This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Thanks to a seven-run seventh inning Saturday, the University of Utah baseball team produced the biggest achievement in the school's five years of Pac-12 membership.
That might be understating what the Utes have done, actually. With a 12-8 win over Washington at Smith's Ballpark, Utah clinched a tie for the Pac-12 championship. Whenever this season ends, the Utes can celebrate one of the most improbable climbs in the conference's 100-year history, having gone from worst to first — after four years of being stuck in last place.
Yet the Utes find themselves in this weird state of having done something remarkable, yet needing to top it Sunday if they want to keep playing. If the Huskies win and take the three-game series, they'll claim the Pac-12's NCAA berth via a tiebreaker. Utah is 18-11 in conference play, but a 24-27 overall record precludes an at-large bid. That explains why the Utes stopped short of celebrating Saturday, even after delivering the athletic department's first Pac-12 championship outside of two women's gymnastics titles.
"That kind of tells you where their mind is," said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. "I thought we'd have a dogpile. I thought we'd have all kinds of things."
Instead, a memorable Senior Day merely served as a setup to a big Sunday.
"We're not satisfied yet," said freshman outfielder DaShawn Keirsey.
"We want the whole thing by ourself," said senior catcher AJ Young.
Having endured the program's struggles in this league, Young described Utah's being on top with one game remaining as "a privilege." The Utes have earned it, that's for sure. The seventh inning showcased their toughness and collective contributions, with six runs coming after two outs.
The Salt Lake Bees staged a Superhero Night promotion at the ballpark later Saturday, after the Utes produced more than their share of clutch performers. Young's two-run single broke an 8-8 tie, after Cody Scaggari, Hunter Simmons and Andre Jackson each drove in a run. Keirsey added a two-run double, completing a day that featured his two-run, inside-the-park homer.
That electrifying play gave the Utes a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning, before the Huskies (17-12) moved ahead 8-5 in the seventh. The relief pitching of Hunter Rodriguez kept the Utes in touch, then Dylan Drachler worked two scoreless innings after Utah took the lead.
Afterward, Kinneberg wanted to keep talking about the importance of Sunday's game, but he played along with questions about this checkpoint in the program's five-year quest for respectability in the Pac-12. When the Utes joined the conference, "I really thought baseball and softball had the toughest job," Kinneberg said.
Men's golf also fits into that sentence, with the program remaining at the bottom. Softball, meanwhile, has made a huge jump into national relevance, just to reach fourth place in the nine-team conference. That gives some context to baseball's move to the top. The Utes have matched Stanford's worst-to-first showing in 1994, yet the Cardinal were just last in their division in '93, not the entire league.
Finishing first after four years of being 11th undoubtedly gives the Utes their own distinction in the conference's history, in any sport. No one could have imagined Utah's first Pac-12 trophy for seasonlong competition coming in baseball, that's for sure.
As soon as their season ends, Kinneberg and the Utes will be able to enjoy tremendous satisfaction in what they did in 2016. They just don't want the looking back to begin Sunday afternoon.
kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt