Utah Tech’s Miller Durham had a huge week for the Trailblazers (Media by Utah Tech Athletics)
Utah Tech completes grueling week to stay the hottest team in the state!
Utah 20-15 (9-9 in the Big 12)
The Utes had a perfect week of baseball while hosting Texas Tech. On Friday, they opened their series against the Red Raiders with a 10-3 win. They followed that up with a run-rule win on Saturday. Utah beat Texas Tech 12-2 in only seven innings to clinch the series victory.
On Sunday, Utah finished the clean sweep with a 6-3 victory. The Utes outscored Texas Tech 28-8 over the course of their three games! This was Utah’s first Big 12 sweep and their third Big 12 series victory of the season. Tomorrow, the Utes will play Utah County rival, Utah Valley, in Salt Lake City. Then they will welcome Central Florida to Utah for a three-game series.
Utah Valley 15-24 (1-5 in the WAC)
UVU continued their visit to Colorado Springs on Tuesday with their second game in as many days against Air Force. While it wasn’t the beat down of Monday, the Wolverines fell to the Falcons again, this time by a score of 5-4. Despite returning to the comforts of home in Orem at UCCU Park on Friday, things didn’t get turned around for Utah Valley. Their conference rivals from St. George, Utah Tech, beat them 7-4.
Their struggles continued on Saturday in the second game against Tech, this time in the form of a 6-5 loss. UVU would fall to 1-5 in the WAC and 0-4 on the week when they were swept by Utah Tech on Sunday. The Trailblazers finished off the Wolverines 13-10. Utah Valley will take on the Utes in Salt Lake City before heading to Texas to take on Tarleton State.
BYU 20-19 (9-9 in the Big 12)
BYU came into this week on fire and the proud owners of a six-game winning streak. Thursday against #23 Arizona State in Provo, they stayed hot. The Cougars clobbered the Sun Devils, taking a 19-5 lead into the seventh inning before earning the upset and run-rule victory, 19-9.
But Arizona State is a top-25-ranked team for a reason. They showed it on Friday, blasting BYU out of their own ballpark with a 12-0 smackdown. Things were a little more competitive in the rubber match on Saturday, but ASU would win, 12-8. The Cougs would try to end their four-game home stand the way they began it when they played Utah Tech today. BYU outscored Utah Tech 37-8 in their first two games against them this season, but Tech avoided the season sweep with a 9-4 upset victory. The Cougars will head to Arizona for three games against the Arizona Wildcats and a Monday game against Grand Canyon University.
Utah Tech 27-14 (5-1 in the WAC)
The week got off to a rough start for Tech when their rivals from Vegas drove up I-15 to visit St. George. UNLV would get the win on Tuesday night, 8-6. The Trailblazers would attempt to bounce back right away on Wednesday as Washington State came to town for a ballgame. Utah Tech would get things headed in the right direction with a walk-off, run-rule victory of 18-8.
Then it was the Trailblazers’ turn to get on a bus and head north on I-15. They traveled to Orem for a WAC series against in-state rival Utah Valley. Utah Tech would be absolutely dominant in their four games in Utah County. They’d win the first, 7-4 over UVU on Friday.
The Trailblazers would take game two on Saturday a UCCU Ballpark by a single run. Utah Tech would get the victory, 6-5. Sunday, they would complete their series sweep of the Wolverines, this time with a 13-10 win. Utah Tech would finish their long week by getting their fifth win in six games, defeating another in-state rival today. They would beat BYU, 9-4 in Provo before returning to St. George. This week, Utah Tech will play at California Baptist.
The Utah Four
- Utah Tech 27-14 (5-1 in the WAC)
- BYU 20-19 (9-9 in the Big 12)
- Utah 20-15 (9-9 in the Big 12)
- Utah Valley 15-24 (1-5 in the WAC)
Wally Joyner Player of the Week
Miller Durham of Utah Tech ran away with the player of the week honors this week. The junior first baseman was huge in the Trailblazers’ winning five of their six games. He had 15 hits (four of which went for extra bases) in 26 at-bats. His average in those six games was .577. Durham also scored 11 runs. He did it all, including having seven runs batted in and a home run. UPDATE: Durham was later honored as WAC Player of the Week.
