CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Utah baseball team clawed their way to a 2-1 victory over Kansas State behind great pitching in the Kleberg Bank College Classic.
Three Utah pitchers combined to only give up one run in the game and the Utes finally broke through in the bottom of the ninth scoring two runs for the walk-off win.
Heading into the ninth,
Matt Richardson reached base with a single to left field for Utah's first hit of the afternoon. After a
Vinny Zavolta walk,
Tyler Thompson bunted them over to put runners on second and third with one out. With runners on base applying a little pressure, the Kansas State pitcher had trouble finding the strike zone and had a wild pitch for Richardson to score and tie the game. After the Wildcats then walked the next two batters to load the bases with one out,
Shea Kramer hit a grounder to third and beat out the attempt at a double play to get out of the inning giving Utah a walk-off win.
Kyle Robeniol pitched 6.1 innings and only allowed four hits on the afternoon.
Josh Giffins came in and pitched 2.1 innings only giving up two hits, but allowing one run.
Zac McCleve came in to get the last out and keeping Utah down only one run heading to the bottom of the ninth.
The Utes did draw seven walks in the game with three of those coming in the ninth inning.
The win makes Utah 2-1 in the Kleberg Bank College Classic and moves Utah to 3-4 on the season.
Next weekend, the Utes will head back to Texas for a series at UT Arlington. First pitch is Friday, February 28 at 5:30 p.m. MT.