Utah Baseball Falls to Kansas, 7-5, Despite Late Rally

Friday, March 6

Lawrence, Kansas (Hoglund Ballpark)

3:00 PM

University of Utah

2-11

Kansas

6-8

Utah

Kansas

Utah Baseball Falls to Kansas, 7-5, Despite Late Rally

3/6/2015 12:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 6, 2015

Box Score

LAWRENCE, Kansas - The Utah baseball team rallied from a five-run deficit to put the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning before falling to Kansas, 7-5, to open a three-game series against the Jayhawks.

Kansas led 7-2 after scoring three runs in the fourth inning, plus a two-run homer in the fifth. The Utes slowly chipped away at the lead, scoring single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to bring the score within two runs, 7-5.

In the ninth inning, Dallas Carroll was hit by the pitch to lead off the inning and AJ Young reached on an error to put two on base with no outs. Both runners moved over on a sacrifice punt. A ground out to the pitcher off the bat of Josh Rose got the second out of the inning for Kansas. With a 3-1 count, Wade Gulden hit a ball that was just inches foul down the left field line before striking out to end the game.

Wyler Smith led Utah at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance, scoring two runs. Cody Scaggari, Hunter Simmons and Kody Davis each had two hits while Patrick Flynn drove in two runs.

Bret Helton pitched three innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits. He walked two and had one strikeout and falls to 1-1 on the year with the loss. Trenton Stoltz pitched four innings in relief, allowing two runs on six hits while Brock Duke pitched the final inning.

Utah had 12 hits to Kansas' 15, and each team had two errors. Utah had runners on base in every inning and stranded 11 on the base paths. The Utes turned three double plays.

Kansas got on the board in the first inning after three singles and Utah came back in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Young walked and Smith hit a bunt single leading to a two-RBI single from Flynn.

Kansas pulled ahead with runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Two errors in the third led to an unearned run, and the Jayhawks scored three runs on five hits in the fourth inning. A two-run home run in the fifth gave Kansas a 7-2 lead.

The Utes began to cut into the deficit in the sixth inning. Carroll walked to lead off the sixth inning and after stealing second, moved to third on Smith's single up the middle. He scored on a ground out. Scaggari, Simmons and Carroll all singled in the seventh inning to add another run. In the eighth inning, Smith hit an infield single to lead off the inning and Gulden, who entered the game as a pinch hitter, singled with one out to put two runners on. After a strikeout, Davis and Scaggari both hit infield singles to score a run before Kansas got a ground out to end the inning.

Utah left two runners on in the seventh, the bases loaded in the eighth and two on in the ninth.

Utah and Kansas continue their three-game series on Saturday, March 7, at 2:00 p.m. CT.