The University of Utah baseball team traveled up to Seattle this past weekend for a three-game series against the Washington Huskies. After getting a 3-0 win against Washington on Sunday, the Utes fell in a 0-7 shutout to BYU on Tuesday in Provo.

The first few weeks of the season have been up and down for the U. The Utes started the season in San Francisco, taking one of four against the San Francisco Dons. They won two of three in the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas the following weekend. Entering this series against Washington, Utah held a 6-6 overall record. 

Friday’s game in Seattle started with a first-inning home run by Washington’s Cam Clayton off of Utah starting pitcher Cam Day. The Huskies put up two more runs in the third inning. AJ Guerrero drove in a run on a single to right field. Right fielder Coby Morales scored on the next at bat on a fielder’s choice play, leaving the Huskies up 3-0 after three innings.

The teams took turns scoring throughout the rest of the game. Freshman outfielder Elijha Hammill put the Utes on the board in the fourth inning, scoring on a Landon Frei single. Catcher Davis Cop singled in the seventh inning and worked his way around the bases. Hammill drove him in on a hit to left field. Unfortunately, this was all the Utes would get as they lost to the Huskies 5-2. 

Utah jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday with both runs coming in the third. Dakota Duffalo hit a leadoff double to start the inning. This was followed by a Bruer Webster single. Duffalo scored on the next at-bat following an error. Webster ended up scoring as well before the inning ended. 

Washington put up two runs in the fourth inning and another in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead. This score held until the top of the ninth. The Utes got a rally going and TJ Clarkson scored when Cop was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. This gave Utah a great chance to take the lead, but a strikeout ended the top half of the inning.

After the first two batters for Washington in the ninth were retired, Huskies second baseman Sam DeCarlo stepped up to the plate. He crushed one over the left field wall, winning the game 4-3 in a heartbreaking defeat for the Utes.

Utah rebounded from these defeats with a 3-0 win on Sunday afternoon. Merit Jones got the start, pitching six shutout innings. He struck out four batters and walked none. Jones also only gave up five hits in the effort.

Bruer Webster started the game with a leadoff hit and made his way around the bases to give the Utes a quick one run lead. TJ Clarkson followed that up in the third inning with a solo home run, his sixth of the season. Hammill picked up an RBI in the 5th inning. He doubled to right center, driving in Matt Flaharty. 

Micah Ashman closed the door on the Huskies in the ninth inning, securing the shutout in a 3-0 win. Sunday marked Ashman’s fourth save of the year.

After returning home from Seattle, the Utes made the 45-mile journey south to Provo to take on the BYU Cougars Tuesday afternoon. This game didn’t go quite as well for the U, as BYU picked up a 7-0 win. Utah could only muster one hit all game.

BYU’s Austin Deming recorded RBIs in both the first and third innings, giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead. BYU put two more on the board to make it 4-0 after three. After a home run in the sixth and two more runs in the eighth, BYU finished with a 7-0 win over the Utes.

Looking ahead, the Utes home opener is coming up this weekend as the Arizona State Sun Devils roll into town for a three game set. Utah will play Northern Colorado twice next Tuesday and Wednesday at home, followed by a three game road trip next weekend at Stanford.

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