RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Utah baseball team split a pair of games on Saturday, coming away with a 4-3 win against California Baptist after dropping a 10-5 contest to UC Riverside earlier in the day.
The Utes are now 9-2 after winning two of their three games so far this weekend.
Four different players had three hits over the course of today's games, including
Santino Panaro,
Core Jackson,
Jake Long and
Tyler Quinn. Jackson scored twice, including the decisive run in the nightcap victory against CBU.
Game 1
UC Riverside 10, Utah 5
Utah amassed double-digit hits for the fourth straight game and eighth time this season, but a pair of big innings for the Highlanders proved too much to overcome at the Riverside Sports Complex.
Tyler Quinn (3-for-5) had a team-leading three hits while he,
Santino Panaro (2-for-4) and
Jake Long each doubled in the game. Long had two RBI; one via his double and the other on a sac fly.
UC Riverside began the scoring with four runs in the fourth inning, adding one more in the fifth and another four-spot in the sixth.
Quinn took advantage of an error to score the Utes' first run in the top of the sixth. Later on, Long's double drove in
Cameron Gurney. Long would bring
Core Jackson home in the eighth inning on a sac fly as well.
Jackson earned his second hit of the game in the ninth, coming up with a bases-loaded single to score Panaro.
Jack Kleveno scored on a ground ball to tally Utah's final run of the game.
Matt Flaharty extended his hitting streak to 10 games, but was held hitless in the night game at CBU and will look to get back on track on Sunday.
Ian Culver (0-1) received the loss.
Game 2
Utah 4, California Baptist 3
The Utes headed across town to Totman Stadium for the night game, where
Lucas Boesen picked up his first collegiate win thanks to 2.2 innings of shutout relief and a career-best five strikeouts.
In a back-and-forth game, Utah scored the deciding run in the seventh inning when
Kaden Carpenter legged out a two-out infield single.
Core Jackson came home from third on the play to give the Utes a 4-3 lead.
Jake Long went 2-for-5 in the nightcap, while Jackson and
Austen Roellig each doubled and scored.
Despite a rare feat of four strikeouts, Utah plated two runs in the opening inning. With runners at the corners,
Kaden Carpenter stole second and the throw skipped into center field, allowing
Matt Flaharty to score from third base. Carpenter would later score when
Austen Roellig hit a fly ball that dropped in.
CBU leveled the score at two after scoring one run in the second inning and hitting a solo homer in the fourth.
The squads traded runs as the game turned for the late innings. Utah took a 3-2 lead when
Santino Panaro was hit by a pitch in the sixth with the bases loaded. Though the Lancers tied things back up in the home half of the inning, Utah went back in front in the seventh via an infield single from Carpenter.
Merit Jones went 5.1 innings in the start—striking out four Lancers—but received a no-decision.
Dylan Gazaway handled the ninth inning and came away with his second save.
Next Up
Utah will close out the four-game weekend with a single contest on Sunday, taking on UC Riverside at noon MT from the Riverside Sports Complex.
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