This past weekend, the University of Utah baseball team was heading into a three-game series against Washington State, having just won six of its last seven games including a series win against Cal, a sweep against then ranked No. 7 Arizona and its first midweek game against in-state opponent, Utah Valley University. The Utes were riding a four-game win streak and pushed it to five games after taking game one against the Cougars.
Utah’s offense racked up 63 total hits over the course of the five-game victory march, but the offense suddenly became dry as the Utes dropped the final two games against Washington State. Utah struggled to reboot its offense and that cost it its first conference series loss at home this season.
With three more Pac-12 series, one non-conference series and one midweek game left on the schedule, the end of the regular season is near and Utah knows in order to make a push to the postseason they have to find its rhythm once again.
“[We have to] Keep grinding,” said head coach Bill Kinneberg. “That’s all we can do. We got another month to go.”
Two Offensive Keys
After a tough weekend on the field, to get back into the swing of things it starts with the offense picking itself up.
Some Utes that will be looked at to get things rolling again will be the leadoff batter and the third batter in the lineup, DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Dallas Carroll. Carroll has a batting average of .382, landing him second place in the conference. Not only is he the third best in the league at getting on base with a .462 on-base percentage, but he owns a .599 slugging percentage as well.
Keirsey Jr. is hitting .353 on the season, putting him in eighth place in the league. With a knack for getting hits, Keirsey Jr. has 60 belonging to him, and in hits per game he is ranked No. 18 nationally at 1.58.
Against Washington State, Carroll had two hits and Keirsey Jr. had three of his own over the three-game contest, but comparing those numbers to when the team faced the Arizona defense and came out on top, Carroll and Keirsey Jr. doubled their hits. Carroll tallied 5 hits and Keirsey Jr. had six over the entire series.
Those two Utes are weapons that the offense needs to continue seeing production from. When those two have hot bats, it can be contagious, and that can play a role in getting the offensive motors running again.
Recent Performances on the Mound
Washington State was able to put up 16 total runs over the series, while Utah fell one short of getting half that. Kinneberg’s explanation behind the performances on the mound was simple, Utah gave up one run too many.
Against the Cougars, starters Jayson Rose (5-2) pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, Riley Ottesen (4-2) allowed eight runs over 5 1/3 innings – where seven runners made it home in one inning – and Josh Lapiana (3-5) surrendered four runs over 5 1/3 innings.
“Riley [Ottesen] had his problem in one inning,” Kinneberg said. “But other then that, we pitched okay.”
As these regular three-game series starters look to continue doing their best at holding down the mound at the beginning of games, Jacob Rebar (3-4) who started four games over the course of the season is putting in work in relief. With nine relief appearances, the freshman has one save, and has pitched six-straight scoreless innings.