Upcoming Event: Baseball at Fresno State on February 13, 2026 at 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
Baseball
at Fresno State
The University of Utah Athletics
Sunday, April 2
Salt Lake City, UT
7:00 PM
University of Utah
11-16, 3-9
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USC
16-10-1, 9-3
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Photo by: Bryan Byerly/Utah Athletics
Eight Unanswered Runs Lead Utah over USC in Series Finale
4/2/2023 11:40 PM | Baseball
Clarkson homered twice in 8-3 victory at Smith’s Ballpark
SALT LAKE CITY – TJ Clarkson and Davis Cop homered in a four-run fourth inning that swayed momentum to the Utah baseball team for good, as the Utes earned an 8-3 win over USC in the series finale at Smith's Ballpark on Sunday night.
Clarkson, who added a two-run shot in the sixth inning, now has eight homers on the season. Cop has gone yard four times this year after his fourth-inning long ball.
Clarkson, Cop, Dakota Duffalo and Jayden Kiernan had two hits apiece in the win. Clarkson logged three RBI and Cop plus Kai Roberts drove in a pair on the night as well. Cop has hit safely in six straight games and reached base safely in 12 consecutive contests, the longest active streak on the team.
On the mound, Merit Jones was the winner (2-1) and matched his longest start as a Ute, working into the seventh inning. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks, striking out three batters. Blake Whiting and Zac McCleve then combined to retire nine Trojans in a row to end the ballgame.
USC plated two runs in the opening inning on back-to-back RBI doubles, before taking a 3-0 lead on sac fly in the fourth inning.
Clarkson led off the home half of the fourth, promptly getting the Utes on the board with a solo shot. It was well over the right field wall and measured out to 432 feet. Then, after Kiernan battled back from a 1-2 count to lace a single, Cop went opposite field and snuck over the right-center field wall onto the berm—tying the score at three with the homer.
With the fourth inning kept alive by a USC throwing error, Duffalo was able to sky a fly ball to right, plenty deep enough for Roberts to plate the go-ahead run on the sacrifice fly.
Roberts came back up to bat in the fifth, hitting a laser back to the mound that zipped off the pitcher's glove and skipped into right field. Kiernan and Clarkson would score on the play, giving Utah a 6-3 lead.
In the sixth, Duffalo worked a four-pitch walk with one out, stole second base and scored when Clarkson went yard once again, this time landing just in front of the Smith's Ballpark scoreboard. That would bring the game to its ultimate final score of 8-3.
Jones was relieved in the seventh inning after a leadoff single for USC. Whiting earned a strikeout during the inning, then McCleve punched out a pair during his two-inning appearance. His second K came in the ninth and was the culmination of a 10-pitch at bat.
The Utes are scheduled to break from Pac-12 Conference play on Tuesday, April 4, hosting Utah Tech in a 6 p.m. MT game at Smith's Ballpark. League action resumes with a three-game series at UCLA from April 6-8.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
Clarkson, who added a two-run shot in the sixth inning, now has eight homers on the season. Cop has gone yard four times this year after his fourth-inning long ball.
Clarkson, Cop, Dakota Duffalo and Jayden Kiernan had two hits apiece in the win. Clarkson logged three RBI and Cop plus Kai Roberts drove in a pair on the night as well. Cop has hit safely in six straight games and reached base safely in 12 consecutive contests, the longest active streak on the team.
On the mound, Merit Jones was the winner (2-1) and matched his longest start as a Ute, working into the seventh inning. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks, striking out three batters. Blake Whiting and Zac McCleve then combined to retire nine Trojans in a row to end the ballgame.
USC plated two runs in the opening inning on back-to-back RBI doubles, before taking a 3-0 lead on sac fly in the fourth inning.
Clarkson led off the home half of the fourth, promptly getting the Utes on the board with a solo shot. It was well over the right field wall and measured out to 432 feet. Then, after Kiernan battled back from a 1-2 count to lace a single, Cop went opposite field and snuck over the right-center field wall onto the berm—tying the score at three with the homer.
With the fourth inning kept alive by a USC throwing error, Duffalo was able to sky a fly ball to right, plenty deep enough for Roberts to plate the go-ahead run on the sacrifice fly.
Roberts came back up to bat in the fifth, hitting a laser back to the mound that zipped off the pitcher's glove and skipped into right field. Kiernan and Clarkson would score on the play, giving Utah a 6-3 lead.
In the sixth, Duffalo worked a four-pitch walk with one out, stole second base and scored when Clarkson went yard once again, this time landing just in front of the Smith's Ballpark scoreboard. That would bring the game to its ultimate final score of 8-3.
Jones was relieved in the seventh inning after a leadoff single for USC. Whiting earned a strikeout during the inning, then McCleve punched out a pair during his two-inning appearance. His second K came in the ninth and was the culmination of a 10-pitch at bat.
The Utes are scheduled to break from Pac-12 Conference play on Tuesday, April 4, hosting Utah Tech in a 6 p.m. MT game at Smith's Ballpark. League action resumes with a three-game series at UCLA from April 6-8.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Merit (2-1)
L: Hammond, Eric (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Colon-Rosado, Adrian 1 ; Gabrielson, Cole 1
3B: Gabrielson, Cole 1
RBI: Colon-Rosado, Adrian 1 ; Gabrielson, Cole 1 ; Olmstead, Johnny 1
SF: Olmstead, Johnny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jackson, Ryan 1 ; Colon-Rosado, Adrian 1 ; Gabrielson, Cole 1
Batting:
HR: Clarkson, TJ 2 ; Cop, Davis 1
RBI: Duffalo, Dakota 1 ; Clarkson, TJ 3 ; Cop, Davis 2 ; Roberts, Kai 2
SH: Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Flaharty, Matt 1
SF: Duffalo, Dakota 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Duffalo, Dakota 1 ; Clarkson, TJ 3 ; Kiernan, Jayden 2 ; Cop, Davis 1 ; Roberts, Kai 1
SB: Duffalo, Dakota 1 ; Roberts, Kai 1 ; Flaharty, Matt 1 ; Webster, Bruer 1
CS: Cop, Davis 1
HBP: Clarkson, TJ 1 ; Cop, Davis 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF/LHP
/ BaseballOF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC/1B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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