A year ago, the Utah Utes had a successful run in the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament. They went 3-2 in the double-elimination competition, knocking off BYU by a 9-3 score, UNLV (7-4) and San Diego State (1-0). The latter came against pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the projected No. 1 pick in this year's MLB Draft.

Utah's only setbacks came against top seeds TCU (6-3) and New Mexico (8-2).

As a No. 5 seed, the Utes exceeded expectations.

Now comes the encore, this time as a No. 6. They'll face No. 3 BYU Tuesday in Fort Worth.

"I hope the same thing happens," said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. "If we get the right draw, the right situation, yeah, we can make some noise this week."

Among those leading the charge is senior Corey Shimada. The second baseman from Murray is determined to finish his collegiate career on a high note.

"I definitely think we can finish off strong at the Mountain West Conference tournament," Shimada said. "We are definitely playing our best baseball this later half of the season. So we're definitely coming in hot."

At 21-28 overall and 8-16 in conference play, the Utes can salvage a frustrating campaign with a good showing this week.

"There's no doubt in my mind that the University of Utah baseball program can definitely contend for a Mountain West Conference championship in the near future," Shimada said. "We have a lot of good freshmen coming in and they really contributed a lot this year."

Contributions are something Shimada knows a thing or two about. Since arriving at Utah, he's appeared in 206 games (starting 200) — racking up 241 hits, 210 runs, 139 RBI, 52 stolen bases, 42 doubles, 25 homers and 20 triples.

"Corey was really my first signee when I got here. So he's kind of special to me," said Kinneberg, who began his second stint at the helm of Utah's program in 2004. "He's been a tremendous player here for four years. We are really going to miss him. He's going to be a hard one to replace."

Shimada, he continued, is a complete college baseball player offensively — blending speed with a good average and pop in his swing.

"I like setting the table and creating stuff for our offense," said the lead-off hitter. "It's fun."

The finance major, who is one semester from graduating, has enjoyed his tenure on and off the field at Utah.

"These four years have gone by really fast," Shimada said. "It's been a great experience playing baseball as well as going to college."

The local product has no regrets about playing for Utah, where he hopes to take the job to the professional ranks.

"It's great being able to stay close to home so my family and friends could watch me play some games," Shimada said. "Coach Kinneberg has really built this program from the ground up. So it's been a good run."

One, no doubt, that Shimada and the Utes would really like to extend this week.

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com