Baseball's Late Comeback Earns 2-1 Win on Senior Night over USC

OGDEN – On senior night at Lindquist Field, Utah baseball had a late rally scoring a run in the seventh and eighth innings to get the 2-1 win and even the series against USC on Friday night.
 
Brayson Hurdsman took the mound in his last college appearance and had one of the best outings of his career. He pitched 8.0 innings and only allowed one run on six hits. The Trojans scored their one run in the first inning and got nothing after that.
 
On the other side, USC's starting pitcher Chandler Champlain had it going as well as he only gave up one run on four hits.
 
Early on, it was tough going at the plate for Utah as they didn't get their first hit until the fifth inning. Chase Fernlund broke through with a single after Brock Rudy walked.
 
The Trojans kept the Utes off the board until the seventh with two outs. Fernlund got his second hit of the night with a double down the left field line. Jaylon McLaughlin stepped up and hit a single to score Fernlund from second to tie the game at one.
 
Hurdsman cruised through the eighth taking the Trojans down in order with two strikeouts giving Utah the chance to take their first lead of the game.
 
Riding the momentum from the seventh inning, Utah put the pressure on again. Kai Roberts started the inning with a single bringing up Christopher Rowan, Jr. Rowan hit a rope down the left field line to score Roberts from first and put the Utes up 2-1.
 
Hurdsman came out in the ninth, but after a leadoff single, Utah turned to Matthew Sox out of the bullpen. Sox got two quick outs with a strikeout and a fielders choice. The third out proved to be a battle with a couple balls going just foul before he induced a flyout to left field to clinch the game.
 
For Hurdsman, he struck out seven on his career night. It was his third win of the year. Sox earned his first save of the season.
 
The Utes ended up with seven hits on the evening led by Fernlund, who had two.
 
Saturday will be the rubber match for the series, final game of the season and final game for head coach Bill Kinneberg as he has decided to retire after this season. The Utes will honor Kinneberg before the game.
 
First pitch is at 11 a.m. at Lindquist Field in Ogden, Utah.