Utes Fall to BYU, 7-4

Friday, April 17

Salt Lake City (Spring Mobile Ballpark-formerly Franklin Covey)

6:00 PM

University of Utah

13-19, 3-10

BYU

21-15, 8-5

BYU

Utah

4/17/2009 12:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 17, 2009

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY - Despite a rally in the ninth inning that would bring the tying run to the plate, the Utah baseball team fell to Brigham Young, 7-4, on Friday evening in the first of a three-game series.

A five-run eighth inning gave the Cougars (21-15, 8-5 MWC) a 7-3 lead, which was highlighted by a two-RBI double from Kent Walton to push BYU ahead.

The Utes (13-19, 3-10 MWC) rallied in the bottom of the ninth, as Nick Kuroczko led off the inning with a home run to cut the lead to 7-4. C.J. Cron reached base with a double and Devin Walker was hit by a pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs, but BYU reliever Jordan Muir forced Kevin Hussey into a ground out to end the game.

Cron and Rick Cornu each had two hits to lead the Utes. Starter Brian Budrow pitched seven innings with a season-high eight strikeouts, but earned just his second loss of the year and goes to 4-2. Stephen Streich pitched the eighth inning while Bennett Askew struck out two of the four batters he faced in the ninth.

Both teams got on the board in the second inning. After BYU scored Steve Parker on Michael Bowen's sacrifice fly to right field in the top of the inning, Cron led off the bottom of the inning with a double to left center, moving to third and scoring on a pair of ground outs.

The Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the third inning. The Utes left the bases loaded in the fourth and two on in the fifth before taking a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Cornu singled to center field to lead off the inning, stealing second and moving to third on Austin Jones' fly ball. He would score on Walker's single to right center. Michael Beltran kept the inning going with two outs, singling to center field, while Corey Shimada walked to load the bases. Tyler Yagi walked to send Walker in for the second run in the inning.

The Utes left 13 runners on base throughout the game, compared with six for BYU.

Stetson Banks went 3-for-5 for BYU, while Walton was 2-for-4 on the evening. Starter Jeremy Toole allowed three runs in 5.2 innings pitched while Marc Osland give up one run in 2.1 innings, earning the win to go to 4-1 on the season. Each pitcher had four strikeouts. Muir entered in the ninth and picked up his eighth save of the season.

Each game of the series is worth 1.5 points of the Deseret First Duel rivalry series.

The Utes and Cougars continue their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 18, beginning at 1:00 p.m. at Spring Mobile Ballpark.