The Utah baseball team started their 2016 campaign with a tournament last weekend in Surprise, Ariz. and returned home with one win against Ball State and three losses, two to Minnesota and one to No. 5 Oregon State.
Head coach Bill Kinneberg finds it hard to see any silver lining in the way his team played. He attributes the Utes’ poor play to lack of conditioning, but it’s still no excuse.
“I was disappointed mostly in our offense,” Kinneberg said. “Our pitching and fielding weren’t too good either.”
Last Friday evening was the opener for Utah, as it lost 6-1 to Minnesota. The Utes struggled significantly on offense against the Gophers, only recording two hits and one run.
The lone run of the evening for Utah came in the top of the third inning off an RBI infield single by Dallas Carroll, scoring Josh Rose, giving Utah an early 1-0 lead.
Jayson Rose started on the mound for the Utes, throwing for six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits, with four strikeouts. In relief, Josh Lapiana made his Utah debut and threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits.
The Utah baseball team returned the following day, Saturday, to play against Ball State. Big innings were the theme for the Utes that night as they scored four runs in the first inning and five runs in the eighth inning in their 11-5 victory.
Josh Rose led the Utes offensively, going three for three on the night. Hunter Simmons drove in a game-high three RBIs. Dallas Carroll and DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. each recorded a pair of hits, with Keirsey recording two RBIs.
Carroll was the winning pitcher of the evening, throwing five innings. He allowed four hits and five walks. Dylan Drachler threw the following four innings, striking out nine and earning his first save of the season.
Utah once again fell to Minnesota in a 9-3 game on Sunday morning. Riley Ottesen made his first career start on the mound, threw for 3 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Joshua Tedeschi made his first career appearance in the fourth inning, going for 2 2/3 innings and allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits with a strikeout. Andre Jackson finished the game, pitching in the final three innings. He allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth that the Utes were able to cross home plate. Down 9-0, Cole Taylor started off the inning with a walk. Following this, Taylor moved to second before scoring on a double to left field from Kellen Marruffo. Catcher A.J. Young then hit a two-run score.
On Monday the Utes faced one of the best ball clubs in the nation, No. 5 Oregon State. Utah lost 10-2 against the Beavers in a nonconference game to end the tournament.
Josh Lapiana made his first career start and threw for 4 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Hunter Rodriguez came in the middle of the fifth inning and allowed five runs on three hits with two walks. Nolan Stouder (1 2/3 innings, two strikeouts), Trenton Stoltz (one inning, one strikeout) and Tanner Thomas (one inning, two strikeouts and one earned run) all made relief appearances for the Utes.
The game was won in the fifth inning when the Beavers scored eight runs on seven hits. The Utes responded with two runs in the top of the seventh, when Cody Scaggari singled, scoring both Taylor and Jackson.
The Utes will be returning to the desert this weekend for another tournament in Surprise, Ariz. Utah will play Kansas and Kansas State in the tournament, with the first one against the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday, Feb. 26. at 5 p.m. MST. Rose hopes the Utes will be able to perform better this go around.
“We have a game plan going into every game, and no matter the outcome, we are 110 percent committed to the process,” Rose said. “We learned from last weekend and are taking our momentum into this weekend.”
@ArmenMShrikian