Kaden Carpenter’s big hit lifts Utah to series win over BYU

Kaden Carpenter has had a promising baseball future for a long time.

The former American Fork High star was on his way to becoming Utah Valley’s Pitcher of the Year in 2022 and was among the top three prospects in the state when Gary Henderson was tabbed Utah’s coach.

“He was the first guy I went looking for to put together our team,” Henderson said.

Carpenter is no longer pitching but his bat and defense were on display this weekend when the Utes took on BYU at Smith’s Ballpark.

Carpenter had a three-run homer in the sixth inning Saturday, and that was the difference in Utah’s 9-6 win over the Cougars in a Big 12 Conference game.

Utah had 16 hits and played errorless ball. With the win, the Utes also claimed the rubber match of the three-game series and improved to 15-17 overall and 4-11 in league play.

Carpenter said Utah may not yet be one of the league’s top contenders but he has been a fan of the direction the program is going ever since he signed with the Utes in 2022.

“Playing (the Cougars) raises our competitiveness,” he said. “I know a lot of those guys … two of them were high school teammates, and I know we’ll always get their best when we play them.”

“It feels good (to beat them),” said Henderson. “We’ve scouted them pretty well. They know us and we know them but we still have to play it on the field.

“I’m really pleased that we showed up and played well. We haven’t always done that.”

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Core Jackson, Austen Roellig, Cameron Gurney and Santino Panaro had three hits each Saturday for Utah, which scored three first-inning runs to give starting pitcher Brady Joyner and a slew of relievers an early lead.

Like in the previous two games, though, BYU rallied and kept the fans interested. Parker Goff had a two-run double and Luke Anderson smacked a solo homer. The Cougars also took advantage of six bases on balls and four hit batsmen.

“That’s usually enough to lose a game,” said Henderson, “but I was proud that we made enough big plays to overcome that.”

With the game tied 5-5 in the sixth inning, Jackson and Roellig singled and Gurney’s single gave Utah the lead. Then Carpenter, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder who looks like he could excel in any sport, drilled an 0-1 pitch on to the grass berm over the right-centerfield wall to give the Utes some breathing room.

Dylan Gazaway pitched three innings of two-hit ball to keep BYU from rallying and then Cameron Nielson and Dillon Fine ended the contest.

The Cougars had chances thanks to walks and hit batsmen but couldn’t get the clutch hit when needed and fell to 17-16 overall and just ahead of the Utes in the league standings at 5-10.

Carpenter finished 3-of-9 at the plate in the series with two walks and also frustrated BYU Friday night with two circus catches on the warning track that likely saved that win.

The Utes now have four straight road games (three at Baylor and one at Utah Valley) before returning to Smith’s Ballpark April 25-27 to take on Kansas.

BYU, meanwhile, has four straight at home — vs. Utah Valley Tuesday and then a three-game stand against Arizona.