Utah Baseball Falls 5-4 in Rubber Match with Washington State

Saturday, April 29

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:30 AM

University of Utah

19-19, 9-12

Washington State

20-21, 6-12

Washington State

Utah

Photo by: Dan Lofgren

Utah Baseball Falls 5-4 in Rubber Match with Washington State

4/29/2017 3:02 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah baseball team couldn't make a late rally as the Utes fell to Washington State, 5-4, to close out the three-game series.

The lead changed three times during the game, with Washington State taking the lead for good in the sixth inning.

Utah (19-19, 9-12 Pac-12) was led at the plate by two hits from Zack Moeller, Dallas Carroll, Ellis Kelly and DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. Carroll, Moeller, Chandler Anderson and Josh Rose each drove in a run. Each team had 10 hits on the day.

Josh Lapiana threw 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with three walks and a strikeout in the loss. Tanner Thomas threw 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with a strikeout, while Jacob Rebar struck out the only batter he faced.

Utah took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Moeller led off the inning with a triple and scored on Anderson's ground out.

Washington State came back in the top of the third for two runs to take the lead. A pair of singles led to an RBI double, while the second run of the inning scored on a ground out for a 2-1 advantage.

The Utes pulled back ahead in the fourth. Carroll and Hunter Simmons both singled to set up and RBI single for Moeller. Rose hit into a sacrifice fly to score the second run of the inning, giving Utah a 3-2 lead.

Utah loaded the bases in the fifth but couldn't add to its advantage, and WSU put up two runs in the sixth to re-take the lead, 4-3, after three hits. The Cougars made it 5-3 in the seventh after a leadoff triple. Although Utah brought the infield in and got two ground outs, the run scored on an RBI double to left center.

The Utes cut into the lead in the bottom of the seventh, as Kelly led off the inning with a well-placed double to left field. He scored on a ground out later in the inning, cutting the deficit to a run, 5-4.

Although Kelly singled with one out in the ninth for the Utes, the Cougars got two strikeouts en-route to the win.

The Utes are out of conference this week, hosting UC Riverside for a three-game series beginning on Thursday, May 4.