Home Runs Power Utes to 13-3 Triumph at Utah Tech

Tuesday, April 25

St. George, UT

4:00 PM

University of Utah

15-24-1

Utah Tech

9-31

Utah

Utah Tech

Home Runs Power Utes to 13-3 Triumph at Utah Tech

4/25/2023 8:34 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Cop went yard twice and Clarkson added a long ball in seven-inning game

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Utah's Davis Cop was 5-for-5, had six RBI and scored four times (including two home runs) to pace the Utes' bats in a 13-3 win over Utah Tech on Tuesday at Bruce Hurst Field, in a game that was called after seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

Cop now has eight homers on the season while TJ Clarkson added a three-run shot, his 11^th on the year. Cop's five hits were a career-high and the first five-hit game by a Ute since both Clarkson and Landon Frei reached the mark vs. Mercer on March 26, 2022.

Leadoff man Kai Roberts had a 3-for-4 afternoon with four runs scored himself and Karson Bodily drove in a pair of runs with his fourth double of the season.

Clarkson also started the game on the mound as the P/DH before going back to DH in the third inning. Bransen Kuehl then came on and fired four strikeouts over the next two innings to eventually earn the win. Jaden Harris worked a 1-2-3 fifth and Blake Whiting took the Utes home from there, fanning four while surrendering one run on a hit and a walk.

Jayden Kiernan singled to extend his reached base streak to 21 straight games and Cop hit safely for the seventh straight contest.

Utah Tech opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning, but the Utes quickly equalized with a two-out rally in the third. Roberts worked a walk, then Cop clubbed a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence to level the score at two-apiece.

In the bottom of the third Kuehl and the Utah defense worked out of a bases loaded, one out jam. Kuehl answered with a strikeout followed by a grounder to third to ultimately help the Utes out of the inning unharmed and still with a 2-2 tie.

Then in the fourth the Utes pulled in front for good with a four-spot. Roberts legged out a two-out single to the hole at third to allow Kaden Carpenter to score and keep the inning alive; then after a Cop base hit, Clarkson turned on the first pitch and sent it over the right center wall near the flagpole.

Four more runs went to the Utes in the top of the sixth, thanks to three hits plus a Utah Tech error. Cop singled in Bruer Webster, Roberts came in safely from third when a throw home pulled the catcher away, then Bodily laced a two-run double for the 10-2 Utah lead.

Cop then came back up to bat in the seventh inning and clanked his second homer of the ballgame off the scoreboard in left center, a three-run shot. Utah then wrapped it up in the bottom of the seventh with two Whiting strikeouts, separated in the middle by a nice diving catch Bodily made in left field.

The Utes will now hit the practice field and get ready to host Washington State for an important three-game Pac-12 Conference series. First pitch in the opener at Smith's Ballpark is set for 6 p.m. MT on Friday.

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