This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Jeremy Guthrie pitched for Stanford during his last two seasons of college baseball, but BYU followers claim him as an ex-Cougar. That will become even more true if Guthrie wins Game 7 of the World Series.

Having pitched well in a Game 3 start for Kansas City, Guthrie will be on the mound Wednesday night as the Royals face San Francisco in the deciding game at Kauffman Stadium.

Guthrie, 35, pitched for BYU as a freshman in 1998 and now lives in Pleasant Grove with his wife and three children. He transferred to Stanford after his LDS Church mission to Spain.

Guthrie will become the fourth pitcher with Utah ties to start Game 7 of the World Series in recent history.

In 1986, St. George native Bruce Hurst took the mound for Boston, after the Red Sox lost the infamous Game 6 to the New York Mets. Hurst held a 3-0 lead through five innings, but allowed three runs in the sixth and received a no-decision in Boston's eventual 8-5 loss. Hurst had won two decisions in the Series and would have received the MVP award if the Red Sox had won Game 6, with votes having been collected prior to extra innings of that game.

In 1991, former BYU pitcher Jack Morris of Minnesota earned the MVP award with one of the greatest performances in World Series history. Morris beat Atlanta 1-0 by pitching all 10 innings of Game 7. In a news conference Tuesday, Guthrie referenced Morris' effort as his most memorable Game 7, having been 12 years old at the time.

In 2002, John Lackey won Game 7 as the then-Anaheim Angels beat San Francisco. Lackey had been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City (then called the Stingers) in late June of that year. He allowed one run in five innings of Game 7 and declared after the 4-1 win, "This is a long way from Salt Lake."

Guthrie came to BYU from Ashland, Oregon, and appeared in 15 games (eight starts), compiling a 5-3 record with a 6.10 ERA. He earned victories over Air Force and Utah in Western Athletic Conference play, but was dissatisfied with his season. "I had pitched poorly as a freshman and quite frankly it was not fun," he recently told Sports Illustrated.

It was a different story at Stanford, where he went 26-6 with a 2.65 ERA and is considered one of the best pitchers in the history of a proud program. Drafted by Cleveland in the first round in 2002, Guthrie established himself in the major leagues with Baltimore. He pitched briefly for Colorado in 2012 before being traded to Kansas City.

Guthrie worked five scoreless innings in Game 3 at San Francisco, departing with a 1-0 lead as the Royals won 3-2.

Christian Colon, a reserve infielder who played for Taylorsville High School as a sophomore in 2005, has not appeared in the World Series.

Twitter: @tribkurt