Fresh off an impressive 2-1 series victory at No. 16 Arizona, the Utes remained relentless. Matt Flaharty’s two-run home run in the ninth inning pulled Utah within one run of the Cougars, but with the …
In a rivalry game that had just about everything, three in-state kids made three spectacular plays Tuesday night to lift BYU to a 9-8 victory in the program’s 384th battle against Utah.
Freshman Ridge Erickson (Dixie High) belted a 3-run double in the Cougars five-run third inning to take a 6-2 lead in front of a full house at Miller Park.
“When I saw the ball inside on a 3-2 count, I got the barrel out and (drove in) three runs,” said Erickson, who came to the plate hitting .139 with just five hits on the season.
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However, standing on second base and watching his team celebrate his timely double, the back-up catcher was on top of the world.
“My heart was racing, I had no idea what to do,” Erickson said. “With limited at-bats, it’s hard to come in without playing for two weeks, but it definitely showed the ability I have to step in and prove myself.”
Luke Anderson (Snow Canyon) slid into home with a Cirque Du Soleil-like twist during a double steal to extend BYU’s advantage to 9-5 in the sixth inning.
Initially, Anderson was called out, but after a video review, it became clear that his hand touched the plate ahead of Derek Smith’s tag and the call was overturned.
Utah threatened in the eighth with runners at first and second and two outs when Kaden Kennedy (American Fork) lifted a foul ball down the left field line. Sophomore Ryker Schow (Pleasant Grove) made a diving grab to end the inning that is worthy of the catch of the year.
“You saw some guys who haven’t played a lot come in and do some really good things and pick us up,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt, as BYU extended its all-time record against the Utes to 253-129-1, including 130-54 in Provo. “That’s what we need.”
Fresh off an impressive 2-1 series victory at No. 16 Arizona, the Utes remained relentless. Matt Flaharty’s two-run home run in the ninth inning pulled Utah within one run of the Cougars, but with the tying run at third, BYU freshman Rockwell Lybbert struck out Kennedy to end the game.
“I was super pumped,” Lybbert said. “I haven’t had a ton of innings this year and just recently started pitching again. My arm felt good, and it felt good to be in that spot.”
The Cougars used ten different pitchers to win their seventh straight early-week game, but the victory did not count towards the conference standings. BYU (25-25, 8-19), UCF (27-24, 8-19) and Utah (20-27, 7-20) head into the final weekend of the regular season fighting for the last playoff spot for next week’s Big 12 Tournament.
“The guys know it. We don’t have to talk about it,” Pratt said, as BYU looks to the first of their three-game series against Texas Tech on Thursday (6 p.m., ESPN+). “They know we are playing for something this week and we just have to go play good baseball and see where it ends up for us.”
Also on Thursday, Utah opens a series at home against TCU and UCF hosts Baylor. The Knights and Utes own a two-way tiebreaker against BYU. If they all tie for 12th place, the Cougars will get the nod because BYU has a win against first place West Virginia and the Mountaineers swept Utah and UCF.
In essence, the post season for all three teams starts on Thursday.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
Source: Utah News