SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah baseball team secured the series opener against the Washington Huskies on Friday afternoon at Smith's Ballpark by a score of 8-6.
Core Jackson led the way for Utah, going 3-for-5 with a trio of doubles and RBI.
The Utes improved to 25-11 overall with the win and 10-6 in Pac-12 Conference play. It marks the fastest that Utah has reached the 25-win mark in program history and was the team's sixth win in its last eight Pac-12 games.
Jackson's three doubles were the most by a Ute this season and brought him to 10 on the season.
Tyler Quinn and
Matt Flaharty also shined offensively, each recording a pair of hits while Quinn drove in two runs and Flaharty scored a season-high three times. Five different Utes plated a run against the Huskies.
Bryson Van Sickle (3-0) started the game on the bump for Utah, making his 10th start of the season. The southpaw would produce a final stat line of 6.1 innings pitched, four hits, and three earned runs while striking out three Huskies. From there, right-hander
Randon Hostert struck out four in 1.2 innings of work and lefty
Micah Ashman came on for his 10
th save of the season—currently the most in the Pac-12 and the most by a Ute since Tyler Wagner set the single-season program record with 12 in 2011.
Washington scored quickly in the game, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning via a solo home run and a sacrifice fly. Jackson led off the home frame of the first with an opposite-field double before
TJ Clarkson placed runners on the corners with a single up the middle.
Kai Roberts then drove in Jackson with an RBI groundout to get back within a 2-1 score.
After a shut-down second inning for Van Sickle,
Kaden Carpenter got the Utes started in the home half with an infield single. Flaharty would later single to put runners on first and second with one out before Jackson came through with a two-out, two-run double to give Utah a 3-2 advantage.
An error allowed Washington to tie the score at three in the third inning, but the Utah bats stayed hot. Roberts reached with a leadoff hit-by-pitch and stole second base while taking third base after an error.
Drake Digiorno immediately scored Roberts on a groundout to give the lead back to the Utes, 4-3.
Flaharty tacked on another run for the home squad in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a
Hunter Antillon single; before Quinn roped a two-out, two-run double to extend Utah's lead 7-3 after five innings of play.
Hostert entered in relief of Van Sickle with one out in the seventh and would pitch 1.2 innings out of the bullpen. But the Huskies got the bats going in the seventh inning with a three-run frame and suddenly the Utes' lead had been narrowed to 7-6.
The bottom of the sixth saw the Utes held off the scoreboard, ending a stretch of 13 straight innings with at least run scored. Then in the seventh, a 1-2-3 frame for the Utah bats marked the first time in 40 innings that the Utes were retired in order.
Hostert very narrowly missed an immaculate inning in the eighth (striking out the side in order on nine pitches). Cooper Whitton, Sam DeCarlo and pinch hitter Carson Ohland all went down swinging, but Whitton took a ball on 0-2 to prolong the at bat by one more pitch.
Ashman entered out of the bullpen after a single started the ninth inning for the Huskies and slammed the door with no damage done, picking up his Pac-12-leading 10th save of the season. He induced a fly ball and a grounder back to the mound for a 1-6-3 game-ending double play.
Next Up
The middle game of this three-game series between the Utes and the Huskies will take place at Smith's Ballpark on Saturday with first pitch slated for 7 p.m. MT. It's a packed evening of baseball for the Utes as fans earn free admission with any non-perishable food donation—all to support the Feed U Food Pantry at the University of Utah.
The first 300 fans through the gates on Saturday will receive a free koozie. It's also MUSS Appreciation Night at the ballpark, where the first 50 students receive a MUSS-Utah Baseball co-branded hat.
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Single-game tickets are now on sale for the entirety of Utah's 2024 home schedule at Smith's Ballpark. Season tickets are still available for purchase, but season ticket hats have sold out.
Fans can contact the Utah Athletics Ticket Office via phone with questions at (801) 581-8849.
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