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
Utah Baseball NCAA Regional Preview
5/26/2009 12:00 AM | Baseball
May 26, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Utah Reaches First NCAA Championship Since 1960
After an improbable run to win the Mountain West Conference tournament, the Utah baseball team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championships. The Utes will open the tournament against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, May 29, in Fullerton, Calif., at 7:00 p.m. (PT).
Utah is the only team in the tournament that does not have a winning record.
The Utes are making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Championship (1951, 1959 and 1960).
Scouting The Field
The No. 1 seed and host Cal State Fullerton (42-14, 17-7 Big West) is currently ranked fourth in the nation. They finished second in the Big West and ended the year on a four-game winning streak. Shortstop Christian Colon (.347 batting average, 78 hits) is a finalist for several national awards. Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg and Fullerton head coach Dave Serrano have a friendship. Kinneberg attempted to recruit Serrano to UTEP when Serrano was playing at Cerritos College and they became friends as coaches.
Gonzaga (35-16) won the West Coast Conference title. Matt Fields (8-1, 2.86 ERA) was named as the WCC Pitcher of the Year. The Utes faced Gonzaga back on March 24 and 25, winning game one 16-9 before falling in game two, 3-2.
Georgia Southern (42-15) was the Southern Conference champions. Chris Mederos (11-1, 3.66 ERA, 112 K's) and Griffin Benedict (.401 batting average, 85 hits, .627 slug. pct.) were both first-team All-SoCon selections.
Utes Win MWC Tournament
Utah became the first No. 6 seed in Mountain West Conference Tournament history to win the title, advancing through the elimination bracket before beating No. 4 seed San Diego State, 9-3, in the championship game. It was the Utes first MWC Tournament title.
Utah opened the championship with a 2-1, 10-inning victory over No. 3 seed BYU. Tyler Yagi had a pair of RBI hits in the game for the Utes. They moved on to face No. 1 seed and No. 10 ranked TCU, using a six-run fourth inning to take a 9-7 victory and continue in the winners bracket. It was the first time in tournament history that a No. 6 seed had beaten a No. 1 seed. Yagi was 3-for-6 to lead the Utes and Brian Budrow picked up his fifth win of the year on the mound, striking out six over 6.1 innings.
The Utes struggled in their next game against San Diego State, giving up eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to fall 9-8. However, Utah was determined not to go out that way, defeating TCU in the elimination bracket for the second time in the tournament, 6-4, the next night, turning around an hour later to down San Diego State, 4-1, and set up a winner-take-all title game.
Utah pushed six runs across the plate in the third inning in the 9-3 win over the Aztecs as Austin Jones and Rick Cornu each had two RBI in the inning.
Yagi, who had 10 hits during the tournament, was named Most Valuable Player, while Devin Walker was named the tournament's designated hitter and Greg Krause, who made four appearances in relief, was selected as the relief pitcher. C.J. Cron, Corey Shimada and Jordan Whatcott were all named to the All-Tournament team.
Quick Hits
The Utes scored 24 runs with two outs during the MWC Tournament ... ... Utah has lost 12 games this year by one run ... Utah leads the MWC in runners picked off (21) ... Nick Kuroczko is in the top 10 nationally in triples (8) and triples per game (0.15) ... Utah has scored in double figures 13 times this season, and are 12-1 when scoring in double figures ... the Utes are 6-8 against ranked teams this year. Utah has played four three-game series against ranked teams and won one game in each of those series. They include wins over No. 1 UC Irvine and No. 4 Texas A&M ... Utah had not won a conference tournament in either the MWC or the Western Athletic Conference before this past weekend, although the Utes finished at the top of the North Division in the WAC in 1964, 1965 and 1997 ... The MWC received three NCAA bids for the first time in league history. TCU and San Diego State were also selected.
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