Utah Ute baseball: Pitcher-perfect moment

After clinching Utah's first Mountain West Conference tournament championship with a strikeout, senior pitcher Brian Budrow stood on the mound and repeatedly motioned for his teammates to join him for a celebration.

It took a couple of moments, but the Utes soon piled on one another to savor their improbable MWC Tournament title in Fort Worth.

"I was just excited. It's hard to explain," Budrow said. "Emotions running high. It was just an unbelievable feeling."

Utah's journey from No. 6 seed to automatic NCAA Tournament qualification is storybook stuff, a case study for underdogs everywhere.

Yo, even Rocky Balboa would appreciate it.

"It was fun," Budrow said. "It was a rush."

It was also a bit unconventional for the pitching staff. Over six games and five days at the MWC tourney, Utah used just eight pitchers. Five made multiple appearances.

"It was a little like Little League," said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg.

No one, however, seemed to mind. All of the pitchers were eager to help the Utes earn their first postseason berth in 49 years.

"Everybody wanted the ball. That was the best part about it," Budrow said. "Nobody wanted to not be in there."

Reliever Greg Krause and starter Jordan Whatcott were named to the all-tournament team. Krause made four relief appearances and Whatcott made two starts and relieved once.

Budrow and reliever Stephen Streich also saw action in three games, while Tyler Andersen made two appearances. Bryn Card, Robert Chimpky and Andrew Wilding were each used once.

"They really gutted it up last weekend," Kinneberg said. "Our staff's been through some ups and downs all season. Sometimes our bullpen was really good. Sometimes they weren't."

The starters, he added, were more steady — providing quality outings all season long.

The consistency prompted Kinneberg to use top starters Whatcott and Budrow in dual roles at the conference tournament.

Whatcott was the closer in a 6-4 win over TCU and started a 4-1 win over San Diego State an hour later. The situation prompted Kinneberg to ask MWC officials to start the game after a 15-minute break in an effort to keep Whatcott's arm warm.

"Our backs were against the wall and we just had to keep him going," Kinneberg said. "And what a performance he had that night."

Budrow, meanwhile, started in a 9-7 victory over TCU and was the closer in both wins over San Diego State in the finals.

The latter, he explained, proved to be quite enjoyable.

"I think it was the most fun I've ever had pitching," said Budrow, a senior who transferred to Utah in 2008 after being a member of two national championship teams at Oregon State (2006-07).

The most memorable moment, though, was the dogpile after his game-winning strikeout against SDSU.

"That was the most fun I've ever had on a baseball field," Budrow said. "It was unbelievable."

NCAA Regionals

Cal State Fullerton (42-14) vs. Utah (26-29)

At Goodwin Stadium,Fullerton, Calif.

Friday, 8 p.m. (MT)

Gametracker: utahutes.com

E-MAIL: dirk@desnews.com