Upcoming Event: Baseball versus Vanderbilt on October 10, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Baseball
vs Vanderbilt
Friday, May 9
Tucson, Ariz.
7 p.m. (MDT)
University of Utah
19-25, 6-19
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Arizona
33-16, 15-10
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Photo by: Sophia Kuder/Utah Athletics
Utah Takes Down No. 18 Arizona in Series Opener
5/9/2025 11:19 PM | Baseball
McAnelly goes seven innings, Jackson steals home in the ninth
TUCSON, Ariz. – Led by a quality start from Colter McAnelly and four multi-hit performances in the lineup, the Utah baseball team defeated No. 18-ranked Arizona by an 8-6 score in the teams' series opener Friday night inside Hi Corbett Field.
It was the 100th victory at Utah for head coach Gary Henderson.
McAnelly (4-4) was on the mound for seven innings of three-run ball. His five strikeouts brought him to a season total of 90, ranking him fourth in Utah history for a single year. Mitch Maio ranks third on the all-time list with 94 strikeouts as a senior in 2002.
Dylan Gazaway came on for McAnelly in the eighth inning and left-hander Mateus Conaway was called upon for the final out, earning his first save at Utah.
Seven different Utes had a hit and four had multi-hit performances. Core Jackson and Austen Roellig each were 2-for-4, turning in their 21st and 18th multi-hit nights respectively. Cameron Gurney went 2-for-5, drove in a run and scored once while Kaden Carpenter hit a two-run homer as part of a 2-for-5 night.
Jackson also pulled off a straight steal of home during the ninth inning, becoming the first Utah player to accomplish that feat since Matt Richardson did it in 2022 during a game at CSU Bakersfield.
Filling in with just his second start of the season in center field, Drake Digiorno made two crucial catches, including leaping into the center field wall to rob Maddox Mihalakis of extra bases in the sixth inning. He made another running catch in the seventh to preserve what was then a four-run lead.
The Utes got out to an early lead thanks to a three-run first inning. With Jackson on second base, Gurney put a single through the left side to bring in a sliding Jackson with the game's first run. Carpenter was the next batter up and clubbed the 1-1 pitch for a 424-foot homer just to the right of the batter's eye. It was his fourth home run of the season.
McAnelly was faced with a two-on, one-out situation in the home half of the first but got a ground ball to Roellig at third for a 5-3, inning-ending double play.
Roellig would lead off the third inning with a double into the right field corner, scoring when Jackson fired a single up the middle to swell the Utah advantage to 4-0. But Arizona would answer with a three-run home run in its half of the third, cutting the Utes' lead to 4-3.
A three-spot in the fourth brought some breathing room back for the Utes. Jake Long reached on an error to begin the inning and moved into scoring position when Digiorno was hit by a pitch. Matt Flaharty moved the pair to second and third with a nicely-placed sac bunt, then Derek Smith put a double down the left field line to bring in both Long and Digiorno.
Later in the inning, Tyler Quinn hit one with a weird hop past the third baseman for an RBI single that plated Smith. It extended Quinn's hitting streak to seven straight games, tying his longest in his two seasons at Utah.
McAnelly retired the leadoff man in the fifth, sixth and seventh and worked around baserunners in each frame as the Utes put up zeroes. Gazaway took over to begin the eighth and got out of the inning with a fly ball and strikeout after being faced with a two-on, one-out situation.
In the ninth, Jackson worked a leadoff walk, taking second on a sac bunt from Quinn and getting to third after tagging up on a fly ball from Gurney. He pulled off the mad dash to the plate on a 1-2 pitch to Carpenter, sliding in head-first around the tag to deliver a key insurance run. It made the score 8-3 in favor of Utah.
Arizona would come a little closer with a long ball in the ninth to cut the deficit to 8-6, but Conaway came on with two outs and wrapped up the game with a fly ball.
Next Up
The Utes will be back at Hi Corbett Field for another matchup on Saturday, facing Arizona for the middle game of this weekend series. First pitch is at 7 p.m. MDT (6 p.m. Arizona Time).
Follow Utah Baseball
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
It was the 100th victory at Utah for head coach Gary Henderson.
McAnelly (4-4) was on the mound for seven innings of three-run ball. His five strikeouts brought him to a season total of 90, ranking him fourth in Utah history for a single year. Mitch Maio ranks third on the all-time list with 94 strikeouts as a senior in 2002.
Dylan Gazaway came on for McAnelly in the eighth inning and left-hander Mateus Conaway was called upon for the final out, earning his first save at Utah.
Seven different Utes had a hit and four had multi-hit performances. Core Jackson and Austen Roellig each were 2-for-4, turning in their 21st and 18th multi-hit nights respectively. Cameron Gurney went 2-for-5, drove in a run and scored once while Kaden Carpenter hit a two-run homer as part of a 2-for-5 night.
Jackson also pulled off a straight steal of home during the ninth inning, becoming the first Utah player to accomplish that feat since Matt Richardson did it in 2022 during a game at CSU Bakersfield.
Filling in with just his second start of the season in center field, Drake Digiorno made two crucial catches, including leaping into the center field wall to rob Maddox Mihalakis of extra bases in the sixth inning. He made another running catch in the seventh to preserve what was then a four-run lead.
The Utes got out to an early lead thanks to a three-run first inning. With Jackson on second base, Gurney put a single through the left side to bring in a sliding Jackson with the game's first run. Carpenter was the next batter up and clubbed the 1-1 pitch for a 424-foot homer just to the right of the batter's eye. It was his fourth home run of the season.
McAnelly was faced with a two-on, one-out situation in the home half of the first but got a ground ball to Roellig at third for a 5-3, inning-ending double play.
Roellig would lead off the third inning with a double into the right field corner, scoring when Jackson fired a single up the middle to swell the Utah advantage to 4-0. But Arizona would answer with a three-run home run in its half of the third, cutting the Utes' lead to 4-3.
A three-spot in the fourth brought some breathing room back for the Utes. Jake Long reached on an error to begin the inning and moved into scoring position when Digiorno was hit by a pitch. Matt Flaharty moved the pair to second and third with a nicely-placed sac bunt, then Derek Smith put a double down the left field line to bring in both Long and Digiorno.
Later in the inning, Tyler Quinn hit one with a weird hop past the third baseman for an RBI single that plated Smith. It extended Quinn's hitting streak to seven straight games, tying his longest in his two seasons at Utah.
McAnelly retired the leadoff man in the fifth, sixth and seventh and worked around baserunners in each frame as the Utes put up zeroes. Gazaway took over to begin the eighth and got out of the inning with a fly ball and strikeout after being faced with a two-on, one-out situation.
In the ninth, Jackson worked a leadoff walk, taking second on a sac bunt from Quinn and getting to third after tagging up on a fly ball from Gurney. He pulled off the mad dash to the plate on a 1-2 pitch to Carpenter, sliding in head-first around the tag to deliver a key insurance run. It made the score 8-3 in favor of Utah.
Arizona would come a little closer with a long ball in the ninth to cut the deficit to 8-6, but Conaway came on with two outs and wrapped up the game with a fly ball.
Next Up
The Utes will be back at Hi Corbett Field for another matchup on Saturday, facing Arizona for the middle game of this weekend series. First pitch is at 7 p.m. MDT (6 p.m. Arizona Time).
Follow Utah Baseball
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McAnelly, Colter (4-4)
L: Kramkowski, Owen (7-4)
S: Conaway, Mateus (1)
Batting:
2B: Roellig, Austen 1 ; Smith, Derek 1
HR: Carpenter, Kaden 1
RBI: Jackson, Core 1 ; Quinn, Tyler 1 ; Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Carpenter, Kaden 2 ; Smith, Derek 2
SH: Quinn, Tyler 2 ; Flaharty, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Roellig, Austen 1 ; Jackson, Core 2 ; Gurney, Cameron 1 ; Carpenter, Kaden 1 ; Long, Jake 1 ; Digiorno, Drake 1 ; Smith, Derek 1
SB: Jackson, Core 1
CS: Gurney, Cameron 1
HBP: Digiorno, Drake 1
Batting:
2B: Splaine, Tommy 1
HR: White, Mason 2
RBI: White, Mason 6
Base Running:
RUNS: Summerhill, Brendan 1 ; Walton, Aaron 1 ; White, Mason 2 ; Splaine, Tommy 1 ; Breyfogle, Easton 1
HBP: Walton, Aaron 1 ; Caulfield, Garen 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
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R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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C
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