Riske, Diamant Solid on Mound as Utah Evens Series at BYU

Friday, May 1

Provo, Utah

6 p.m.

University of Utah

22-19, 10-13

BYU

23-22, 12-11

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Utah	1	0	2	1	1	1	0	1	1	8	15	1
BYU	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0

Photo by: Sophia Kuder/Utah Athletics

Riske, Diamant Solid on Mound as Utah Evens Series at BYU

5/1/2026 10:47 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Utes hit three home runs in 8-1 victory to set up rubber game

PROVO, Utah – Jake Long, Jet Gilliam and Blake Eckerle each homered as the Utah baseball team scored in seven different innings and took an 8-1 victory over the BYU Cougars on Friday night at Miller Park.

The result evened up the three-game rivalry series between the clubs and sets up a rubber game on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT.

Five different Utah Utes had multi-hit games, highlighted by two doubles from leadoff man Luke Jacobs. Long's 10^th homer of the year came during a 2-for-5 night and Gilliam went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. In the sixth inning, Eckerle clubbed his first collegiate home run to give the Utes (22-19, 10-13 Big 12) some insurance as the game reached the late innings.

The team's 15-hit effort at the plate all took place while Payton Riske (4-2) set the tone on the mound. Riske gave the Utes five solid innings in his start, holding the Cougars to one run on four hits and just one walk. He struck out seven batters before being relieved by Demitri Diamant, who tossed the final four innings and scattered three hits on the way to his first save.

Timely hitting was key in the ballgame for the Utes, who were 6-for-14 in two-out situations and 6-for-12 with runners in the scoring position. The wind was blowing out for much of the game and several fly balls were caught on the warning track.

Long's homer put the Utes out in front in the first inning. It came on a 2-2 pitch as the junior went to straightaway center field and gave Utah the early 1-0 lead.

BYU answered in its half of the first, beginning with a leadoff double and knocking in the tying run two batters later with a single.

Riske worked around a leadoff walk in the second, responding with two fly balls and a strikeout to win an eight-pitch battle over Ridge Erickson.

It set the table for a pair of Utah runs in the third. Derek Smith led off with a bloop single that dropped into right field. He moved up to second on a wild pitch and came in when Jacobs ripped a double into right center field. Three batters later and with Jacobs now on third base, Gurney hit a line drive back through the middle for an RBI single as Utah took a 3-1 lead.

Gilliam turned on the first pitch of the fourth inning for a solo shot into the trees beyond left field. When he came back up with two outs in the fifth inning, Gilliam took a strike then laced a single up the middle to plate Gurney and swell the Utes' advantage to 5-1.

Riske, meanwhile, continued to deal with a scoreless fourth inning and two strikeouts in the fifth to wrap up his outing.

Utah's clutch leadoff at bats continued in the sixth when the left-handed hitting Eckerle came up and turned on a 1-0 pitch for a solo shot over the right field wall.

Though BYU opened up the bottom of the sixth with a single on Diamant's first batter, Diamant immediately answered with a strikeout and got the next batter to hit a one-hopper to Matt Flaharty, who stepped on second base and fired to first for an inning-ending double play—Utah's fourth twin-killing of the series.

Jacobs and Gilliam each added a two-out RBI in the eighth and ninth inning, respectively, to put the icing on the victory.

Next Up
Utah and the Cougars will play the rubber match of this three-game series on Saturday inside Miller Park with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. MT.

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