good end to the tournament,” Kinneberg said of Sunday’s game. “It was hard playing so many innings last night and early today, but it shows the guys really want to succeed.”
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