'Dogs drop 5-4 battle to Utah

Tuesday, March 8

Fresno, CA

6:05 P.M. PT

Fresno State

6-6

Utah

9-2-1

Utah

Fresno State

Photo by: Ryan Gallant/Utah Athletics

'Dogs drop 5-4 battle to Utah

3/8/2022 10:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Travis Blanshan / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. - The Diamond 'Dogs dropped a hard-fought battle to Utah on Tuesday evening falling 5-4 to the Utes at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.

Fresno State (6-6) outhit Utah (9-2-1) in the contest, 9-7 and had runners on second and third base with no outs in the bottom of the eighth, but were unable to push any runs across falling to the Utes by one run for the second time this season.

The Bulldogs were led by a three-hit performance from Zach Morgan, his eighth multi-hit game of the season, and Andrew Kachel added a pair of extra-base knocks while smacking his first home run of the season.

On the mound, Kyle Pruhsmeier got his first start of the year and third of his career tossing the first two innings before giving way to Matt Ottino, Will Springer, Nikoh Mitchell and Zach Statzer who combined to shut down the Utes for the final seven innings to close out the game.

How It Happened
The 'Dogs got the scoring started in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs registering an RBI single from Ivan Luna and an RBI groundout by Mason Grotto to take a 2-0 lead.

The Utes answered back with their lone scoring frame of the contest bringing across five runs in the top of the second. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases and after a wild pitch brought in first baseman Alex Baeza for Utah's first run, a Bulldog fielding error loaded the bases for second baseman Landon Frei who drilled a grand slam to left-center to push the Utes in front, 5-2.

A leadoff home run by Kachel to right field in the fourth cut the deficit to two and Grotto knocked in his second RBI of the night in the fifth to bring the 'Dogs within one.

With Grotto drawing a walk and Kachel belting a double down the left field line to open the eighth, the Utes brought in reliever Blake Whiting who escaped the jam with a flyout and a pair of strikeouts.

Ben Newton drew a leadoff walk to start the ninth, but was unable to advance farther than first as Utah escaped with the win.

Up next
The 'Dogs travel to San Francisco (9-4) on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

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