Upcoming Event: Baseball at Fresno State on February 13, 2026 at 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
Baseball
at Fresno State
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Baseball Notes
5/19/2003 12:00 AM | Baseball
May 19, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week
The Utes (23-30, 10-20) travel to Albuquerque, N.M., this Wednesday-Saturday, May 21-24, for the Mountain West Conference Championship at Isotopes Park. The No. 5 seed in the tournament, Utah will face No. 2 San Diego State (26-30, 18-12) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. If the Utes win that game, they will play the winner of the No. 3 Brigham Young vs. No. 4 New Mexico game. If they lose, the will play the loser of the No. 1 UNLV vs. No. 6 Air Force game.
MWC Championship Bracket in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Utah Update
Utah went 1-2 last week against league-leader UNLV, losing 12-7 and 8-2 on Thursday and Friday, before winning 18-8 on Saturday.
The Utes are led on the season by sophomore Matt Ciaramella, who boasts a .354 batting average and team-highs of 51 runs, 70 hits, 14 doubles and 41 RBI. Junior Eric Chevalier is batting a team-high .362 with four triples on the year.
The Ute pitching staff is led by sophomore closer Brady Martinez, with a 2.95 ERA in 36 2/3 innings pitched. He has an opponent batting average of .255 and seven saves on the year.
As a team, the Utes are out-hitting opponents .308 to .303. Utah pitchers have a 6.23 combined ERA, compared to the 5.59 of opponents.
MWC Standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. W L Pct.UNLV 24 6 .800 41 15 .732 New Mexico 17 13 .567 34 24 .586 BYU 18 12 .600 28 22 .560 SDSU 18 12 .600 26 30 .464UTAH 10 20 .333 23 30 .434 Air Force 3 27 .100 15 37 .288
Utah vs. San Diego State
The Utes are 2-4 this season vs. the Aztecs, with three of the four losses by two runs or less. Utah lost by the scores 9-7 and 13-5 before winning game three 9-7 in extra innings in San Diego back in March. When the two teams faced each other in Salt Lake in April, Utah won the first game 7-2, then lost games two and three 5-3 and 10-9, respectively. In the third game, Utah had fought back from a 5-1 deficit to take an 8-5 lead in the eighth, but gave up five runs in the ninth and lost 10-9.
SDSU leads the all-time series 72-16, including a 5-4 victory in the only MWC Tournament meeting between the teams on May 18, 2001.
Scouting San Diego State (No. 2)
The Aztecs (26-30, 18-12), who swept New Mexico last weekend to close out the regular season, earned the No. 2 spot as a result of Air Force's 17-11 victory over Brigham Young Saturday. BYU and SDSU finished league play with identical 18-12 records and the two teams split six regular-season contests. However, the Aztecs won the tie breaker vs. BYU (SDSU was 2-4 vs. UNLV, while BYU was 1-5).
The Aztecs are led on the season by Peter Stonnard with a .368 batting average, and Anthony Gwynn, who has 86 hits and 25 stolen bases on the year. The Aztecs are out-hitting opponents .294 to .292 on the season.
Drew Jenson leads the San Diego State pitching staff with an 8-1 records and 2.23 ERA. As a team, the Aztecs have a league-best 5.13 ERA, compared to the 5.57 of opponents.
Scouting Brigham Young (No. 3)
The Cougars are led by Ranger Wiens with a .406 batting average, 82 hits, 51 RBI and 20 stolen bases. BYU out-hits opponents .332 to .309 this year.
The Cougar pitching staff, which boasts a 6.27 ERA, is led by Paul Jacinto. He is 9-5 on the year with a 3.96 ERA and 77 strikeouts.
Scouting New Mexico (No. 4)
The Lobos went 0-3 last weekend vs. San Diego State to finish fourth in the conference standings. They are led by Sean Murray and Dusty Young. Murray is hitting .382 on the year with 83 hits and 59 RBI, while Young boasts a .381 batting average with 98 hits and 65 runs. They anchor a Lobo offense that has out-hit opponents .347 to .318 on the year.
James Vermilyea leads the New Mexico pitching staff with a 4.07 ERA and 7-3 record. He has 105 strikeouts this season. As a team, the Lobos have a 6.49 ERA, nearly three runs better than the 8.92 of opponents.
Scouting UNLV (No. 1)
UNLV enters the championship as the No. 1 seed after three straight years as the No. 5 seed. The Rebels are currently ranked No. 18 by Baseball America. The Rebels are led by Fernando Valenzuela, who is batting .356 with 74 hits and 68 RBI. Brent Johnson, who has 84 hits and 50 RBI, has a .353 batting average. As a team, UNLV is hitting .313, compared to the .291 of opponents.
The Rebel pitching staff is led by Robbie Van with a 7-4 record and 4.42 ERA. UNLV has a combined ERA of 5.56, while its opponents boast a 7.81 ERA.
Scouting Air Force (No. 6)
The Falcons closed out the season with a 17-11 victory over BYU, just their third MWC win on the year. They are led by Josh Phifer, who has a .419 batting average with 75 hits and 62 RBI.
As a team, Air Force is batting .329, which places them in the Top 25 nationally. The Falcons have a team ERA of 9.10, compared to the 7.12 of opponents.
Quoting Head Coach Tim Esmay
"Regardless of how the season went, the conference tournament presents a chance to be victorious. We're hoping the momentum from our huge win over UNLV on Saturday can carry us into the tournament."
Utes and the Mountain West Conference Championship
This year's No. 5 seed is the lowest ever for the Utes since joining the Mountain West Conference.
2002 Recap
The Utes entered the 2002 tournament with their highest-ever seed (No. 2) in the Mountain West Conference Championship. After being up 9-1, Utah was defeated 13-9 in the first round by UNLV. The Utes went on to win their second-round game 9-8 over New Mexico before falling again at the hands of UNLV, 13-7.
2001 Recap
Utah finished third in the league standings in 2001. The No. 3 Utes lost their first tournament game to No. 4 New Mexico, 7-4. In the second round, Utah beat No. 1 BYU, 15-14. The Utes' tournament run ended with a 5-4 loss to No. 2 San Diego State.
2000 Recap
In 2000, the Utes finished fourth in the conference standings. No. 4 Utah opened the tournament with a loss to No. 3 BYU, 9-6. Next, the Utes defeated No. 1 New Mexico, 6-4. Utah ended the tournament with a 10-5 loss to No. 6 Air Force.
2003 Ute Honors
Mountain West Conference Player/Pitcher of the Week
Clay Westmoreland May 5-11 (pitcher)
Matt Ciaramella April 7-13 (player)
Clay Westmoreland Feb. 17-23 (pitcher)
Jake Jordison Feb. 10-16 (player)
Johnny Bench Watch List (Top Collegiate Catcher)
Wick Udy
MWC Team Leaders
(Overall Games and Conference Games)
Batting Average OG CGNew Mexico .347 .336BYU .332 .355Air Force .329 .291UNLV .313 .316Utah .307 .321San Diego State .293 .313
Slugging Percentage OG CGNew Mexico .572 .537BYU .537 .573Air Force .527 .445UNLV .515 .516Utah .490 .523San Diego State .425 .461
Hits OG CGNew Mexico 762 377UNLV 615 336BYU 610 400Air Force 602 313San Diego State 589 342Utah 554 350
Home Runs OG CGNew Mexico 93 49UNLV 79 42BYU 63 44Air Force 63 28Utah 60 42San Diego State 35 22
Earned Run Average OG CGSan Diego State 5.17 4.87UNLV 5.56 5.33Utah 6.27 7.56BYU 6.27 7.00New Mexico 6.49 6.19Air Force 9.10 10.98
Opponent Batting Average OG CGSan Diego State .291 .292UNLV .291 .292Utah .303 .327BYU .308 .312New Mexico .318 .312Air Force .360 .391
Batters Struck Out OG CGUNLV 466 255New Mexico 353 182Utah 344 195San Diego State 344 199BYU 302 180Air Force 217 112
Runs Allowed OG CGUtah 356 253San Diego State 356 171UNLV 358 186BYU 359 221New Mexico 440 223Air Force 520 367
Utah Season Highs and Lows
Team
At bats:46 vs. San Diego State (March 16) Runs scored: 18 vs. Southern Utah (April 8) 18 vs. UNLV (May 17) Hits: 20 vs. UNLV (May 17) RBI: 17 vs. UNLV (May 17) Doubles: 7 vs. Southern Utah (April 8) Triples: 2 vs. BYU (March 27) Home runs: 4 vs. Southern Utah (March 9) 4 vs. Air Force (April 5) Total bases: 37 vs. UNLV (May 17) Stolen bases: 6 vs. Southern Utah (April 21) Putouts: 33 vs. San Diego State (March 16) Assists: 17 vs. UNLV (April 11) DPs turned: 3 vs. UCLA (Feb. 22) 3 vs. UNLV (April 11) 3 vs. San Diego State (April 17) Innings pitched: 11 vs. San Diego State (March 16) Strikeouts: 13 vs. San Diego State (April 19) Winning Streak: 5 games Losing streak: 7 games
Individual
At bats:6 (seven games) Runs scored: 4, Matt Ciaramella vs. Air Force (April 4) and vs. UNLV (May 17) Hits: 5, Mike Basham vs. UNLV (May 17) RBI: 5, Jake Jordison vs. Southern Utah (April 8) 5, Cort Wilson vs. Air Force (May 11) Doubles: 3, Jared Pena vs. Air Force (April 4) Triples: 1 (20 games) Home runs: 2 (four games) Total bases: 8 (six games) Stolen bases: 3, Eric Chevalier vs. Southern Utah (April 21) 3, Mike Basham vs. UNLV (May 17) Putouts: 15, Jake Jordison vs. Arizona State (March 8) Assists: 10, Jared Pena vs. Arizona State (March 8) Innings pitched: 9, Clay Westmoreland vs. San Diego State (April 17) and vs. Air Force (May 9) Strikeouts: 9, Doug Mackay vs. Air Force (May 10)
Academic Home Run
Thirteen Utes were named to the spring semester honor roll after finishing the semester with a 3.00 GPA or higher. They are: Matt Anderson (3.273), Eric Chevalier (3.640), Matt Ciaramella (3.400), Ryan Florence (3.000), T.R. Gourley (3.575), Ryan Khoury (3.350), Tyler Kmetko (3.575), Derek Larsen (3.150), Jason Price (3.175), Nate Schlieman (3.350), Dan Simonsen (3.054), Jake Waldram (3.650) and Cort Wilson (3.308).
Martinez Approaches Relieving Records
Sophomore reliever Brady Martinez, who leads the Ute pitching staff with a 2.95 ERA in 19 appearances, has seven saves this season. He needs just one more to tie the school single-season record of eight. In addition, with one save last season as a freshman, he now has eight on his career -- one away from the Utah record of nine.
Chevalier Keeps on Hitting
Junior Eric Chevalier is in the midst of a 20-game hitting streak. The junior college transfer has had one or more hits in every game since Utah played at Air Force on April 4. What's more, in more than half (11) of those games, he's had two or more hits.
Noticeable Newcomers
The Utes' newcomers have made a big impact this season, especially the five that are in the starting lineup: senior Wick Udy, juniors Eric Chevalier and Cort Wilson, and freshmen Ryan Khoury and Jason Price. Udy has started 41 games at catcher and ranks second on the team in put-outs. Chevalier leads the Utes in batting average, triples, stolen bases and fielding percentage, and tanks second in slugging percentage. Wilson has started 33 games and is 8-of-9 in stolen base attempts. Khoury ranks third in the conference in sacrifice bunts and seventh in both assists and fielding double plays. Price leads the Ute pitching staff in winning percentage with a 4-1 record on the year. He moved into the starting lineup in late April.
Repeat Performers
Sophomore Matt Ciaramella leads a group of seven Utes with 10 or more multiple-hit games. He has 20 multiple-hit and 11 multiple-RBI games. Junior Eric Chevalier has 15 games with two or more hits and seven multiple-RBI games. Junior Mike Westfall has 18 multiple-hit games and 11 games with two or more RBI. Junior Jared Pena and senior Wick Udy each have 16 multiple-hit games. Pena also has 10 multiple-RBI games. Rounding out the group are senior Jake Jordison and freshman Ryan Khoury. Each have 14 games with two or more hits this season, while Jordison has 11 games with two or more RBI.
Pronunciation Guide
Brandon BIESINGER Bee-sing-urrMatt CIARAMELLA Cir-uh-mel-uhEric CHEVALIER Chev-a-leerTim ESMAY Ez-mayT.R. GOURLEY Girl-eeRyan KHOURY Kour-eeTyler KMETKO Ka-met-koDoug MACKAY Mack-eeJared PENA Pen-yaNate SCHLIEMAN Sh-lee-manWick UDY You-dee
On Deck
The winner of the MWC Championship receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.
Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark | construction update - 11.4.25
Tuesday, November 11
Utah Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025 | Baseball's C.J. Cron
Monday, October 13
Progress check at Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark
Tuesday, August 12
Seven New Inductees to Join Utah Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2025
Monday, July 28