The University of Utah baseball team will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas to take part in the Kleberg Bank College Classic against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Missouri and Kansas. The Utes will come into the weekend with a 1-3 (0-0) record.

Last Week

Utah travelled to Davis, California to take on the UC Davis Aggies in a three-game opening series. UC Davis would top the Utes in two of three games with Utah’s only win coming in game two by a score of 15-8.

The Utes would also play on President’s Day against the Saint Mary’s Gaels, where they would lose 7-9.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Utah will open the Kleberg Bank College Classic against host Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Friday night. Texas A&M Corpus Christi’s only matchup against the Utes in history ended in a 7-5 Islanders victory back in 2012.

The Islanders are currently 0-3 after dropping their opening series against UT Arlington. They were outscored 14-2 through those three games and are looking to change their luck this weekend.

Utah’s matchup against Texas A&M Corpus Christi will take place on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. This game will be available via live stream on utahutes.com.

Missouri

Saturday, the Utes will take on the Missouri Tigers out of the SEC. Back in 2001, the Utes took on the Tigers for the first and only time in history, topping Missouri 12-9.

Last weekend, the Tigers were able to snag two wins over Jacksonville State before giving up an 8-9 loss in the final game of the weekend. Missouri currently sits at 2-1 (0-0) and will start this weekend’s College Classic in a matchup against Kansas State.

The Utes will take on Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. This game will also be live streamed via utahutes.com

Kansas State

Utah will wrap up the Kleberg Bank College Classic against the Kansas State Wildcats. The Utes are 0-4 in history against Kansas State, with the last ball game ending in a 4-6 loss in 2019. Although games haven’t gone in Utah’s favor in the past between the two schools, the Utes are looking to put a mark in the victory column on Sunday night.

Kansas State is sitting at 2-2 (0-0) on the season, with both losses and wins coming against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The matchup between the Utes and Wildcats will take place on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m.

Utah Players to Watch

Shea Kramer had a solid week against UC Davis, going 8-14 at the plate with seven RBI and a grand slam. Kramer’s fielding ability was also spot on throughout the series — he turned two double plays and had 13 putouts.

Josh Giffins came in for relief in two games against UC Davis, going 5.2 innings and only giving up two hits and one walk. Giffins currently has the best ERA on the team with 0.00 and has pitched the most amount of innings of any Utah pitcher during the first weekend.

Opponents’ Players to Watch

Scott Hastings (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) had the best weekend at the plate for the Islanders, going 2-4 with two singles, a hit by pitch and a strikeout. Hastings has only started in one of the three games for the Islanders so far, but look for him to make his way into the lineup with his hot bat.

Peter Zimmermann (Missouri) has had the hottest bat for the Tigers in their first three games of the season. The starting designated hitter went 4-9 at the plate with two doubles and two RBI. The Tigers also trust him on the base-paths, as he has already stolen one bag on the year.

Jordan Wicks (Kansas State) had a dominant performance this past weekend, going seven innings and pitching a shutout for the Wildcats’ first victory of the season. He gave up only four hits and struck out seven in his first outing of the year and currently has a 0.00 ERA.

What’s Next?

The Utes will travel to take on UT Arlington in a three-game series beginning on Friday, Feb. 28 and ending on Sunday March 1. Utah is 1-1 throughout history against the Mavericks, losing the last matchup 3-9 in 2014.

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@brayden_ramsay