Utah Baseball Heads to Houston

Friday, May 2

Houston, Texas

3 p.m.

University of Utah

Houston

Photo by: Sophia Kuder/Utah Athletics

5/1/2025 2:00 PM | Baseball

Utes begin stretch of back-to-back road weekends

2025 Utah Baseball Game Notes
Games 40-42 Date // Time (MT)	Utah (17-22, 5-16 Big 12) at Houston (24-20, 7-13 Big 12) Friday, May 2 // 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3 // 5:30 p.m. Sunday, May 4 // 11 a.m.
Location	Houston, Texas (Schroeder Park)
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch	ESPN+
Game Notes	Utah // Houston // Big 12 Conference
@UtahBaseball Social Media	Twitter/X // Instagram // Facebook // #GoUtes // #UteNotes

The First Pitch: Things to Know
The first Big 12 Conference weekend of May sends the Utah baseball team to Houston for a three-game series, kicking off back-to-back road series for the Utes. The battle with the Cougars runs from Friday through Sunday at Schroeder Park.

Note a couple of schedule changes for the series this weekend...
- The series opener on Friday night will now begin at 3 p.m. MT (4 p.m. in Houston).
- First pitch on Sunday has been moved up one hour to 11 a.m. MT (noon locally in Houston). Previously, the game had been scheduled for noon MT (1 p.m. in Houston).
Utah and Houston have played just one prior game in recorded program history; it was a victory for the Cougars in 2023 during the Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Utes are looking to get back on track coming off of last weekend's series vs. Kansas in Salt Lake City. Colter McAnelly delivered another quality start in the series opener despite a tough-luck loss in a pitchers' duel. The Utah bats did not strike out in the middle game, becoming just the third Big 12 offense this season to accomplish that feat.
In the series finale, Utah led after seven innings but a late rally from the Jayhawks lifted the visitors to a 12-11 final score.
McAnelly has earned a spot on the Utah single-season leaderboard for strikeouts, entering this weekend with 79 punchouts. It ranks tied for ninth in program history; Jayson Rose holds the record with 106 K's during the 2016 season.
The Utah offense continue to be headlined by shortstop and Brooks Wallace Award Watch List member Core Jackson. The senior has been a mainstay in the Utah lineup and defensively in his two seasons with the club. A .364 hitter since arriving in SLC, Jackson this season owns a .366 batting average, 15 doubles, nine home runs, 35 RBI and 46 runs scored—all team bests. Four other members of the team join Jackson in hitting over .300.
As a team, Utah has tallied 95 doubles during the 2025 season to rank fourth in the Big 12. Individually, Jackson's 15 two-baggers tie him for third in the league with Kaden Carpenter (13) just outside the top-10.
Both Jackson and right-handed pitcher Colter McAnelly were included on the midseason position rankings released by D1Baseball.com. Jackson was listed as the No. 13 shortstop in the country and McAnelly checked in as the No. 32-ranked starting pitcher.
Third baseman Austen Roellig has enjoyed a nice turnaround since the second weekend of the season; he went 3-for-16 in Utah's first series at Pepperdine but quickly flipped the script and has built up his season average to .352—second on the team—with 12 doubles, a triple, one homer and 31 RBIs. Excluding that first series at Pepperdine, Roellig owns a .371 clip.
Once back from Houston, the Utes will prepare for a Tuesday night contest against in-state foe Utah Valley. It'll be the back end of a home-and-home midweek series, with first pitch coming at 6 p.m. MT inside Smith's Ballpark.

This Week in Utah Baseball History
May 4, 1998 – In the final games played at the original on-campus Ute Field, Utah sweeps a doubleheader vs. in-state foe Southern Utah (11-7 and 14-2). A brief rain and hail storm interrupted the second game, which included a three-run homer from All-WAC catcher Nate Forbush. The field had opened in 1974 and was cleared following the '98 season. It made way for athlete housing during the 2002 Winter Olympics.