University of Washington
32-20, 17-12
Utah
24-27, 18-11
Huskies See Lead Slip Away In Seventh, Fall 12-8 To Utes
May 28, 2016 | Baseball
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah scored seven times in the seventh inning to flip a three-run deficit into a four-run lead and went on to beat the visiting Huskies, 12-8, to even the series at a game apiece and earn at least a share of the Pac-12 Championship.
The Huskies (32-20, 17-12 Pac-12) scored in five of the first seven innings at Smith's Ballpark, but Utah (24-27, 18-11) scored twice in the first, three times in the fourth and seven in the seventh to rally for the win. The Utes' victory ends a nine-game losing streak to the Huskies and gives them a stake of their first Pac-12 Championship in any men's sport since joining the conference five years ago.
"We'll bounce back," said Husky Coach Lindsay Meggs. "We'll get it out of our system and we'll be excited to play for a Pac-12 Championship."
The winner of tomorrow's rubber match will earn the conference's automatic NCAA berth.
For much of the game, it looked like it was going to be Washington's day. The Huskies put constant offensive pressure on the Utes and led 8-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh. But Utah flipped the game on its head sending 12 batters to the plate and scored five of its seven runs after there were two outs against four different UW pitchers.
Andre Jackson tied the game with a RBI single off of Greg Minier (5-1) and after a walk loaded the bases, AJ Young singled to right-center to give Utah a 10-8 lead.
DaShawn Kiersay Jr. drove home the final two runs of the inning on a double just out of the reach of a diving KJ Brady in left field.
The big inning by Utah wiped out a great offensive day by Washington that started from the get go. The Huskies strung together three-straight hits with one out in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Jack Meggs and Chris Baker reached on singles and first baseman John Naff scored both runners with an opposite-field double just between the third baseman and the bag. It was part of a 3 for 5, 3 RBI day for Naff.
But Utah answered right back in its half of the first to tie the game up at 2-2. The first two batters reached on singles and Keirsey Jr. scored on a Dallas Carroll ground out. With two outs, first baseman Hunter Simmons singled home Cody Scaggari to tie the score.
Washington jumped back ahead in the third with Naff once again delivering. Meggs led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball. Naff sent Meggs home with a RBI single to center that gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead.
The Huskies made it 4-2 in the fourth on a RBI ground out by Brady. Josh Cushing started the inning with a single and moved to third on a single by AJ Graffanino. Brady hit a ball to second baseman Kody Davis that could have been a double play, but when the ball took a bounce off his chest, his only play was to first base.
Utah took the lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a pair of home runs – one that was conventional, the other one of the unconventional variety. No. 7 hitter Josh Rose connected off UW starter Joe DeMers for a solo home run over the right field fence to cut the Huskies lead to 4-3.
The Huskies went to the bullpen and after Spencer Jones hit No. 9 hitter Davis with a pitch, lead-off man Keirsey Jr. hit an inside-the-park home run to give Utah its first lead of the series, 5-4. The sophomore center fielder hit a liner to his counterpart, Meggs, that sailed over his head. When Meggs stumbled on the warning track, the speedy Keirsey Jr. did not hesitate and beat the relay throw from Levi Jordan and slid under the tag at the plate by catcher Joey Morgan.
Washington erased Utah's lead quickly and re-took the lead by scoring three times in the fifth. Baker reached on an error – one of five on the day by Utah – to start the rally and Naff singled for his third hit of the game. MJ Hubbs bunted both runners into scoring position and the Huskies tied the game up when reliever Riley Ottesen uncorked a wild pitch.
After Morgan struck out for the second out of the inning, the real fun began as the Huskies scored twice without getting a ball out of the infield. Cushing was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners and Jordan followed with a slow-roller to shortstop that went for an infield single and RBI that put UW up 6-5. Graffanino walked to load the bases and Brady followed with another infield single to score Cushing and give UW a 7-5 advantage. Jordan tried to catch the defense sleeping and attempted to score all the way from second, but he was called out at home on a close play.
In the seventh the Huskies scratched another run across the plate to stretch their lead to 8-5. Hubbs led off with a double to center, moved to third on a ground out and came around to score on a RBI single through a drawn-in infield by Cushing.
The Huskies were shut down in the eighth and ninth by Friday's losing pitcher Dylan Drachler after the Utes took the leads in the seventh. Hunter Rodriguez (2-1) pitched 2 1/3 innings to earn the win.
The Huskies and Utes finish their three-game series Sunday at 11:00 a.m. PT with the Pac-12's automatic NCAA berth on the line. The Huskies are undecided on their starter, while the Utes will have left-hander Josh Lapiana (3-5, 4.01) take the hill. The game will air on the Pac-12 Networks.
Utah 12 (24-27, 18-11), No. 15 Washington 8 (32-20, 17-12),
WASH 201 130 100 –- 8 12 3
UTAH 200 300 70x –- 12 13 5
LOB: UW 12, UTAH 6. Joe DeMers, Spencer Jones (4), Greg Minier (7), Lance Berringer (7), Alex Hardy (7) and Joey Morgan; Dalton Carroll, Riley Ottesen (5), Hunter Rodriguez (5), Dylan Drachler (8) and AJ Young. W – Rodriguez (2-1). L – Minier (5-1). SV – none. HR – UTAH, Josh Rose (6), DaShawn Keirsey Jr. (1). 3B – none. 2B – UW, John Naff, MJ Hubbs; UTAH, DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., Cody Scaggari Time – 3:34. Attendance – 4,241.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rodriguez, Hunter (2-1)
L: Minier, Greg (5-1)
Batting:
2B: Naff, John 1 ; Hubbs, MJ 1
RBI: Brady, KJ 2 ; Naff, John 3 ; Cushing, Josh 1 ; Jordan, Levi 1
SH: Hubbs, MJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Meggs, Jack 2 ; Baker, Chris 2 ; Naff, John 1 ; Hubbs, MJ 1 ; Cushing, Josh 2
HBP: Cushing, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 1 ; Scaggari, Cody 1
HR: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 1 ; Rose, Josh 1
RBI: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 4 ; Scaggari, Cody 1 ; Carroll, Dallas 1 ; Simmons, Hunter 2 ; Jackson, Andre 1 ; Rose, Josh 1 ; Young, AJ 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 2 ; Scaggari, Cody 2 ; Carroll, Dallas 1 ; Simmons, Hunter 1 ; Jackson, Andre 1 ; Rose, Josh 2 ; Young, AJ 1 ; Davis, Kody 2
HBP: Carroll, Dallas 1 ; Davis, Kody 2
