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Utah's baseball team opens Pac-12 play against 15-4 Arizona in Tucson with a three-game series this weekend. Expected starters for the Utes are junior Bret Helton on Friday, junior Dalton Carroll on Saturday and freshman Jayson Rose on Sunday.
"The grind is here now," said head coach Bill Kinneberg in a video released by Utah Athletics (at top). "We have 10 weekends of really great baseball and great teams that we're going to play. Hopefully our first four weekends have prepared us."
A 4-11 nonconference record doesn't bode well for the Utes: Last year Utah went 12-10 out of conference and 4-26 in the Pac-12. Six Pac-12 teams are currently in the NCBWA's top-30 rankings.
Utah most recently won two of three against Kansas, but at 6-11, the Jayhawks sit in last place in the Big 12.
Among the bright spots in the earlygoing: Junior outfielder Wyler Smith, hitting .396, junior shortstop Cody Scaggari going 20-for-60 with three home runs and 12 RBIs, and consistency from the aforementioned three starters, whose ERAs range from 3.22 (Helton) to 3.38 (Carroll).
— The Salt Lake Tribune