Utah Baseball Opens Season at CSU Bakersfield

Saturday, February 18

Bakersfield, Calif.

3:00 PM

University of Utah

CSU Bakersfield

Team Celebrate DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. 2016

2/13/2017 4:48 PM | Baseball

Utah vs. Cal State Bakersfield Game Notes

Probable Starters
Friday: Utah Jayson Rose (Jr./RHP) vs. CSU Bakersfield TBD
Saturday: Utah's Riley Ottesen (So./RHP) vs. CSU Bakersfield TBD
Sunday: Utah's Josh Lapiana (Jr./LHP) vs. CSU Bakersfield TBD

Live Stats
Friday: http://www.gorunners.com/liveStats/v2/baseball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=2967575&db_oem_id=13300
Saturday: http://www.gorunners.com/liveStats/v2/baseball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=2967576&db_oem_id=13300
Sunday: http://www.gorunners.com/liveStats/v2/baseball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=2967577&db_oem_id=13300

The Utah baseball team opens its season on Friday, Feb. 17, with a three-game series at CSU Bakersfield.

The Utes open the series on Friday, Feb. 17, at 6:00 p.m. PT. First pitch for Saturday's game is also at 6:00 p.m. PT with game three of the series on Sunday, Feb. 19, at noon PT.
Live stats are available but no video or audio streams are available.

Utah defied expectations in 2016 with its first Pac-12 Championship, winning the league with a 19-11 conference record. The 2017 Utes have several players back from that championship campaign, notably returning All-Pac-12 players Jayson Rose, Dallas Carroll and DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., as well as honorable mention all-conference picks Dylan Drachler and Josh Rose. The Utes do have to replace several four-year starters, including Kody Davis, Cody Scaggari, AJ Young and Dalton Carroll, but have a variety of talented players waiting in the wings to take their places.

"We have a lot of key guys and important core players from last year's team returning," Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "We also have guys who have improved, and young guys fighting for positions who will be solid replacements for players who have graduated. We want to be in an NCAA regional again at the end of this year. That's our goal."
The Utes spent two weekends during preseason practice training in St. George, Utah, and warm weather recently in Salt Lake City has also allowed the team to get out on dirt.
"Practice has been going very well," Kinneberg said. "We're very happy with where we're at right now. The first four weeks are to work towards tweeking our lineup and putting players in roles that best meet our needs. We're close to that right now and we'll see how it pans out over the next few weeks."
CSU Bakersfield went 19-37 in 2016 with a 12-14 record in the Western Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners changed head coaches during the offseason. Seniors David Metzgar and Max Carter were named preseason all-conference.

Infield

In the infield, senior Dallas Carroll has started three seasons at third base (137 starts) and also has a redshirt year under his belt. The 2016 All-Pac-12 player hit .294 last season and tied for 11th in the conference with a .409 on-base percentage. He led the Utes with seven home runs and had 10 stolen bases on the year.

Senior Hunter Simmons has 132 starts to his name, including the last two seasons at first base. He hit .285 last year with 24 RBI and eight doubles.

The middle infield will see some changes with the losses of Davis at second and Scaggari at shortstop. Senior Ellis Kelly played in 23 games with 19 starts at shortstop last year, hitting .157 for the Utes with two stolen bases. Junior Kyle Hoffman started seven games at shortstop with 20 total appearances and hit .185 with three doubles. Also looking to step into a role will be freshman Davis Delorefice, who was a two-time all-league player at Rodriguez High School.

"Ellis started some last year at shortstop for us, and he's gotten bigger and done some nice things for us athletically," Kinneberg said. "Ellis, Kyle Hoffman and Davis Delorifice will give us the depth we'll need throughout the year. I think athletically we've gotten better."

At second base, freshman Oliver Dunn was a first-team all-state selection at Cottonwood High School and leads the competition to step into the starting position.

"Oliver is a local kid who has come in and done nothing but impress at second base," Kinneberg said. "Offensively he's done some things in the fall and early in team practice that says he'll be a good piece for us, doing what we ask him to do. He's a good left-handed bat, has good speed and is defensively solid."

Other returning players include Wade Gulden, who has played in 63 games over the past two seasons with 31 total starts between the infield and outfield. Conner McNally and Jake Portaro both redshirted last year. Braden DeBenedictis was two-time all-state at Taylorsville High School.

"Wade Gulden has made some jumps offensively and we're looking for him to be able to be a utility guy for us," Kinneberg said. "You'll also see McNally moving all over the diamond and he also has a chance to be a key utility player. Jake Portaro has also done some things offensively that we'll need to fill that void."

Outfield

In the outfield, sophomore Keirsey and senior Josh Rose look to continue where they left off last season. All-Pac-12, a Freshman All-American and member of the Pac-12 All-Defensive team, Keirsey hit .293 last year and his 11 stolen bases tied for sixth in the Pac-12. He scored 28 runs in Pac-12 play last season, which was the most by any player in league games. Honorable mention All-Pac-12 honoree Rose hit .290 with a .456 slugging percentage and led the Utes with 35 RBI. He had 10 doubles and six home runs.

The Utes are looking to solidify the left field spot, and sophomore Chandler Anderson played in 34 games last year with five starts in the outfield. He hit .188 and scored 10 runs as Utah's go-to pinch runner.
Gulden may also see time in the outfield, as could McNally. Gulden started 23 games in the outfield as a freshman in 2015. Also in the mix is freshman Dominic Foscalina, who was all-league, all-metro and all-state at Livermore High School.

"The outfield is maybe one of our biggest overall strengths," Kinneberg said. "DaShawn being a Freshman All-American speaks for itself, and Josh Rose is solid defensively and is one of the best power hitters in the Pac-12. Chandler Anderson is one of the most athletic players in the conference and could be an up-and-coming player for us."

Catcher

Sophomore Zack Moeller played in 22 games with 17 starts behind the plate last year, sharing time with four-year starter Young. He was sidelined for several weeks after suffering a facial injury against Arizona State, but had several strong performances late in the season and hit .174 for the year.

Also returning is senior Max Schuman, who has experience behind the plate but has started 60 games at designated hitter over the past three seasons. He hit .286 last year with 13 RBI and had a .400 on-base percentage.

Freshman Alex Isola was an all-state selection at Jesuit High School while junior Matt Poulin played two seasons at Sacramento City College.

"Moeller is a really athletic catcher who has a great arm and has improved offensively as well," Kinneberg said. "He got some great tutelage under AJ Young, and he's primed to take over that position and run away with it. Max gives us more depth in the catching spot. Alex has done some nice things transitioning into his freshman year and Matt, who probably has the most experience catching collegiate baseball games, has done some nice things with our pitchers. It's collectively a good group."

Pitchers

The pitching staff is led by Jason Rose, a preseason NCBWA All-American and All-Pac-12 who broke the Utah single-season record for strikeouts last year with 106. He finished second in the league in strikeouts and was the only Pac-12 pitcher to have over 100 strikeouts in the regular season. Rose was tied for fifth in the league with eight wins and his 2.89 ERA was 10th in the Pac-12. He held opponents to a .205 batting average, which was sixth in the conference.

Junior Josh Lapiana also returns for his second year with the program as Utah's Sunday starter. Lapiana, who tied for the league lead with six pickoffs, was second on the team with 52 strikeouts. He went 4-6 on the year with a 4.25 ERA.

Looking to move into a starting role is sophomore Riley Ottesen, who was 2-2 with two saves and a 6.38 ERA and 47 strikeouts. He made 23 appearances with three starts last year and was particularly strong at the end of the year in the NCAA regional. Ottesen is tentatively slated to start on Saturday's for the Utes, moving into the slot left behind by four-year starter Dalton Carroll.

Utah's top returning reliever is senior Drachler, who had nine saves for the Utes last season (fifth in the Pac-12) with seven of those saves coming in Pac-12 games, earning him honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors. He was second on the team with a 2.92 ERA and had 45 strikeouts, making a team-high 24 appearances.

The Utes return five additional pitchers who have served mostly in relief roles: senior Hunter Rodriguez (10.29 ERA, 2-2, 16 K's), junior Trenton Stoltz (4.15 ERA, 1-1, 13 K's), junior Tanner Thomas (7.20 ERA, 0-1, 9 K's), sophomore Josh Tedeschi (9.22 ERA, 0-0, 8 K's) and sophomore Lars Lofgren (9.00 ERA, 0-0, 6 K's).

Several newcomers will be looked at to come in and have an impact on the mound quickly. Freshman Jacob Rebar was a three-time all-league selection at Merrill F. West High School. He also has the potential to be a weekday starter for the Utes. Chase Bauerle was an all-state and all-area selection at Syracuse High School. Riley Pierce was two-time honorable mention all-state at Salem Hills HS. Spencer Kevin Johnson pitched at the College of Southern Idaho last year. Sam Mundt was all-state at Central Catholic High School.

"Overall the pitching staff has got a lot of depth to it," Kinneberg said. "We have a good core coming back and the guys who we've added are all competing for jobs. Rose is going to be a premier starter in the Pac-12 and Lapiana is a competitive player who has another year under his belt and gives us a chance to win any Sunday game in the league. Riley threw a lot of innings out of the pen last year and his stuff is electric for Saturday's. Drachler will be the guy at the end of the game for us. He did a really nice job last year. Guys have stepped up and gotten more experience. Trenton Stoltz is an interesting piece. We dropped him down to a sidearm pitcher and he could play a key role in late innings. Of our young guys, Jacob has jumped out to us. He's gotten better as the year has gone along and we like the prospect of him starting games for us if he continues to be the pitcher we think he can be. Chase has been a consistent arm and could fill some innings for us."