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Utah beats BYU for second straight time, snaps six-game skid

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU relief pitcher Kenny Saenz enters in the 5th inning as Brigham Young University hosts University of Utah at Miller Park, Tuesday, April 24, 2018 in Provo.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU relief pitcher Kenny Saenz enters in the 5th inning as Brigham Young University hosts University of Utah at Miller Park, Tuesday, April 24, 2018 in Provo.

Provo • Utah left fielder Chandler Anderson’s night at BYU ended a lot better than it did the last time the former Park City High baseball star was in Provo.

Anderson, a junior, went 3 for 4, drove in a run and scored twice as Utah defeated BYU 8-4 in front of the ninth-largest crowd in BYU baseball history on Tuesday night, 2,605. Anderson suffered a shoulder injury after crashing into the left-field wall here on April 3 in a 4-3 BYU win in 10 innings and missed the next 11 games.

“That wall won the last time we came down here in Provo, but yeah, it was fun being back on the field and playing in this in-state rivalry,” Anderson said.

“We got the momentum on our side,” Anderson said. “It came after a good inning on the mound and we got the ball rolling. Hitting is contagious.”

The victory snapped Utah’s six-game losing skid.

“That was big for us. These Tuesday games are hard for everybody,” said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. “It was a good team win today, and that was something we needed. We haven’t played well the last two weekends and hopefully this will get us going.”

The Cougars went scoreless in fifth and sixth innings against Utah reliever Spencer Kevin Johnson, who played for Syracuse High. Johnson struck out five of the six batters he faced in those innings, then was pulled after giving up back-to-back doubles to David Clawson and Kyle Dean in the seventh. Dean’s double scored Clawson, and he was driven in by Keaton Kringlen to trim Utah’s lead to 8-4.

But Joshua Tedeschi got BYU slugger Brock Hale to ground out with two aboard in the seventh to end the threat. The Cougars hit a lot of balls hard, but a Utah outfielder was there. Utah pitchers posted 13 strikeouts as well.

“They hit a lot of balls hard that were in the gaps and hit off the wall, too,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “That’s what hurt us ultimately in the fifth inning. I tip my hat to those guys, because when Rhett Parkinson got the ball up in the zone, they hit him hard. They earned it. I don’t feel like we gave this game away. I feel like they just beat us tonight.”

Littlewood said the Cougars “were a huge buzzkill” for the big crowd.

“It is disappointing to send them away like that, but the loss is more disappointing to me,” he said.

So the Utes (10-28) beat the Cougars (18-17) for the second straight time and took a 2-1 lead in the four-game series. BYU leads the overall series 245-118-2. The finale is May 8 at Smith’s Ballpark and the Utes can win a season series from BYU for the first time since 2008 and just the second time since 1998 with a home victory.

By Jay Drew | The Salt Lake Tribune