A big week awaits Utah, as a number of important games are coming up on the schedule.
The Utes will take a break from conference play when they travel to Orem to take on UVU tonight. Utah has already defeated the Wolverines once this season by a score of 7-3 back on March 18. That win could not have come at a better time of the season, as the Utes had dropped four games in a row prior to that matchup.
After a test from UVU, Utah will host a four-game series against Nevada over the weekend, including a doubleheader on Saturday, making it a total of five games this week for the Utes. Head coach Bill Kinneberg stressed how important these non-conference games can be for the team’s momentum and success for the rest of the season.
“This is going to be an interesting week for us, because we have five games, and we’re going to be taxing our pitching staff a little,” he said in a press release. “It’s important for us to play well in these non-conference games and get back on track. This is a huge week for us.”
Kinneberg said that in order to pick up a mid-week victory at UVU, Utah has to play well in all aspects of the game.
“Play a complete game,” he said. “We’re going to have to play defense, we’re going to have to pitch well, and we’re going to have to hit. Timely hitting. It’s all about that this time of year.”
“Timely hitting” has been almost nonexistent for Utah lately as they are again struggling to score runs. However, the team did show signs of what it’s capable of doing when it recorded a season-high amount of hits in Friday’s game against UCLA with 16.
The players know they are struggling at the plate and realize where work needs to be done in their game. Sophomore infielder Cody Scaggari hopes the recent emphasis on hitting will help the team get to where it wants to be.
“I’m thinking just hit,” he said. “That’s what we need to work on. That’s where we need to focus. Keep pounding away in the cages and hopefully come out swinging strong.”
Freshman outfielder Max Schuman said he wants the team to be more balanced. Looking back at the UCLA game from Saturday, Schuman said the energy in the final game wasn’t where it was earlier in the series and staying at that high-energy level is crucial to getting wins.
“Definitely just know our place and know where we stand,” he said. “I mean we’re here for a reason and go out to UVU and all play together. Really, play our best baseball.”
Mid-week games can cause problems in terms of training and the flow of a team, but Schuman believes getting the win against the Wolverines will put Utah in a good place to compete in the weekend series against the Wolfpack.
“We definitely need this win on Tuesday to get us rolling for the weekend,” Schuman said. “Definitely some momentum rolling in for the weekend, get the guys positive and ready to play for this weekend.”
Tonight’s game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. at Brent Brown Ballpark in Orem.
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