SALT LAKE CITY – Thanks to contributions from all throughout the club, the Utah Baseball team closed out the regular season home schedule with an 11-4 win over Utah Tech on Tuesday at Smith's Ballpark.
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The Utes improved to 32-18 with the victory; now securing the third-most wins for a season in program history.
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Payton Riske (2-0) picked up the win on the mound with five innings of relief, surrendering just one run on two hits and a walk, striking out five along the way. He came on in the third inning for starter
Jaden Harris, before
Micah Ashman and
Jackson Elder tossed the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
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It was a solid outing for Riske and his longest as a Ute, while also setting a career-high with his five strikeouts. His only two hits allowed were a third-inning single followed up by a leadoff double in the fourth. From there, he retired nine in a row and struck out his final batter in the seventh inning.
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Every starter in the Utah batting order had a hit, led by
Hunter Antillon's 3-for-4 performance with two doubles and three RBI. Five other Utes had multi-hit performances while
Kai Roberts,
Drake Digiorno and
Kaden Carpenter each scored three runs. Roberts,
Karson Bodily and
TJ Clarkson all doubled in the game as well.
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Roberts stole two bases, extending his program-record to 63 career swipes as well as 30 this season—the latter both a Utah record and leading the Pac-12 this year.
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The Utes answered a pair of early Utah Tech runs with a two-spot in the first inning, then pulled momentum into the home dugout with five runs in the third inning. Roberts followed a
Core Jackson single with a gapper double and later scored when Digiorno laced a single down the right field line.
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Three straight singles from Carpenter, Antillon and
Matt Flaharty put a bow on the seven-hit frame for Utah as the Utes took a 7-2 lead after three innings of play.
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Bodily added a two-run double in the fourth before Antillon smacked a two-bagger of his own for a 10-3 advantage. That score remained until the seventh inning, when Antillon's second double of the day drove in Carpenter with the Utes' final run of the ballgame.
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Utah Tech looked to have gotten two runs back in the ninth inning with a single, but upon appeal it was ruled the second runner did not touch third base. Elder and the Utah defense then closed out the game with two ground balls.
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Next Up
Today's game closed out the home schedule for the Utes with a 15-8 season record at Smith's Ballpark. Utah will now head to Irvine, California, for a three-game series at USC from Thursday through Saturday at Great Park.
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It'll be the final Pac-12 Conference series for Utah before the Pac-12 Tournament begins next week in Scottsdale, Arizona. Tournament tickets can be purchased
by clicking here.
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