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The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Baseball: Utes excited to put hard work to the test in season-opening tournament

On the same field where major league stars from the Rangers and Royals are set to hone their skills at spring training, the Utah baseball team will begin the 2016 season this weekend at a four-team tournament in Surprise, Ariz.

The Utes will face a tough lineup in their season opener, including a talented Minnesota squad, last season’s Mid-American Conference runner-up Ball State and Pac-12 conference opponent Oregon State, which has been ranked fifth in the country by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and D1Baseball.com.

Utah will face off against the Golden Gophers on Friday at 5 p.m. local time and will have to contend with a veteran Minnesota team that returns nearly every starter from last season. The Gophers went 21-30 in 2015 and finished ninth in the Big Ten, missing a conference tourney bid by just one game. On the mound, the Utes are projected to face junior RHP Matt Fielder, who racked up a 2.86 ERA in 22 innings pitched with Minnesota.

Next, the Utes will play Ball State on Saturday night. The Cardinals went 22-30 last season, and their 14-13 in-conference record earned them a spot in the MAC championship tournament, in which they finished second. Ball State returns a lot of talent from last year’s team, including four players on D1Baseball.com’s Top 300 Prospect list and several players with all-conference nods. Saturday’s competition is the first meeting between the Utes and the Cardinals on the diamond.

On Sunday morning, the Utes will once again face Minnesota before concluding their weekend in the Grand Canyon State with a noon game against the Beavers on Monday. OSU is coming off of a success-filled 39-18-1 season in which they finished second in the Pac-12 and reached the Dallas regional of the NCAA tournament. The Beavers are loaded with talent and are heavy favorites to win the Pac-12 — many believe this year’s squad will make another CWS appearance for the storied program.

Head coach Bill Kinneberg said that after looking at the team’s hard work this offseason, he feels the Utes are primed and ready for the challenge of the upcoming tournament.

“We’ve had six, seven months to prepare for this moment, and we’re finally here,” he said. “The anxiety is gone, the mental preparation is now ready to go and the physical preparations are all ready to go. Minnesota is a very good team, Ball State is a quality team in their conference and Oregon State is one of the top teams in the country, but it doesn’t get any easier the next weekend as well, so we’ll play them one game at a time, one inning at a time, one pitch at a time.”

Senior infielder Kody Davis said the team is excited to begin its season and eager to bring an end to the practicing and start testing their skills against other teams.

“We’re itching,” Davis said. “Going up against other teams is the big theme right now. We’ve been scrimmaging against each other for what seems like forever now, and we’re excited to get back in the same dugout.”

For Davis and the rest of an experienced Utah team that includes seven seniors and several three-year starters, this weekend’s tournament marks the beginning of an emotional final season with the Utes. Davis said he’s just trying to take it all in.

“Every game is going to be special this year — this could be the last time I play baseball, and I’ve been doing this my entire life. I feel like every game is going to be a little more special than it has been in the past,” said Davis.

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@tylerfcrum

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