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Buy Photos HereHOUSTON – HBU broke a tie with a three-run rally in the fifth inning and went on to a 7-3 victory in the second game to split a non-conference baseball doubleheader with Utah Saturday afternoon at Husky Field. The Utes won the first game, 2-0.
Senior second baseman
Greg Espinosa went 4-for-4 with three RBIs in the nightcap, while junior third baseman
Austin Zillweger went 2-for-3 with two runs for the Huskies (7-5). Junior rightfielder Brandon Brintz went 2-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and a run, while senior designated hitter
Austin Saenz went 2-for-4 with a run.
Junior righthander
Julian Griego (2-0) picked up the win, allowing two runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts in eight innings. Senior
Matt Harding earned his second save of the season by getting the final two outs of the ninth.
Josh Rose went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Utes (3-8), while Kody Davis went 2-for-4 with a run and Dallas Carroll went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Kellen Marruffo and Max Schuman also recorded two hits each for Utah.
Nolan Stouder (0-1) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 1.2 innings.
Utah scored in the top of the second on Rose's RBI double down the rightfield line, but HBU answered in the bottom half when junior catcher
Blake Thomas led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch.
In the fourth, Saenz led off with a single and also later scored on a wild pitch to give the Huskies the lead, but the Utes came back in the top of the fifth when Davis scored on A.J. Young's sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the fifth, Zillweger was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and went to second on junior centerfielder Joe Marter's sacrifice bunt. Espinosa delivered an RBI single up the middle, then Brintz smacked a two-out RBI triple and Saenz's RBI single made the score 5-2.
The Huskies tacked on single runs in the sixth and eighth, both on Espinosa RBI singles.
In the first game, Utah righthander Dalton Carroll (2-1) held HBU scoreless on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 7.1 innings to down the Huskies, 2-0. Josh Tedeschi pitched two-thirds of a scoreless inning, then Riley Ottesen earned his first save, allowing a hit and a walk in the ninth.
HBU lefthander
Christian Thames (0-1) had a great outing, giving up one run on seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk in eight innings.
Cody Saggari went 3-for-4, including a double and a triple, for Utah. Young and Hunter Simmons each had RBI singles.
Saenz and Van Marter each went 2-for-3 in the game, while sophomore
Carey Jones had the Huskies' only extra-base hit with a pinch double in the ninth.
The Utes broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, when Dallas Carroll led off with an infield single, Scaggari doubled to right and Young followed with an RBI single. Utah added a run in the ninth when Rose led off with a single and scored on Simmons' RBI bunt single.
The four-game series concludes Sunday at 2 p.m. at Husky Field. The Legacy Sports Network broadcast with
Russ Reneau as well as the live video stream will be available at 1:45 on HBUHuskies.com.
