Walker's Grand Slam Lifts Utes over Bearkats, 5-4

Thursday, March 5

Huntsville, Texas

7:00 PM

University of Utah

5-4

Sam Houston State

7-4

Utah

Sam Houston St

Walker's Grand Slam Lifts Utes over Bearkats, 5-4

3/5/2009 12:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 5, 2009

Box Score

HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Devin Walker's grand slam in the sixth inning lifted the Utah baseball team to a 5-4 victory over Sam Houston State on Thursday, March 5.

Down 1-0 after Sam Houston State's (7-4) Nick Zaleski hit a two-out single into left center in the first inning, both teams remained scoreless before Utah (5-4) took a 5-1 lead in the top of the sixth.

The comeback began as Corey Shimada and C.J. Cron each had back-to-back hits with one out. After Shimada got caught stealing for two outs, Utah continued the rally with Austin Jones, Nick Kuroczko and Cooper Blanc drawing three straight walks, loading the bases and bringing Cron around to score and tie the game 1-1.

Walker, the next batter, homered to left field on a 3-2 count to pull Utah ahead.

Ute starter Brian Budrow (2-0) was solid on the mound, pitching five scoreless innings after allowing a run in the first. He gave up six hits and had six strikeouts in his second win of the season.

The Bearkats made a comeback in the eighth inning. Down 5-2 after Jordan Bunch's solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, Braeden Riley led off the inning with a single to left field, scoring after Mark Wyatt singled to left. Stephen Streich replaced Budrow on the mound and although he would allow two more hits that cut the lead to 5-4, he forced pinch hitter Peter Goudeau and Tyler Lundy into fly outs to end the inning.

Robert Chimpky pitched the ninth inning and earned his first save of the season.

"Devin got the big hit that won the ball game for us," head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Brian pitched really well and although he got tired at the end, Streich and Chimpky held on for us. It was a good start to the weekend."

Utah plays three more games in the Lone Star State, taking on No. 4 Texas A&M in a three-game series, March 6-8. Live stats and a free video feed are available at UtahUtes.com.