Washington Falls In Series Opener At Utah, 8-6

SALT LAKE CITY – Washington and Utah battled back and forth on Friday at Smith's Ballpark, with the home Utes coming out on top 8-6 to open the three-game series.
 
Husky starter Jared Engman took the loss, allowing seven runs over his 4.2 innings.
 
Washington took the lead on the very first pitch of the ballgame as Aiva Arquette squared up the offering and clobbered a 427-foot home run the other way to right-center.
 
AJ Guerrero followed with a single to right and would come around to score on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0, but Utah halved the deficit in the bottom half.
 
A two-run double in the second put Utah up, with the Huskies countering with Jeter Ybarra's RBI grounder in the third to tie things up. However, an HBP, stolen base and throwing error allowed the Utes to regain the advantage without a hit.
 
Utah tacked on a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, extending its lead to 7-3.
 
The top of the order put the Huskies within striking distance in the seventh, with Arquette, Jeter Ybarra and Clayton all coming through with RBI singles to draw UW within a run.
 
However, Utah struck back for a run of insurance in the eighth and the Huskies were unable to claw their way back into it, dropping the opener in SLC.
 
The two sides will faceoff again under the lights at Smith's Ballpark on Saturday. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT and will be available on Pac-12 Washington and Pac-12 Mountain.
 
DAWG BITES
• Jeter Ybarra and Aiva Arquette extended their active hitting streaks to 14 and 12 games, respectively
• The 14 game streak for Ybarra is the longest by a Husky this season
• Arquette's leadoff home run was Washington's second of the season, with Cam Clayton's on Feb. 24 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi standing as the other
• Friday's game was Arquette's sixth in the last eight with multiple hits
• Washington's five runs were the most allowed by Utah starter Bryson Van Sickle in Pac-12 play
• UW's six runs were tied for its most in a losing effort this season
• The Huskies have scored at least five runs in eight straight games

For more information on the UW baseball team, follow @UW_Baseball on Twitter and Instagram.