University of Utah
2-4
Incarnate Word
2-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 13 | 12 | 0 |
| UIW | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
Three Utah Homers Key Offensive Surge in 13-6 Win vs. Incarnate Word
2/25/2023 5:43 PM | Baseball
Gurney’s opposite-field dinger broke a 5-5 tie and was his first homer as a Ute
Three Utes hit home runs in the win, the first three-homer game for the club since April 22, 2022 at USC. They came from left fielder TJ Clarkson, second baseman Landon Frei and catcher Cameron Gurney, with Gurney's leadoff homer in the eighth inning counting as his first collegiate shot. Frei contributed a career-high five RBI, resetting his previous best of four which came when he hit a grand slam at Fresno State in March 2022.
Utah (2-4) had two more doubles in the game from designated hitter Elijha Hammill and center fielder Kai Roberts to help snap the club out of a four-game losing streak. Hammill was 3-for-5, contributing his second career multi-hit game.
Matt Flaharty entered the game as a pinch hitter and went on to play third base, scoring twice and recording his first collegiate hit.
Left-hander Micah Ashman (1-0) earned the win after entering in relief of starter Randon Hostert. Ashman dealt three innings of shutout ball with a pair of strikeouts and no walks, scattering four hits in his outing. Zac McCleve then entered for the eighth inning, striking out the side in order in the eighth, then starting a 1-6-3 double play in the ninth to end the ballgame.
UIW broke the ice with two runs in the home half of the third inning, adding a three-spot in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.
Roberts got the Utes on the board in the top of the sixth on a double that scored Bruer Webster. It set the stage for Clarkson's two-run shot, the culmination of a seven-pitch at bat and cutting the deficit to 5-3. Then in the seventh inning, Frei leveled the score at five-apiece on a two-run single that scored Jake Gish and Hammill. Utah had a chance to do more damage, but left the bases loaded going into seventh inning stretch.
Ashman worked out of the UIW half of the seventh unharmed, getting an inning-ending strikeout after the Cardinals put a runner in scoring position.
As things turned to the eighth inning, the left-handed hitting Gurney stepped in as the leadoff hitter and went opposite-field on the first pitch he saw, tucking the ball inside the left-field foul pole. Flaharty then pinch hit for Gish, laid down a bunt and reached second base on a throwing error. He would later score on a wild pitch, then Dakota Duffalo came across on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Roberts for the 8-5 Utah lead.
McCleve took the hill in the eighth in a non-save situation, striking out his first batter looking before the next two went down swinging.
The Utah bats weren't done, sending eight men to bat in the ninth and tallying five more runs. Hammill laced a two-run single, then Frei clubbed a three-run homer for good measure.
Utah will conclude the Kleberg Bank College Classic on Sunday, taking on host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. It'll be a 2 p.m. MT first pitch at Whataburger Field, with the Utes expected to throw Jaden Harris on the mound.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ashman, Micah (1-0)
L: Higdon, S (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Roberts, Kai 1 ; Hammill, Elijha 1
HR: Frei, Landon 1 ; Clarkson, TJ 1 ; Gurney, Cameron 1
RBI: Frei, Landon 5 ; Roberts, Kai 2 ; Clarkson, TJ 2 ; Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Hammill, Elijha 2
SH: Webster, Bruer 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Webster, Bruer 1 ; Frei, Landon 1 ; Roberts, Kai 1 ; Clarkson, TJ 1 ; Gurney, Cameron 2 ; Gish, Jake 1 ; Flaharty, Matt 2 ; Duffalo, Dakota 2 ; Hammill, Elijha 2
SB: Clarkson, TJ 1
HBP: Gish, Jake 1 ; Duffalo, Dakota 1
Batting:
2B: Ehrhardt, W 1 ; Calabrese, D 1
HR: Ehrhardt, W 1
RBI: Ehrhardt, W 3 ; Carr, A 1 ; Mendoza, R 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ehrhardt, W 2 ; DeLeon, J 1 ; Calabrese, D 1 ; Randall, G 2
SB: Calabrese, D 1 ; Randall, G 1
CS: DeJesus, T 1
HBP: DeLeon, J 1 ; Mendoza, R 1 ; Calabrese, D 1 ; Randall, G 2
