It was a much needed win for the University of Utah baseball team (10-11, 1-5 Pac-12) who put an end to a six-game losing streak after a 4-0 shutout victory in game one against No. 11 Stanford (13-6, 2-1 Pac-12). The Utes were scheduled to open their second conference series of the season on Friday, but rain postponed the game. A doubleheader took place Saturday with the finale on Sunday, and the Utes lost both game two and three, 6-4 and 5-1.
Opening the series on the mound was Jayson Rose who put on quite a performance. Not only did Rose pitch a shutout, but he set a new season-high eight strikeouts. Rose, who improved to 3-1 on the season, threw 7 1/3 innings, allowing two walks and six hits.
“He got back to being Jayson Rose,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg. “He was ahead in the count, using his fastball extremely well and then his knockout pitch with his changeup. Jayson was the best this weekend than he’s been all year. He’s back on track and that’s a real, real positive for us.”
The Utes go-to closer Dylan Drachler pitched 1 2/3 innings, allowing no hits and striking out two en route to his fourth save of the year.
At the plate, DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. led the way for the Utes going 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI. Dallas Carroll, Hunter Simmons, Chandler Anderson and Kyle Hoffman each had one hit. Josh Rose and Oliver Dunn had two. Outhitting the Cardinal 11-6, the Utes struck early in the top of the second inning to give them a quick 2-0 lead.
Anderson batted in Rose for the first run of the game. Dunn followed with a single, Keirsey Jr. also singled to send Anderson home. Leading off the fourth, Rose walked before eventually scoring his second run of the game thanks to an RBI single from Hoffman. Carroll had an RBI double in the seventh to send in Keirsey Jr. for the last run of the game.
“First game was very well played,” Kinneberg said. “We got key hits, we played great defense, and Jayson pitched very well. We did that for most of the next two games up until about the seventh inning.”
The Utes had an opportunity in game two to get their first complete doubleheader win as they played their fourth doubleheader of the season, but they could not get the job done. The Utes got on the board in the top of the first inning as Keirsey Jr., who reached on an error, eventually scored, but the Cardinal took a 2-1 lead in the second. In the fourth, the Utes fired back with two runs by Zack Moeller and Rose but the Cardinal would not let the Utes’ lead last for long as they tied it up 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth. Carroll hit an RBI single to score Hoffman in the seventh, but that was the last run the Utes could muster. A big three-run inning for the Cardinal helped secure them the victory.
Closing the series out on Sunday, the only run the Utes had was a home run to left field by Moeller in the top of the fifth. The Cardinal struck with a run in the first, fifth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth on the way to the win. Only three Utes had hits — Dominic Foscalina and Carroll had one to their name while Moeller had two. Riley Ottesen earned the loss after pitching 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts to fall to 3-1 on the season.
“We made some real kind of mental errors on the defensive side that hurt us in both games,” Kinneberg said. “Stanford really capitalized on our mistakes.”
The Utes return to Smith’s Ballpark for a four-game home stand beginning on Tuesday against rival BYU at 6 p.m. before taking on Oregon in a three-game series that gets underway on Thursday.
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