SALT LAKE CITY – Drake Digiorno sent a one-out double into left field and Kai Roberts came all the way around from first, sliding safely into home plate with the winning run as the Utah Baseball team defeated Northern Colorado, 7-6, in 12 innings on Wednesday night at Smith's Ballpark.
 
Utah (14-6) has won five of its last seven games and played its third extra-inning game of the season.
 
Micah Ashman (1-1) pitched the final 3.2 innings of the game and struck out four batters while allowing three hits. Colter McAnelly went 3.0 innings in his start as six different Utes contributed on the mound. All told, the pitching staff combined for 11 strikeouts and surrendered just two walks on the night.
 
Digiorno's double capped off a two-hit night that extended his hitting streak to six straight games, while leadoff man Core Jackson had a pair of hits plus two RBI and a run scored—his eighth straight game hitting safely. Roberts, Karson Bodily and Bruer Webster also had multi-hit performances.
 
Utah traded runs with the Bears early on, sitting in a 2-2 tie after three innings of play. Northern Colorado pushed three across in the fourth to then take a 5-2 lead.
 
Then in the home half of the fifth, the Utes scored a pair. Dakota Duffalo led off with a four-pitch walk and ended up on third when Webster slapped a double into left field. Jackson followed up with a two-run single, moving the score to 5-4.
 
UNC got one back in the top of the sixth, though the Utes equalized in the bottom of the inning. Bodily opened the inning with a first-pitch, opposite-field fly ball that dropped in and bounced into the left field stands for a ground-rule double. After a walk to Michael Davinni and a Duffalo sac bunt, Webster laced a single up the middle to score both Bodily and Davinni and level the score at six apiece.
 
In the eighth, Kaden Carpenter had a pinch-hit double to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, but Carpenter was stranded there as the game eventually reached extra innings.
 
Ashman relieved Randon Hostert with one out in the ninth, getting out of the inning with a ground ball and a strikeout. He retired the Bears in order in the 10^th with two strikeouts, then worked out of the 11^th and 12^th when UNC put a runner in scoring position.
 
Roberts stepped up with one out in the 10^th after Jackson battled for nine pitches in his at bat. Roberts reached on a fielding error in the Bears infield, setting the stage for Digiorno to blast the 1-0 pitch into left field for the walk-off double.
 
Next Up
Pac-12 Conference play resumes on Friday for the Utes, beginning a three-game series at California. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. MT inside Stu Gordon Stadium.
 
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