SALT LAKE CITY – Playing in what was likely the final Utah vs. BYU baseball game inside Smith's Ballpark, the Utes secured a rubber game victory over their in-state rival with a 9-6 triumph on Saturday.
Kaden Carpenter hit his second home run of the season as Utah scored four in the sixth inning and never looked back. Carpenter also doubled in the game, while
Santino Panaro slapped his third triple of the season. Panaro was one of four Utes to post three-hit performances, along with
Core Jackson,
Austen Roellig and
Cameron Gurney. Carpenter and Gurney each had three RBIs.
It was a team effort on the mound as well.
Brady Joyner made his first collegiate start, working into the second inning on a staff day for the Utes.
Easton Jones and
Dylan Gazaway (1-1) tossed three innings apiece with Jones recording four strikeouts. Gazaway did not allow a run.
Cameron Nielson came on in the eighth with the tying run at the plate for BYU, but induced a fly ball to get Utah out of a bases-loaded jam unharmed.
Dillon Fine then entered the game in the ninth and earned his first collegiate save.
There was much buildup to this series, not only with both programs conference foes once again but also given the venue. It showed in the fan turnout; the attendance of 2,273 at Saturday's game brought the series total to 6,460—the most for a three-game conference series between Utah and BYU since 2002 when the then-Mountain West rivals played down in Provo. For a Utah-BYU conference series inside Smith's Ballpark, it was the biggest turnout since a WAC weekend back in 1997.
The main parking lot was full before first pitch today and a sizeable group of fans were still in line to buy their tickets as the first inning got underway.
Like the prior two contests in this series, Saturday had a game full of momentum swings and big-time plays, and Utah's offense delivered with 16 hits—its most in a Big 12 ballgame this year.
After falling behind 1–0 in the top of the first inning on a solo home run from BYU's Luke Anderson, the Utes immediately responded with a three-run bottom half.
Matt Flaharty was hit by a pitch, advanced on a wild pitch, and came around to score on an RBI single by Roellig. The Utes capitalized on a BYU error and a sacrifice fly from
Jake Long to jump ahead 3–1.
The Cougars chipped away over the next few innings, tying the game 3–3 by the third. But the Utes kept their poise and pulled back in front during the bottom half of the inning. Carpenter hit a two-out double off the center field wall, later scoring on a single from
Drake Digiorno. A three-hit fourth inning was capped off by a single from Gurney that brought in Jackson to give Utah a 5-3 advantage.
BYU would get even again in the fifth inning with a pair of runs as the score was tied back up at five.
Gazaway worked around a one-out single in the sixth as Utah went back to the bats with 2-3-4 due up in the order.
Utah's bats heated up in the sixth as the Utes took command of the game. Three straight singles to begin the inning included an RBI knock for Gurney to break the tie. Then Carpenter stepped up and launched a three-run shot to the berm in right center field, swelling the lead to 9-5.
Gazaway was unfazed by a hit batsman in the seventh and ended the inning with a nice stab of a line drive hit right at him. Nielson got a key final out in the eighth and Fine would close the door in the ninth.
Though BYU got one run back in the ninth, the Utes turned a critical double play and Fine won a 10-pitch battle with a strikeout, clinching the 9–6 victory in the game and a series win for the Utes.
Next Up
Idle in midweek action this coming week, the Utes will turn their attention to a Big 12 Conference series at Baylor. It'll take place in Waco, Texas, from Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19.
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