University of Utah
13-17, 2-11
BYU
17-14, 5-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BYU | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 0 |
| Utah | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
Utes Nipped by BYU in Opener 9-8
4/10/2025 10:16 PM | Baseball
Long ties season-high with three hits; bullpen delivers four shutout innings
Pinch hitter Jack Kleveno singled to lead off the ninth inning and put the tying run on base but Utah was unable to get any further on the basepaths.
Four players had multi-hit performances as the Utes combined for 12 hits as a team—half came in two-out situations. Long tied his season-high with three hits, driving in a run on his first double of the game. Three-hole hitter Austen Roellig drove in two runs and extended his hitting streak to eight games.
BYU used a pair of big frames to tally all nine of its runs through the first four innings. After a four-spot for the visitors in the opening inning, the Utes halved the deficit with a walk to Core Jackson and back-to-back doubles off the bats of Cameron Gurney and Long.
A six-run fifth inning for Utah brought the Utes back within a run as the team batted around. Entirely with two outs, the Utes brought the crowd of 1,768 to their feet with four hits in the frame and were aided by three hit batsmen and two walks.
Long kick-started the rally with his second double, driving the first pitch to left center field before scoring on a base hit from Kaden Carpenter. A hit batsman and walk loaded the bases before BYU made a pitching change. Then on the very next pitch, pinch hitter Drake Digiorno was grazed, scoring Carpenter.
The lineup turned back over to Matt Flaharty who reached on an infield single with a bang-bang play at first base. BYU challenged the call, but it stood and left the opportunity for Jackson to work a bases-loaded walk and pass the baton to Roellig for a two-run single. It brought the score to 9-8 after five innings.
Utah turned to the bullpen to begin the sixth inning and the duo of Ian Culver and Dylan Gazaway delivered four shutout innings against two hits and a walk. Culver was unfazed by a two-out double in the sixth, getting out of the inning with a groundout back to the mound. He then tossed a 1-2-3 seventh capped off by a strikeout.
Gazaway came on with one out and a runner on first in the eighth, getting Utah back to the bats with a fielder's choice and three-pitch strikeout. He induced a 6-4-3 double play in the ninth as well.
The Utes were aided by some tremendous outfield defense; in the fourth inning center fielder Santino Panaro came up with a web-gem snow cone catch that took away extra bases and saved at least one run. Later on Thursday night, it was the No. 9 play on SportsCenter's Top 10. And in the seventh inning, Carpenter showed his range in right field as he hustled for a diving catch to rob BYU of at least a double.
Colter McAnelly (2-3) received the loss for Utah.
Next Up
Utah will look to even up the series with BYU on Friday in the middle contest of the three-game set. It'll be a 6 p.m. MT first pitch inside Smith's Ballpark.
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Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Coon, Hayden (1-0)
L: McAnelly, Colter (2-3)
S: Johnson, Ashton (2)
Batting:
2B: Anderson, Luke 1 ; Watkins, Brock 1
3B: Robinson, Ryder 1
HR: Vest, Cooper 1 ; Watkins, Brock 1
RBI: Anderson, Luke 2 ; Vest, Cooper 3 ; Watkins, Brock 3
Base Running:
RUNS: McChesney, Crew 2 ; Robinson, Ryder 1 ; Anderson, Luke 1 ; Vest, Cooper 2 ; Hurdsman, Bryker 2 ; Watkins, Brock 1
HBP: Hurdsman, Bryker 1 ; Gambill, Tate 1
Batting:
2B: Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Long, Jake 2
RBI: Flaharty, Matt 1 ; Jackson, Core 1 ; Roellig, Austen 2 ; Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Long, Jake 1 ; Carpenter, Kaden 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Flaharty, Matt 1 ; Jackson, Core 1 ; Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Long, Jake 1 ; Carpenter, Kaden 1 ; Quinn, Tyler 1 ; Smith, Derek 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 1
SB: Jackson, Core 1 ; Panaro, Santino 1
HBP: Roellig, Austen 1 ; Carpenter, Kaden 2 ; Quinn, Tyler 1 ; Smith, Derek 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 1
