Pac-12 Baseball Slate Begins Saturday as Utes Host Washington

Saturday, March 12

Salt Lake City, UT

11:00 AM

University of Utah

Washington

Pac-12 Baseball Slate Begins Saturday as Utes Host Washington

3/11/2022 8:20 AM | Baseball

Teams will play doubleheader Saturday at 11 a.m. MT, single game follows Sunday at 1 p.m.

2022 Utah Baseball Game Notes
Games 13-15 Date // Time (MT)	Washington (8-5 overall, 0-0 Pac-12) at Utah (9-2-1 overall, 0-0 Pac-12) Saturday, March 12 // 11 a.m. MT (doubleheader) Sunday, March 13 // 1 p.m. MT
Location	Salt Lake City, Utah (Smith's Ballpark)
Tickets	Buy Tickets // Or call (801) 581-UTIX (8849)
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast Saturday (Game 1) // Saturday (Game 2) // Sunday
Streaming	Utah Live Stream
Game Notes	Utah // Pac-12 Weekly Release
@UtahBaseball Social Media	Twitter // Instagram // Facebook // #GoUtes
Season Outlook	New Look Utes Ready for 2022 Baseball Season

The First Pitch: Things to Know

Utah baseball finally comes home this weekend and also begins the Pac-12 Conference schedule as the Utes welcome Washington to Salt Lake City for a three-game series at Smith's Ballpark. Saturday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. MT, with a single game Sunday set for 1 p.m. MT.
Previously, the series had a Friday-Saturday-Sunday schedule, though this was adjusted due to weather in Salt Lake City.
Utah is 9-2-1 on the young season, the program's best start to a season since at least 1981. It took 11 games before the Utes lost their first nine-inning regulation contest (March 6). The other non-victories coming in a 10-inning tie at Loyola Marymount (Feb. 20), plus a seven-inning setback at San Diego State (Feb. 27).
Both the aforementioned LMU and SDSU games were called when a predetermined time of day was reached. This was established prior to first pitch as a result of the Utes' return travel itinerary to Salt Lake City.

Recap in a Minute

Utah continues to ride momentum to begin the 2022 season, fresh off a series win at Fresno State to cap a five-game California road trip. The Utes took three of the four games at CSU Bakersfield (March 4-6), then closed out the swing with a Tuesday night (March 8) triumph at Fresno State by a 5-4 score.
Utah scored all of its five runs at Fresno State in the second inning, highlighted by Landon Frei's first career grand slam which was his second homer of the season. Frei continues to impress as he settles into his first season of collegiate baseball, as he is also seeing increased time at second base and impacting the game with his glove.
Ben Kibbe worked 4.1 innings out of the bullpen for the win, and perhaps one of the most clutch relief performances of the night was Blake Whiting entering in the bottom of the eighth. Coming on with a one-run lead, runners in scoring position for Fresno State and nobody out, Whiting induced a flyout, then two strikeouts to get out of the jam unharmed. He allowed just a walk in the ninth before hanging on for the save.
The save for Whiting was his second of the season and fourth for Utah, which leads the Pac-12 in that category.
Two-way player TJ Clarkson was also named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper this past Monday, March 7. Clarkson was instrumental in the prior week in which Utah went 4-1, hitting a team-leading .471 and slugging 1.000 with three home runs. Clarkson also had a 0.2-inning relief appearance in the March 1 win at UNLV.
It was the second straight week a Ute earned that national accolade, following right-handed ace Matthew Sox on Feb. 28.

Streak Tracker

TJ Clarkson is riding a career-long eight-game hitting streak dating back to the Utes' first meeting with Fresno State on Feb. 25. Clarkson has hit .440 since that streak started with three homers, six RBI and a double.
Kai Roberts has reached base safely in eight straight contests, as well and both Landon Frei and Dakota Duffalo have reached safely in six straight contests.