SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah baseball team fell to Oregon by a 15-3 score on Saturday at Smith's Ballpark to wrap up the regular season.
Jayden Kiernan smacked his 11
th double in the fourth inning, bringing his final batting average for the season to .402 and making Kiernan the first .400 hitter in the Pac-12 era of Utah baseball. C.J. Cron was the last to accomplish that feat, hitting .434 in 2011.
Kiernan closed the season with hits in 16 straight games and reached base in his final 36 contests.
Kai Roberts (2-for-4) and
Davis Cop (2-for-3) each contributed multi-hit efforts, with Cop and
TJ Clarkson notching an RBI apiece. Clarkson's came via a solo home run to leadoff the fourth inning; it was his 14
th of the season and marked the most by a Utah player since Cron's 15 dingers in 2011.
Cam Day received the start for Utah and worked three innings.
Blake Whiting came on in relief for a three-inning outing of his own, before
Randon Hostert,
Ernesto Lugo-Canchola,
Zac McCleve and
Micah Ashman each worked out of the bullpen.
McCleve, making his program-record 107
th career appearance, came on in the seventh inning and struck out two batters in his 1.2 innings of work.
Utah got on the board in the second inning, sparked by a leadoff single for
Karson Bodily. Bodily hustled around to third on
Kaden Carpenter's one-out single and would score while Carpenter was in a rundown between first and second base.
Clarkson's right field shot to begin the fourth was measured at 443 feet, landing between the Smith's Ballpark playground and Richards Street gate. Kiernan followed with his double but would ultimately be stranded at third.
Oregon's bats heated up for the next several innings while the Ducks' pitchers kept the Utes off the board. In the eighth, Utah posted one final tally when Roberts doubled to left center and scored on Cop's RBI single.
Day received the loss for the Utes.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).