Utah Baseball to Face Golden Gophers in Minnesota
Kyle Robeniol (13) throws a pitch as the Utes take on the BYU Cougars at Smith’s Ballpark May 8, 2018. (Photo by Justin Prather | Daily Utah Chronicle)
March 6, 2020
The University of Utah baseball team will be in Minnesota this weekend to take on the Golden Gophers in a three-game series at U.S. Bank Stadium. First pitch will be Friday at 5:30 p.m. followed by a Saturday 5 p.m. game and the final day game Sunday at noon. The Utes currently have a 4-6 record, while Minnesota’s record is 5-8.
Last weekend, Utah took on the UT Arlington Mavericks and went 1-2 in the series. They lost the first game 0-6, then won the second 9-5 and finally lost the rubber match 1-8. Some key players for the Utes this last weekend were freshman Trey Clarkson, who hit his first collegiate home run and went 3-5 in Utah’s only win. David Watson was on the bump where he pitched five innings, had six strikeouts and only three earned runs.
Utah and Minnesota have faced each other before in 2016 for a two-game series in Surprise, Arizona. The Utes fell to the Golden Gophers both times losing 1-6 and 3-9. Despite these losses, the Utes ended up winning the Pac-12 Championships that same year, so for this weekend’s series, anything is possible.
Minnesota is currently 5-8 on the season. Two of their wins come from beating other Pac-12 schools in Oregon 12-10 and Arizona 5-2. The Gophers fifth win came at the hands of North Carolina 4-1. This matchup will be a good one for the Utes as it seems both teams have close to the same record so far this season. Minnesota also had two weekday games in North Dakota and South Dakota to prepare for Utah. Utah has yet to play a midweek game. The Utes will not return home until March 17 versus the Utah Valley Wolverines.
In other Pac-12 baseball news, No. 6 UCLA lost their first game of the series last night to UCSB, putting them at 11-1, but still first in Pac-12. They will take on No. 2 Vanderbilt this weekend. Stanford upset No. 16 Michigan in a midweek game 5-4. Arizona State won two games in Fullerton, California earlier this week. Washington will face local team Utah Valley at home. The Utes are sitting at ninth before starting Pac-12 play next week.
For this weekend’s series against the Golden Gophers, you can follow along with live stats here, or on Utah baseball’s Twitter. The game will also be live-streamed here.
