On Valentine’s Day, the Utah baseball team headed to Malibu to battle the Pepperdine Waves for their first series of the season. With 2025 being the first year for Utah baseball in the Big 12, a slate of opponents old and new should make for an entertaining spring for fans and players alike.
Friday
Kicking off on Valentine’s day afternoon, both teams opened the season with a bit of a slow start. Utah opened the hitting with a Matt Flaharty double in the top of the first inning, but struck out before the junior could make it home. As the inning turned over, Pepperdine would be the one to secure the first score with a rocket homer to step ahead of the Utes.
After this first major play, Utah and Pepperdine stagnated and struggled to find a rhythm, with both teams striking or grounding out through the next several innings. With the ninth inning creeping closer, and memories circulating of last year’s opening 1-0 loss to Pepperdine in the same stadium, the Utes were running out of time to enact their revenge.
Luckily, infielder Tyler Quinn came to the Utah rescue, hammering a homer RBI to left field in the first play of the sixth inning. With the game tied up and Pepperdine unable to add a score, the two teams found themselves in a tenth inning. A Kaden Carpenter double put the junior on base behind Austen Roellig, before a handful of errors from the Waves advanced the pair across home plate. Pepperdine proved unable to make any hits as the day came to an end, letting Utah take home the opening win 1-3.
Saturday
After Friday’s win, it became clear that the Utes were only getting started. Starting off the day steady, a single in the top of the first put Utah on base, while Cameron Gurney earned his first RBI of the season to put the Utes on the board. Two runs from Pepperdine had Utah behind at the start of the second, but another Utah score matched them prior to the third.
The top of the fourth displayed a show of much-needed Ute strength, starting with a Derek Smith double to start the play. More errors from the Waves put two more Utes on base, and a fielder’s choice added two more runs to the Utah score. Nary a base remained empty with the Utes at bat and with every hit another player was rotated through. A Gurney double handed the sophomore a second RBI, before Carpenter came in with the same to claim a double RBI. With six runs tallied and two more left on base, the inning turned over to a shaken Pepperdine team that now sat losing 2-8.
Utah polished off the game in the seventh, with Santino Panaro nailing a homer to open the inning. Roellig and Flaharty each put another hit under their belt, as Quinn came in to ease them home with a clean single up the middle. When all was said and done, the Utes claimed their biggest win of the year so far and sent the Waves packing with a final score of 2-11.
Sunday
Thankfully for Utah, any luck they had from the day before carried over to Sunday for their third game of the series against Pepperdine. Gurney continued to be a standout hitter, earning a double RBI in the first inning after a double out to right field sent two Utes home. A wild pitch sent the sophomore home as well, securing a third run for Utah in the first.
Evidently, the Utes chose to get their work done early — a run of singles in the top of the second immediately put three Utes on base, while a fielder’s choice allowed Flaherty to reach first. A stolen second base and a wild pitch later, Flaherty nabbed the third run of the inning, while Gurney stepped in for yet another RBI to get the Utes up 0-7.
A one-off homer in the third put Pepperdine on the board, but Utah had found a momentum that could not be stopped. With two Utes on base in the fourth, Panaro sent a double down the line, joining the RBI club and putting Utah at 1-10. The only hiccup came in the sixth when the Waves had two on base and delivered a homer, jumping the score to 4-10. This was not enough to overpower Utah, and before long the Utes had only one game left to take the sweep.
Monday
As the last leg got underway, Utah held on to the dominant energy they had found over the weekend and used it to deliver the final blow. Core Jackson opened the day with a home run with Flaharty ahead of him on base, nabbing two runs in the second inning. Pepperdine continued to struggle on the scoring front as well as error control, as the sixth inning saw Carpenter be hit by the pitch, subsequently allowing him to score.
The Waves claimed their eighth run of the entire weekend in the bottom of the sixth, before Utah sealed their fate when a triple from Panaro brought three more Utes home. As we saw all weekend, Pepperdine couldn’t make up the deficit, allowing Utah to rally home with a 1-6 win and the clean sweep.
Up Next
This weekend, the Utes will return to California to participate in the Tony Gwynn Legacy series, taking on UC San Diego, San Diego State and Seattle University in an effort to maintain their winning record.
