Utah Utes baseball: Injury-plagued Utes looking to finish on high note

SALT LAKE CITY — A year ago, Utah caught fire in the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament. The sixth-seeded Utes posted a 5-1 mark en route to claiming the championship. They followed it up with two wins in their first NCAA regional appearance since 1960.

Hopes were high for a successful encore.

Injuries, however, changed the script. The Utes enter Tuesday's MWC tourney opener in San Diego as the No. 6 seed with a 22-26 record, including a disappointing 10-13 mark in conference play.

"New year, new guys, new team," said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. "It starts all over again on Tuesday."

The Utes, he explained, are a little different this time around. They aren't nearly as healthy as a year ago.

"We've been beaten up more than any club I've ever had as far as injuries this year," Kinneberg explained. "Guys are playing that have broken bones. We've got three, maybe four, surgeries as soon as the year is over."

Kinneberg doesn't want to use the injuries as an excuse. They did, however, hurt the development of the team in the middle of the season.

The Utes went 3-15 during one stretch. They followed it up with three consecutive conference wins, though, before a 7-6 setback to No. 2 seed New Mexico in the regular season finale.

"I think we're playing good baseball right now," Kinneberg said. "I'm proud of our guys for battling through."

Now comes the second season, a chance to finish things off on a high note. The Utes, after all, were also the No. 6 seed a year ago.

"We kind of had a rough season," said catcher C.J. Cron. "So we're definitely excited to play this tournament, see how far we can go and see if we can repeat."

Utah faces host San Diego State (28-26, 13-11), the No. 3 seed, in the first round. TCU (43-11, 19-5) is the prohibitive favorite. Kinneberg said the Horned Frogs were, by far, the class of the league during the regular season.

Even so, nothing is assured.

"Anything can happen," Kinneberg said. "We've just got to play our tails off and hope the ball bounces right for us. And if it does, we'll be in the mix. If it doesn't, we'll be home."

Cron, who was recently named National Player of the Week, noted that the team is determined to play as hard as they can in San Diego.

"We've got to play one week of solid baseball. That's basically what it comes down to," Cron said. "We need to leave it all on the field and leave nothing behind."