Baseball Wins Snow-Shortened Affair with SUU

Saturday, March 8

Cedar City, Utah

12:00 PM

University of Utah

3-7

Southern Utah

5-4

University of Utah

Southern Utah

3/8/2008 12:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 8, 2008

Box Score

CEDAR CITY, Utah - The University of Utah baseball team rallied behind the five-hit, four-RBI effort of Jesse Shriner as the Utes went on to down Southern Utah in a snow-shortened, seven-inning game, 10-0.

The win is the third straight for the Utes as they up their mark to 3-7 for the year. Hurler John James got the nod and the win today. He threw for five innings and he allowed only two hits and three walks. He fanned five batters, evening his record at 1-1.

"We had a bunch of doubles today," noted head coach Bill Kinneberg. "We swung the bats well, we hit hard line drives, and we hit a lot of gap shots. The team had a lot of good swings today and I was happy with its approach at the plate.

"I think we're starting to get into a good routine. We looked better out there the last two games. Our pitchers came out and dominated, and when the ball was hit, we made plays. The game's a lot easier when you do that!"

Utah hammered out 19 hits in only seven innings, six of those went for extra bases (all doubles). A half-dozen Ute batters had multi-hit afternoons, led by Shriner. Leadoff batter Corey Shimada was 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Nick Kuroczko was 3-for-4. Another trio of Utah batters had three base knocks today.

The Crimson and White scored in each of the first three innings, racing out to an 8-0 lead on the T-Birds. Utah chased off SUU starter Mac Nelson after 1.2 innings, and he was dealt the loss today.

An RBI single and an RBI off of a fielding error gave Utah the 2-0 lead after the first inning. Shimada led the inning with a double, and he scored two batters later when Shiner singled through the left side of the field. Guymon, who reached on a walk, would later score when Dustin Hennis' hit gave SUU second baseman Keli'i Zablan problems. He was charged with the error and Hennis tallied an RBI, making it 2-0 in favor of Utah.

Four straight doubles with two outs in the second inning gave Utah a 5-0 lead. Kuroczko was Utah's first base runner of the inning, belting a two-out double down the right field line. He scored on Shimada's double. Shimada would score on Guymon's double, and Guymon scored on Shriner's double.

The Utes plated another three RBI in third, and Shirner capped the scoring with a two-RBI double in the fifth.

Utah did score three runs in the top of the eighth, but they did not count since inclement weather prevented SUU from batting last in the inning.

SUU only had three hits today, all from three different batters. The T-Birds didn't get a hit until the third inning, where they had two of them.

Utah will take Sunday off before it starts playing in the Pepsi/Johnny Quick Tournament in Fresno, Calif. The Utes' first opponent is Portland on March 10th, at 10 a.m. (PT).