SALT LAKE CITY – Utah baseball’s 10-game win streak against Arizona was snapped on Sunday, falling 18-12 to the Wildcats to close out the three-game series.
The Utes were led at the plate by DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., who went 4-for-6 and scored three runs. He hit his third triple of the series in the first inning. Rykker Tom went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored, Chandler Anderson was 3-for-6 with three RBI and Wade Gulden’s 2-for-4 performance included two walks, two runs scored and a two-run home run.
The Utes used five pitchers on the day: Brett Brocoff, Jacob Rebar, Riley Pierce, Spencer Kevin Johnson and Austin Moore. Brocoff, who pitched three innings as the starter with two strikeouts, earned the loss. Rebar also had two strikeouts on the day.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning and Arizona took a 6-3 lead through the first four innings with the help of three early home runs, and Shea Kramer gave Utah a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth with a two-RBI single. Gulden’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth helped cut into Arizona’s lead, 7-5, before the Wildcats pulled ahead with three runs in the sixth and eight runs in the seventh inning for an 18-5 advantage.
Utah made a late rally, scoring three runs in the eighth and four runs in the ninth. The Utes had three hits in the eighth inning, as a Chris Rowan walk and Keirsey single led to an RBI double from Tom. Erick Migueles hit a sacrifice fly and Anderson doubled before a strikeout ended the inning. In the ninth inning, Keirsey led a two-out rally with a double to left center which was the start of five-straight hits leading to four runs. Isaac Cruz, Tom and Migueles and Anderson all had hits in the inning, with Tom, Migueles and Anderson each driving in runs before a ground out ended the game.
Utah had last lost a game to Arizona in 2015, dropping the first game of the series that year. The win streak included series sweeps in 2016 and 2017. Arizona was the NCAA runners up in 2016.
Utah continues at home on Friday, May 4, facing No. 2 Stanford at 11:30 a.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.
