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
Tuesday, April 8
Provo, Utah
2:00 PM
University of Utah
13-14
9
at
7
Brigham Young
14-18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
University of Utah
0
0
0
2
5
0
2
0
0
9
14
1
Brigham Young Univ.
1
0
2
0
0
0
4
0
0
7
11
1
Baseball Edges BYU in Non-Conference Tilt, 9-7
4/8/2008 12:00 AM | Baseball
April 8, 2008
PROVO, Utah - The University of Utah baseball team rallied from a three-run deficit to edge in-state rival BYU here this afternoon in a non-conference tilt, 9-7.
Utah spotted BYU a 3-0 lead, but the Utes turned around and scored nine straight runs. The difference-maker, however, was Utah's two-run seventh inning. The Cougars plated four runs in the bottom of the seventh, trimming a six-run lead down to two, 9-7. That's as close as the Cougars would get as Utah went on to bag the two-run win.
"We got some breaks today," said head coach Bill Kinneberg. "We put the ball in play and the ball bounced our way. I don't want to take anything away from the way we played, because I think we earned the breaks we got.
"It was a great Tuesday win for us."
Utah used 14 hits today, led by the 4-for-5, four-RBI, two-run effort of Austin Jones. The junior first baseman had a two-RBI single in the fifth, and he plated the game-winning run, and the insurance run, with a two-RBI single in the seventh.
Four other Utah batters had multi hits today, all of them with two apiece.
Andrew Wilding got the start in throwing three innings of ball. However, it was John James who was the pitcher of record. He came on in relief of Wilding to throw two innings. He allowed one hit and one walk, fanning two BYU batters. Robert Chimpky came on in the ninth to pick up his third save of the year.
Utah allowed 11 BYU hits on the day, but the defense was a lot sharper.
"I think we made some plays on defense," Kinneberg said. "I thought Michael Beltran and Jesse Shriner made some plays late in the ball game. Beltran made a diving play at shortstop to get an out, and Shriner pulled a pitch out of the dirt to catch the guy stealing. Those were two big outs that we needed at that time."
The visitors waited until the fourth inning to answer BYU's three-run output. It answered in impressive fashion, scoring nine straight runs off the home team.
The Utes led the fourth stanza off with back-to-back singles by Dustin Hennis and Jones. Cooper Blanc moved them over on a sacrifice bunt, and then Hennis scored from third on a passed ball. Jones would score on Michael Beltran's grounder to the shortstop.
Three of the first five batters in Utah's fifth inning were walked, and consequently scored. Corey Shimada, Jesse Shriner and Hennis drew bases on balls. Then three straight two-out singles by Jones, Blanc and Beltran scored five straight runs to complete Utah's five-run outburst.
Utah scored another two runs in the top of the seventh, scoring what turned out to be the game-winner. With runners on second and third, Jones hit a two-RBI single down the left field line. It scored Shriner from third and Hennis from second.
The Cougars finally responded to Utah's nine-run explosion in the bottom of the seventh with four tallies. BYU led the bottom of the seventh off with a walk and three hits. Brandon Relf led it off for the Cougars with a walk, and he scored on the three straight hits which also loaded the bases. A fielder's choice-RBI by Dan Vargas scored the second run of the inning for the home team, and a two-out, two-RBI double by Jonathan Cluff trimmed BYU's deficit to two, 9-7.
BYU started the scoring off by hanging the game's first three runs on the board. It plated runs in each the first and third innings.
It hung a run on the board when Kent Walton was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Two fly balls and a wild pitch plated him first run of the game. Another run came when Steve Parker launched a fly ball deep to center field with runners on the corners. It scored Walton who was on third. Parker's effort was followed by Dan Varags' double and an RBI single to center field by Bryce Ayoso.
BYU's Nelson Castleberry got the loss in relief, falling to 2-4 on the year. Kent Walton led the Cougars with a 3-for-4 afternoon at the plate.
Utah continues its four-game road swing this weekend when it returns to league action at San Diego State this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: James, John (2-3)
L: CASTLEBERRY (2-4)
S: Chimpky, Robert (3)
Batting:
2B: Hennis, Dustin 1 ; Legg, DC 1
RBI: Jones, Austin 4 ; Blanc, Cooper 1 ; Beltran, Micheal 3
SH: Blanc, Cooper 1 ; Legg, DC 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shimada, Corey 1 ; Shriner, Jesse 2 ; Hennis, Dustin 3 ; Jones, Austin 2 ; Blanc, Cooper 1
SB: Shimada, Corey 1
Batting:
2B: VARGAS 1 ; CLUFF 1
RBI: MCNAUGHTON 1 ; PARKER 1 ; VARGAS 1 ; AYOSO 1 ; CLUFF 2
Base Running:
RUNS: WALTON 3 ; MCNAUGHTON 1 ; VARGAS 2 ; RELF 1
CS: MUSSO 2
HBP: WALTON 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
4
RBI
4
AB
4
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
C
/ Baseball
P
/ BaseballUtah 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
Utah Baseball's Core Jackson | Player Feature
Friday, May 16