TUCSON, Ariz. – The Utah baseball team defeated seventh-ranked Arizona, 7-3, on Friday evening to take the series over the Wildcats.
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Arizona held a 2-1 lead after seven innings before the Utes scored two runs in the eighth to take the lead and added four runs in the ninth for the win. Â
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Riley Ottesen,
Dylan Drachler and
Chase Bauerle combined to hold off the nation's third-ranked offense on the mound. Ottesen threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Drachler pitched 1 1/3 innings and earned the win. He didn't allow a hit or run (one walk, one strikeout). Bauerle pitched the final inning, allowing one unearned run on two hits with a strikeout.
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Utah was led at the plate by
Ellis Kelly, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI. He hit a double and scored two runs. Freshmen
Dominic Foscalina and
Oliver Dunn each had two hits on the night while
Hunter Simmons drove in two runs.
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Ottesen and Arizona's Cameron Ming spent the early innings locked in a pitcher's duel, as each team had just two hits through the first five innings. Both teams put a run up in the sixth. Utah got on the board in the top of the inning as Foscalina doubled and Kelly followed with an RBI single. Arizona took advantage of a pair of walks with an RBI single scoring a run to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth.
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Utah left two runs on in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with one out after three walks in the inning before Arizona forced a double play to get out of it. The Wildcats used the momentum to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning after a pair of hits.
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The Utes rallied in the top of the eighth. With one out, Kelly doubled to center.
DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. reached base when he was hit by a pitch, and
Oliver Dunn and
Dallas Carroll hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Utes a 3-2 lead.
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Josh Rose led off the ninth when he was hit by a pitch and he moved to second on a balk and third on a ground out before Kelly drove him home with an RBI single. Dunn put runners at the corners with a single and Carroll walked to load the bases for
Hunter Simmons, who plated two more runs with a single up the middle. Carroll added another run on a wild pitch to put the Utes up 7-2.
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A pair of singles in the ninth inning would lead to a run on a ground out for Arizona in the ninth inning before Bauerle struck out the final batter to end the game.
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Utah goes for the series sweep on Saturday, April 22, at 6:00 p.m. MST/7:00 p.m. MDT.
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