Completed Event: Baseball versus No. 11 seed Kansas State on May 19, 2026 , Loss , 5, to, 9
Final Score
Baseball
5
vs No. 11 seed Kansas State
9
The University of Utah Athletics
Home and Conference Opener on Baseball's Docket This Weekend
3/19/2008 12:00 AM | Baseball
March 19, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
The University of Utah baseball team (6-10 overall) finally comes home to play its first series at Franklin Covey Field. The Utes will host conference rival, San Diego State, on March 20-22 for a three-game league series. First pitch on Thursday and Friday is set for 6 p.m., while the Saturday afternoon game will start at 1 p.m. The Aztecs (10-7 overall, 3-0 MWC) enter the week having swept BYU last weekend. They have won four of their last five games.
The Utes will look to snap a two-game skid, having lost to Fresno State in round-robin play of the Pepsi Johnny Quick Tournament, and to Gonzaga in the championship bout of the same tourney. Utah finished the tournament with a 3-3 slate.
Quoting Head Coach Bill Kinneberg:
On this weekend's games versus San Diego State: I'm more concerned about us and our play than I am about San Diego State. They have great athletes on their team, but I think the last month of play has readied this team for the conference season. We had a nice week of play heading into the conference schedule and I think we're ready to play.
On last weekend at the Pepsi Johnny Quick Tournament: We had great pitching performances last week, especially from Stephen Fife and Brian Budrow. Andrew Wilding had a nice outing on Monday, and he did a good job pitching against on short notice on Saturday. I also thought that Robert Chimpky pitched well in relief for us. But, we still need to find that bridge between the starters and closers. There needs to be a consistent pitcher in that role that can hold on to lead heading into the eighth and ninth innings.
Offensively, I'm happy with our production. At times this weekend, we swung the bats really well. The Fresno State pitcher had an outstanding game against us. It was good for us to see a pitcher of that quality because I think that San Diego State's Thursday pitcher is going to be that type of pitcher too.
On Utah's hitting thus far in the season: All of the doubles we have hit this season are indicative of a good swing. We are good at hitting the gaps, and that's our strength. We're not a power-hitting team. We'd like to be more of a pressure offense, but offensively, the doubles are sign of a good swing and I'm happy with that.
Scouting San Diego State
The Aztecs enter the week with a 10-7 overall mark, and they are in first with a 3-0 Mountain West Conference tally. Earlier this week, the Aztecs lost to Southern Utah, 5-3, and Long Beach State, 6-2. They went 3-1 last week. SDSU started the week off with a 22-3 loss to Oregon State. But, it returned to finish the week with a three-game sweep of BYU. They return six starters, 15 lettermen, and five pitchers from last year's team that went 29-30 overall. It tied for third with a 12-12 league tally. This season, five batters are hitting better than .300, led by senior Troy Hanzawa. He hits .378 with three doubles and two triples to his credit. Hanzawa is sixth in the league in hitting. On the mound, SDSU's top arm belongs to starter Stephen Strasburg. He is 1-1 with a 3.20 earned-run average. Strasburg is second on the team with 29 K's and opponents hit just .283 against him. Tony Gwynn is in his sixth year on the bench at SDSU. He is 152-169 as its skipper.
Last Week - The Utes went 3-3 at the Pepsi Johnny Quick Tournament, making it to the championship bout of the six-team, six-game tournament. Utah opened up play with an 18-1 win over Portland State, and then it dropped a 10-5 game to Gonzaga. Back-to-back wins over New Mexico State (8-5) and Indiana (11-2) led to a loss to host Fresno State (10-0). Utah dropped the championship game to Gonzaga, 10-7.
Utah out-slugged the Pilots, 18-7, in nabbing the 18-1 win over Portland. Dustin Hennis went 5-for-5 with seven RBI to lead the offensive onslaught. He hit a grand slam home run in the eighth to make 14-1 in favor of Utah. Andrew Wilding got the win, improving his record to 2-0 on the season.
Utah would drop a 10-5 decision to Gonzaga in game two. The Bulldogs plated six runs over the first three innings, and it was too big a deficit for Utah to rally. Michael Beltran was a team-best 2-for-4 at the plate as Bryn Card took his first loss of the season.
Back-to-back wins over New Mexico State (8-5) and Indiana (11-2) gave Utah a 3-2 tally in the tournament after five games. The Utes scored the game's first eight runs and weathered a five-run eighth to beat NMSU. In the sixth inning, Utah had a two-run double by Jesse Shriner and a sac fly by Hennis, giving it what it needed to win. Stephen Fife got the win, upping his mark to 2-1. Robert Chimpky recorded his first save of the year.
Utah rode the 12-strikeout, seven-hit effort of pitcher Brian Budrow in downing Indiana. He tossed his way to his second straight win. It was tied, 2-2, heading into the bottom of the fourth. But, Utah would score the next nine runs in cruising to the win. It was the 3-for-5, five-RBI outing by Cooper Blanc that was spark for Utah against the Hoosiers.
A dazzling pitching Fresno State's Tanner Scheppers blanked Utah as the Bulldogs went on for a 10-0 win over the Utes. The Crimson and White only had four hits in the game, led by Corey Shimada's 2-for-3 effort.
Utah went on to battle Gonzaga again in the tournament championship game. GU took the 10-7 win. Utah led 6-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth. But, Gonzaga plated seven runs in the bottom half of the sixth, taking the insurmountable 10-6 lead on Utah. Shimada's homer in the eighth made it 10-7. Bennett Askew got the loss for Utah.
Team Notes -
Armed and Dangerous - Right-handed pitcher Brian Budrow continues to show why he was a highly-sought after prospect. The Oregon State transfer hurled the Utes to victory against Indiana, tallying 12 strikeouts in eight innings of work. During that span, he only allowed seven hits, two runs and two walks. That performance came on the heels of a 10-K, five-hit, shutout showing at Southern Utah last week. Budrow ranks second in the league with 32 whiffed batsmen this season. His opponent batting average, .250 ranks fifth.
He's Going for Two! - Cody Guymon continues be Utah's top offensive player. He is tops on the team with eight doubles, and he is second on the team in hitting .406. Guymon, who saw his 11-game hitting streak come to an end last week, is second in the league in doubles and he is fifth in hitting.
In the Swing of Things - Freshman Michael Beltran wasn't affected by his slow start the first weekend of play. Three weeks ago, the first-year shortstop hit just .091 the first three games of the year. Since then, Beltran is hitting balls at an impressive .391 clip. Since the second week of play, he's had three doubles and nine RBI. His effort the last three weeks have upped his season average to .333, ranking fifth on the team in hitting.
On the Offense, But Not to Offend - Dustin Hennis had a huge week at the Pepsi Johnny Quick Tournament. He led the team in hitting .440 (11-for-25), and he plated a team-best nine RBI. Four of his nine RBI came off of a grand slam home run in first game of the tournament. Austin Jones may have only hit .292 (7-for-24) last week but he was second on the team with seven RBI. Three of Jones' seven hits went for extra bases as he hit two doubles and homer. Jones leads the team with four homers this year.
Balls and Strikes - Utah is 6-7 in day games, 0-3 in night games ... the Utes have out-scored their opponents, 39-29, over the last three innings ... the team is hitting .319 for the season, but that average jumps up to .354 with runners on base. It bolts up to .429 when the bases are loaded. Cody Guymon is hitting .429 with runners on, and Jesse Shriner is hitting .462 in the same situation ... Utah's leadoff batters reach at a .355 clip. Leadoff batter Corey Shimada is reaching at a .429 clip ... Utah's pitching staff limits opponent hitters to just .266 in two-out situations. Bennett Askew is best among the staff regulars, allowing just two hits in 15 tries.
At the Helm - Head coach Bill Kinneberg is in his fourth consecutive season as Utah's mentor, and it is his fifth overall season as the Ute head coach. He was on the Utah bench for the 1996 season, and returned to The U., in 2004. He is 107-123 all-time at Utah and he owns a 352-306 career record in 11 years. Prior to Utah, Kinneberg was a head coach at both UTEP and Wyoming, and he was also a pitching coach in the White Sox minor league organization. Bill Kinneberg is assisted by Bryan Conger, Bryan Kinneberg and Nate Schlieman.
Up Next - Utah will play at UVSC on March 25 and it will return home to host Air Force at Franklin Covey Field on March 28-30.
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