March 5, 2011

Final Stats

HOUSTON - The Utah baseball team overcame a rough start to defeat No. 16 Baylor, 4-3, at the Houston College Classic on Saturday afternoon.

Utah had two errors and two wild pitches in the first inning, allowing Baylor to score two unearned runs for a 2-0 lead.

Ute starter Zach Adams recovered quickly, only allowing two hits and one more run the remainder of the way. In all, he pitched six innings, allowing just one earned run (three total) on three hits, striking out six to pick up his first win of the season.

The Utes also struggled at the plate early and didn't get a base runner until the top of the fourth inning when James Brooks led off the fourth with a single up the middle. Michael Beltran put two on with a well-placed bunt. Both runners moved over on a wild pitch before C.J. Cron drove in Utah's first run of the game with a single to left field. Cody Guymon was intentionally walked to load the bases with just one out. Although Trey Nielsen struck out, Jo Jo Sharrar walked to send home Utah's second run of the inning, tying the score at 2-2.

Baylor came back in the bottom of the fourth to re-take the lead, 3-2, with a run, as Josh Ludy walked to lead off the inning, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch before Landis Ware drove him in with a single.

The Utes quickly came back in the top of the fifth to go back ahead, as Brooks again got things going with a single before Beltran walked. Cron had his second RBI hit of the day with a single up the middle, followed by an RBI single from Guymon to plate a pair of runs and take a 4-3 lead.

Freshman Ben Mordini took over for Adams in the seventh inning, allowing just one hit in his two innings while striking out three. Tyler Wagner made his second appearance of the tournament in the ninth, throwing less than 10 pitches to get his second save in as many days.

"We made a couple of mistakes in the first inning which cost us a run, so I was really happy with the team coming back after being down 2-0 and going ahead," Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Most important, the pitching was outstanding. Adams and Mordini had great innings and Wagner threw less than 10 pitches. That's the way you draw it up, and I was really proud of them today.

"We're seeing really good pitching and having good at-bats. We had chances for more runs and it would have been nice to add a couple more, but we'll take it and move on."

Cron and Brooks each had two hits at the plate, with Cron coming away with two RBI.

Utah closes out the Houston College Classic against Kentucky at 11 a.m. CT (10 a.m. MT) on Sunday morning.

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