PHOENIX – Utah struck first but ultimately fell to No. 18-ranked Arizona State by a 5-2 score on Sunday in the series rubber game at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Utes (17-15, 6-9 Big 12) were held to just five hits in the game, with one coming after the third inning.
Jake Long (2-for-4) had an RBI double in the opening frame and has hit safely in 25 of Utah's last 26 games.
Jet Gilliam went 2-for-4 and scored a run with
Matt Flaharty picking up a base hit as well.
Long's double was his 10
th of the season.
Utah made quick work to break the ice, needing just two batters to snag an early lead.
Luke Jacobs got on base to begin the game following a Sun Devils error, scoring from first base when Long doubled to the gap in left-center.
Back-to-back Sun Devil homers put ASU ahead after an inning of play, but Utah answered and leveled the score at two. Gilliam led off the second inning with a single and advanced to third on a base hit from Flaharty. Gilliam would later score on a groundout from
Jack Kleveno.
Both sides put up zeroes until the bottom of the fifth as the score remained tied at two. The Sun Devils pulled in front with a two-run homer from Landon Hairston before Hairston drove in another run with a sixth-inning double for ASU.
Derek Smith walked in the top of the fifth and got as far as third base, while
Cal Miller was hit by a pitch in the sixth, but both were stranded as the Utes looked for a way to break back into the run column. Gilliam legged out an infield single in the ninth with two outs but that would be all for Utah.
David Galindo made the start on the mound for Utah, but exited the game after 0.2 innings due to injury.
Seth Graham-Pippin (0-1) came on in relief and contributed 3.1 innings of one-run ball, kicked off by retiring nine of the first 11 batters that Graham-Pippin faced. He struck out three Sun Devils, walked none and allowed just two hits.
Sammy Cova and
Kaden Soder combined to toss the final four innings of the game.
Next Up
Utah is off from midweek action and returns to its home diamond on Friday, April 17, welcoming Texas Tech to Salt Lake City for a three-game Big 12 series. First pitch in the series opener is set for 6 p.m. MT on Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark.
The Texas Tech series will begin a stretch of 11 straight games that Utah will play in the Beehive State—eight of the 11 will be at home.
Follow Utah Baseball
Keep up with the Utes by following @utahbaseball and by visiting
www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app
here.