Utah Rallies For Win Over UNLV, 8-4

Saturday, April 2

Salt Lake City (Spring Mobile)

1:00 PM

University of Utah

12-10, 5-2

UNLV

19-10, 2-6

UNLV

Utah

4/2/2011 12:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 2, 2011

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah baseball team rallied from a 4-1 deficit for an 8-4 win over UNLV on Saturday afternoon.

Down 4-1 after five innings, the Ute bats came alive to take the lead with a four-run sixth inning. The first three batters of the inning reached base as Michael Beltran was hit by a pitch, Cody Guymon walked and Shaun Cooper beat out a bunt single. Austin Shackelford drove in the first run of the inning with a single. He was followed by Jo Jo Sharrar, whose double to the gap in right center sent in three runs to give Utah a 5-4 lead.

The Utes added to their total in the seventh, as Guymon drove in James Brooks with an RBI single after Brooks led off the inning with a single. Shackelford hit his first home run of the season two batters later, a two-run shot over the left field fence, putting the Utes up 8-4.

Brock Duke pitched the first three innings, allowing three runs on four hits before leaving the game with a hand injury. Reliever Joe Pond went four innings and allowed just one unearned run on two hits, striking out two. He picked up the win to raise his record to 3-3 on the year. Tyler Wagner threw the final two innings with three strikeouts.

"Joe Pond gave us important innings to keep it close," Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "You hope it's just a matter of time before you start swinging the bats and the hit from Jo Jo gave us a big lift. Joe only gave up one run, which was important for us."

Shackelford, Cooper and Brooks all had two hits for Utah, while Sharrar and Shackelford each drove in three runs.

After stranding two runners on base in the first inning, UNLV took a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Buoyed by a one-out walk, the Rebels had three hits in the inning to send three runners across the plate.

The Utes got on the board in the third, as Tyler Relf reached on a throwing error and scored on an RBI single from James Brooks. UNLV countered with a run in the top of the fifth inning as Trevor Kirk led off the inning with a single before scoring on a ground out after moving to third on a failed pickoff play.

UNLV was led by Kirk, who had three of UNLV's six hits in the game. Starter Joe Robinson gave up six runs in six innings and got the loss to go to 3-3 on the year.

The Utes and Rebels play the rubber match of the series on Sunday, April 3, at 1:00 p.m. Any weather-related updates will be posted on UtahUtes.com.