SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — BYU baseball dropped a tough back-and-forth battle with rival Utah, 8-7, at Smith’s Ballpark Tuesday night to even the 2022 rivalry series 1-1.
“Uncharacteristically our pitchers walked a lot of guys tonight and it ended up hurting us,” said BYU interim head coach Trent Pratt. “This one will sting on the bus ride home, but we’ll put it behind us tomorrow and get ready for a big home series with San Diego this weekend.”
After watching the Utes take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, the Cougars struck back with five runs on four hits in the top of the second to jump out to a 5-1 lead.
Back-to-back doubles by Ryan Sepede and Austin Deming to open the inning tied the game at 1-1. Rogers then singled to move Deeming to third and Mason Strong was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Dawsen Hall to deep center scored Deming, followed by Ozzie Pratt reaching on a fielder’s choice. With two on and two outs, Brock Watkins hit a blast over the wall in left center to give BYU a four-run lead.
Utah (22-14-1, 6-7) got three runs back in the third inning on two hits and two walks to cut the BYU (20-14, 6-6) advantage to 5-4.
The Cougars scored again in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Mitch McIntyre that scored Hall, who had reached on a walk to open the inning. Utah responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning on two walks, a hit batter and a single, cutting the BYU lead to 6-5.
Utah took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the sixth on two walks combined with two hits that scored a pair of runs. The Cougars answered in the top of the seventh with a run of their own to tie the game at 7-7. The BYU run came off a Deming sacrifice fly to center that scored Sepede, who had tripled down the right-field line to open the inning.
After a scoreless eighth inning, Utah was able to put a run across the plate in the bottom of the ninth for the victory. Davis Cop, who drew a walk to lead off the inning, scored the winning run.
BYU resumes WCC play against San Diego in a three-game series this week at Miller Park, April 21-23. The Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT, with the Saturday game set for 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast live on the BYUtv App, with the Friday and Saturday game simulcast on BYUtv. The radio broadcast can be heard on the BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio 107.9 FM, BYU Radio App, BYUcougars.com and BYU Cougars App.