Pretty awesome. What an accomplishment for these guys. What a game today. Backs against the wall yesterday, today. They played their best baseball. I’m so proud of them. – Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah baseball has officially made the leap from worst to first. After four consecutive last-place finishes, the Utes are Pac-12 champions — capping an improbable regular season with a 21-7 win over Washington Sunday before a crowd of 6,071 at Smith’s Ballpark.
“Pretty awesome. What an accomplishment for these guys. What a game today,” said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. “Backs against the wall yesterday, today. They played their best baseball. I’m so proud of them.”
The Utes needed victories over the Huskies Saturday and Sunday to win the Pac-12 title outright.
As champs, Utah (25-27, 19-11) has earned the conference’s automatic bid to next week’s NCAA regionals. The Utes, who will be making their fifth postseason appearance overall, will learn their destination when the national field of 64 teams is unveiled Monday (10 a.m., ESPNU).
“I think it’s going to put us on the map,” said senior second baseman Kody Davis, who acknowledged that it hasn’t been an easy five years for the Utes in the Pac-12. “But that’s what makes it even more fun right now. I know it was a long road and we’re happy to be here now.”
It didn’t take long for Utah to stake its claim in reaching the top. The Utes scored five runs in four innings, beginning with the first to keep the game well out of reach throughout.
“I knew that we were going to put up runs,” said Utah starter Josh Lapiana, who pitched 7 1/3 innings en route to the win. “I didn’t know 21, but I’m just so proud of this group.”
The initial outburst got started after the Utes scored on a wild pitch by Washington starter Ryan Schmitten. They added a three-run double by Jason Rose and a run-producing single from A.J. Young to take a 5-0 advantage.
Although the Huskies countered with a run in the top of the second, it was overshadowed by another five-run outburst by the Utes in the third. Utah’s lead swelled to 10-1 after two-run singles from Young and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and a run-scoring hit by Cody Scaggari.
The Huskies didn’t have enough bark to climb back into contention after that. They wound up scoring a single run in the fourth, three in the eighth and two in the ninth to close out the game.
It was far too little to make a difference, even cosmetically.
Utah had plenty of bite down the stretch — including two more five-run innings. The eruptions followed a solo homer by Scaggari in the sixth.
In the seventh inning, an RBI single from Rose and a two-run double by Davis ignited a burst that included a score off a Dallas Carroll grounder and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Kellen Marruffo.
Utah wound up with a season-high in runs scored when the Utes put five more on the board in the eighth. Davis and Keirsey drove in runs in the eighth before three runners crossed the plate on bases-loaded walks. Washington wound up using eight pitchers.
The contest provided a storybook finish to a season where Utah rose to the top of one of the nation’s premier baseball conferences. Kinneberg kissed the Pac-12 championship trophy shortly after receiving it from athletics director Chris Hill. It’s been a long climb for the Utes. Prior to this year’s 19-11 conference mark, they were just 25-94-1 in Pac-12 play — a winning percentage of just .213. Seven wins were the most in a season.
“This group believed and I think they had it in their minds a long time ago,” said Kinneberg, who noted that going to regionals is a great reward for the players and coaches. “I couldn’t be more happy.”
Utah’s previous NCAA postseason appearances came in 1951, 1959, 1960 and 2009.
“I don’t care where we go, where we end up, who we play,” Scaggari said. “We’re going to regionals. It’s a great feeling.”
The Pac-12 title is Utah's first in a men's sport since the Utes joined the conference in 2011.
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