Utes falter in bid to catch first-place Arizona

With a berth in the upcoming Pac-12 tournament already clinched, the Utah baseball team had hopes of getting within one game of first-place Arizona prior to the final game of their three-game series Sunday evening.

However, the Utes’ fortunes quickly turned. After Kai Roberts staked them to a 2-0 lead with a pair of big hits, Utah’s pitchers lost their consistency and the Wildcats earned a 10-4 win in front of 1,827 fans celebrating Mother’s Day at Smith’s Ballpark.

Brendan Summerhill, Maddox Mihlakis and Andrew Cain clubbed homers for Arizona and Cam Walty shook off a rough start as Arizona improved to 19-8 in league play.

The Wildcats hold a one-game lead over Oregon State with a three-game series awaiting starting Thursday on their home field in Tucson.

Utah, meanwhile, fell to 16-11 overall and is tied with Oregon for third place in the conference. The Utes have a three-game set at USC next weekend that will determine their seed at the league tourney, which will be played May 21-25 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“We played (the Wildcats) pretty well. We just had three bad innings the whole weekend,” said Utah coach Gary Henderson, whose team enjoyed a three-hitter in the opener but apparently ran out of pitching depth after that.

“We started out well this time and had them where we wanted but this game can turn on a dime.”

Photo Gallery: 1 of 20

1 of 20

Photo Gallery: 2 of 20

2 of 20

Photo Gallery: 3 of 20

3 of 20

Photo Gallery: 4 of 20

4 of 20

Photo Gallery: 5 of 20

5 of 20

Photo Gallery: 6 of 20

6 of 20

Photo Gallery: 7 of 20

7 of 20

Photo Gallery: 8 of 20

8 of 20

Photo Gallery: 9 of 20

9 of 20

Photo Gallery: 10 of 20

10 of 20

Photo Gallery: 11 of 20

11 of 20

Photo Gallery: 12 of 20

12 of 20

Photo Gallery: 13 of 20

13 of 20

Photo Gallery: 14 of 20

14 of 20

Photo Gallery: 15 of 20

15 of 20

Photo Gallery: 16 of 20

16 of 20

Photo Gallery: 17 of 20

17 of 20

Photo Gallery: 18 of 20

18 of 20

Photo Gallery: 19 of 20

19 of 20

Photo Gallery: 20 of 20

20 of 20

Roberts had four hits on the night. He led off the Utes in the bottom half of the first inning with a first-pitch homer off Walty that motivated the crowd enjoying the 70-degree weather.

He added a two-out double in his next at-bat but that was the last exciting moment the home team could offer.

“I didn’t know what to expect from the guy,” Roberts said of Walty. “On the first pitch, most guys throw fastball and I just turned on it. I just wanted to inspire the guys.”

Roberts, a senior who will be playing his last home game Tuesday against Utah Tech, added a pair of singles later. That boosted his batting average to a team-leading .374, over 100 points higher than his previous year’s best.

Arizona, meanwhile, couldn’t muster anything early against Utah’s starting pitcher, Colter McAnelly. However, Blake McDonald singled and then Cain got a two-strike pitch he liked and lined it over the fence.

McAnelly, a freshman who came in with a 5-2 record and a decent 4.24 earned run average, walked the next three batters. He was relieved by senior Randon Hostert, who got two strikes past Garen Caulfield but then gave up a two-run single.

Summerhill boosted Arizona’s lead to 5-2 with another single.

“We were one strike away from getting out of it,” Henderson said. “That’s how close this was.”

Utah’s relievers of Hostert, Michael Stanford and Brett Porthan took a beating as Arizona scored three more runs in the sixth inning and Summerhill added a two-run homer in the ninth to put the game away.