Utes Defeat Utah Tech in Home Finale, 11-4

SALT LAKE CITY – Thanks to contributions from all throughout the club, the Utah Baseball closed out the regular season home schedule with an 11-4 win over Utah Tech on Tuesday at Smith's Ballpark.
 
The Utes improved to 32-18 with the victory; now securing the third-most wins for a season in program history.
 
Payton Riske (2-0) picked up the win on the mound with five innings of relief, surrendering just one run on two hits and a walk, striking out five along the way. He came on in the third inning for starter Jaden Harris, before Micah Ashman and Jackson Elder tossed the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
 
It was a solid outing for Riske and his longest as a Ute, while also setting a career-high with his five strikeouts. His only two hits allowed were a third-inning single followed up by a leadoff double in the fourth. From there, he retired nine in a row and struck out his final batter in the seventh inning.
 
Every starter in the Utah batting order had a hit, led by Hunter Antillon's 3-for-4 performance with two doubles and three RBI. Five other Utes had multi-hit performances while Kai Roberts, Drake Digiorno and Kaden Carpenter each scored three runs. Roberts, Karson Bodily and TJ Clarkson all doubled in the game as well.
 
Roberts stole two bases, extending his program-record to 63 career swipes as well as 30 this season—the latter both a Utah record and leading the Pac-12 this year.
 
The Utes answered a pair of early Utah Tech runs with a two-spot in the first inning, then pulled momentum into the home dugout with five runs in the third inning. Roberts followed a Core Jackson single with a gapper double and later scored when Digiorno laced a single down the right field line.
 
Three straight singles from Carpenter, Antillon and Matt Flaharty put a bow on the seven-hit frame for Utah as the Utes took a 7-2 lead after three innings of play.
 
Bodily added a two-run double in the fourth before Antillon smacked a two-bagger of his own for a 10-3 advantage. That score remained until the seventh inning, when Antillon's second double of the day drove in Carpenter with the Utes' final run of the ballgame.
 
Utah Tech looked to have gotten two runs back in the ninth inning with a single, but upon appeal it was ruled the second runner did not touch third base. Elder and the Utah defense then closed out the game with two ground balls.
 
Next Up
Today's game closed out the home schedule for the Utes with a 15-8 season record at Smith's Ballpark. Utah will now head to Irvine, California, for a three-game series at USC from Thursday through Saturday at Great Park.
 
It'll be the final Pac-12 Conference series for Utah before the Pac-12 Tournament begins next week in Scottsdale, Arizona. Tournament tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
 
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