No. 23 Kansas Takes Middle Game from Utah Baseball
4/26/2025 6:44 PM | Baseball
Utes will wrap up series with the Jayhawks on Sunday
Santino Panaro and Kaden Carpenter each went 2-for-4 including a three-run home run for Panaro. Drake Digiorno and Matt Flaharty each contributed a double while Digiorno scored twice in the game. Panaro's homer was his third of the season.
Defensively, Utah turned a season-high four double plays; it also tied the most this year by a Big 12 team. Core Jackson and Matt Flaharty had a hand in three of the four double plays and Austen Roellig started the other at third base, with Cameron Gurney the common thread in all four at first base.
Starting pitcher Merit Jones (2-5) had five strikeouts on the day, before being relieved by fellow right-hander Ian Culver. Brady Joyner entered the game in the seventh inning and fanned four, before freshman Colby Chambers came on for his first home appearance as a Utah Ute.
Kansas went up by two runs in the second inning, plating a pair on back-to-back singles with the bases loaded. Jones would retire the Jayhawks in order in the third before Utah evened the score in the home half of the inning. Jack Kleveno laced a single to center field that brought in Digiorno from third, then Kleveno would score when Core Jackson beat out a throw to first base to extend the inning.
The Jayhawks built up a lead in the next couple of innings, taking a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning before posting a four-spot in the fifth and another pair of runs in the sixth to put some space between the clubs.
Utah put runners into scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings but was unable to get anyone across the plate.
Digiorno sparked the ninth inning sequence with a double down the left field line that pinballed off the Kansas bullpen. Cal Kilgore later worked through an 11-pitch battle for a two-out walk, setting the stage for Panaro to homer down the right field line just inside the foul pole.
Next Up
The Utes will take on Kansas in the final game of the series at Smith's Ballpark on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.
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Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Moore, Cooper (5-1)
L: Jones, Merit (2-5)
S: Trumper, Thaniel (1)
Batting:
2B: Ballinger, Brady 1 ; Counsell, Brady 1 ; Barth, Tommy 1 ; Francis, Ian 1
HR: Counsell, Brady 1
RBI: Cerda, Derek 1 ; Ballinger, Brady 2 ; Counsell, Brady 2 ; Barth, Tommy 3 ; Francis, Ian 3 ; Smith, Sawyer 1
SF: Cerda, Derek 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cerda, Derek 1 ; Hauge, Jackson 1 ; Osoria, Dariel 2 ; Brooks, Michael 2 ; Counsell, Brady 3 ; Barth, Tommy 2 ; Smith, Sawyer 1
HBP: Osoria, Dariel 1

Batting:
2B: Digiorno, Drake 1 ; Flaharty, Matt 1
HR: Panaro, Santino 1
RBI: Panaro, Santino 3 ; Jackson, Core 1 ; Kleveno, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Panaro, Santino 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 2 ; Kleveno, Jack 1 ; Kilgore, Cal 1
SB: Jackson, Core 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 1

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