Utes Battle No. 23 UCLA to a 10-10 Tie in 11 Innings

Saturday, April 8

Los Angeles, CA

1:00 PM

University of Utah

11-18-1, 3-11-1

UCLA

19-8-1, 8-5-1

Utah

UCLA

Utes Battle No. 23 UCLA to a 10-10 Tie in 11 Innings

4/8/2023 7:15 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Quick turnaround as Utes host Utah Valley on Monday

LOS ANGELES – The Utah baseball team played No. 23 UCLA to a 10-10 tie on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, in a game that was called after 11 innings due to reaching a predetermined cutoff time of 4:30 p.m. PT. The cutoff had been put in place due to the timing of the Utes' return flight to Salt Lake City.

It'll be a quick turnaround for Utah, who will be off on Sunday but open a home-and-home with Utah Valley on Monday at Smith's Ballpark. First pitch will be at 6 p.m. MT.

It was a back-and-forth ballgame all the way through with five lead changes and each team logging 13 hits, a day after the clubs went 12 innings in the series' middle game.

DH Landon Frei was 3-for-6 with two RBI and three runs scored, while right fielder Kaden Carpenter had his first three-hit game as a Ute, drove in one and scored a run. Matt Flaharty matched his career-high with three RBI on a two-hit day for Flaharty, rounding out the multi-hit performances for Utah.

Seven different Utah arms saw game action on the mound, including Zac McCleve and Micah Ashman for the second straight ballgame. Starter Merit Jones had a 3.2-inning outing and recorded a career-best six strikeouts, including four in a row between the second and third innings.

McCleve came on with one out in the seventh and a runner at second, ultimately getting out of the crucial frame and dealing 3.0 innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts. Head coach Gary Henderson then called for the lefty Ashman with one away in the 10^th, taking the Utes home from there.

Kai Roberts walked in the top of the 10^th inning after what was an 11-pitch plate appearance—including four straight fouls at one point. He was stranded at first base; as was Davis Cop at second base in the 11^th.

McCleve, Ashman and the Utah defense kept UCLA at bay though, never letting the ball out of the infield in the home half of the ninth. In the 10^th, Ashman struck out Kyle Karros looking to end the inning to much praise from the Utah dugout and fans in attendance. Then in the 11^th, the southpaw had two more K's; the last saw him fan pinch hitter Toussaint Bythewood in a nine-pitch battle to end the ballgame.

Utah jumped out to the early lead thanks to a two-run second inning and another in the fourth. After a leadoff double for Cameron Gurney in the second inning, he quickly scored when Frei put a base hit into center field for the 1-0 advantage.

Frei took second base on a throw to the plate in an attempt to get Gurney, and moved up to third when Carpenter legged out an infield single. He scored on Bruer Webster's safety squeeze for the 2-0 lead.

After Jones struck out the side in order in the second and retired UCLA 1-2-3 in the third, Utah put up another run in the fourth. Frei put a one-out single through the left side and turned on the wheels when Flaharty doubled to the gap in right center. The relay throw to the plate got away, allowing Flaharty to move up to third base.

But momentum flipped toward the Bruins in the middle innings when the home club put up a five-spot in the fourth inning and scored one more in the fifth.

The pendulum took another swing back to the Utes in the top of the sixth on a two-run double for Flaharty. Two batters later and following a UCLA pitching change, Dakota Duffalo popped a single up the middle to plate two more for Utah and put the club ahead, 7-6.

UCLA went right back ahead in the home half of the sixth, taking a 9-7 lead. But in the top of the seventh, Utah jumped on two Bruins errors to level the score at nine.

Just as quick, the Bruins broke the tie in their next at bat. Then in the visiting half of the eighth, Utah snuck in a run to bring the game to its final score of 10-10. Roberts reached on an error to lead off, advanced to second when TJ Clarkson was hit by a pitch, and got to third when Cop hit into a fielder's choice.

Now with runners at the corners and two outs, Cop took off for second to draw the throw from the UCLA catcher. While it put him in a rundown, Roberts started for home and scored the tying run before Cop was tagged out to end the inning.

The game was Utah's first tie since Feb. 20, 2022; coincidentally less than 10 miles away at Loyola Marymount, the Utes and LMU had a 9-9 contest halted after 10 innings due to similar circumstances.

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