TUCSON, Ariz. – Josh Lapiana pitched a complete game to lift the Utah baseball team to a 4-2 win over seventh-ranked Arizona on Saturday evening, giving the Utes the series sweep of the Wildcats. It is the second-straight season that Utah has swept the series against Arizona.
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Utah (17-17, 8-10 Pac-12) scored all four of its runs in the first two innings. Arizona rallied in the ninth with a two-out RBI double to bring the tying run to the plate, but Lapiana got a pop up to end it.
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Lapiana raises his record to 3-4 on the year with the win. He struck out six and allowed two runs on six hits with two walks.
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Hunter Simmons led Utah at the plate with a 3-for-4, two-RBI performance.
DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., and
Oliver Dunn each had two hits for the Utes.
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Utah quickly jumped on Arizona starter Rio Gomez for three runs in the first inning. Keirsey led off the game with a single and Dunn walked with
Dallas Carroll doubling in the first run of the game. Simmons followed with a two-RBI single to put the Utes up 3-0.
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The Utes added a fourth run in the second inning, with Keirsey drawing a two-out walk and after a stolen base, Dunn conquered a long at bat with an RBI single.
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Arizona got on the board in the sixth inning. A pair of singles led to a run on a sacrifice fly, cutting the Utah lead to 4-1.
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Lapiana got out of a jam in the seventh after surrendering a leadoff double. A flyout moved the runner to third before
Ellis Kelly made the play of the night with a leaping grab on a line drive for the second out of the inning. Lapiana got out No. 3 with a pop up.
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Utah stranded two runners on in both the eighth and ninth innings.
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Arizona used a one-out walk to make a late rally in the ninth inning. A two-out double brought the tying run to the plate, but Lapiana's first pitch to the next batter ended in a pop up.
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Utah is at Utah Valley on Tuesday, April 25, at 6:00 p.m. The Utes are home for the next three weekends, beginning with Washington State on Thursday, April 27.
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