The Utah baseball team won a close game against Arizona, 8-7, on March 15 with a walk-off single by Jet Gilliam at Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark.
The victory came after Utah overcame two late deficits. The Utes trailed 4-0 after two innings but narrowed the gap and eventually took a brief lead in the eighth inning. Arizona responded with three runs in the top of the ninth to go ahead 7-5, setting up Utah’s final rally.
Gilliam led Utah’s offense, going 3-for-4 with a home run and five runs batted in. Jake Long contributed two hits and extended his hitting streak to twelve games, while Daniel Arambula drove in two runs. Cameron Gurney doubled to extend his own hitting streak to ten games and is now one hit away from reaching one hundred career hits.
Arizona started strong with early runs from Andrew Cain and Maddox Mihalakis, followed by a home run from Tony Lira. Utah began its comeback in the sixth inning when Gilliam hit a home run to left field. In the seventh inning, Kaden Soder made his first appearance for Utah out of the bullpen and struck out both batters he faced.
Utah took its first lead during a five-hit eighth inning before Arizona reclaimed it in the ninth. In their final at-bat, Utah loaded the bases with no outs. After Nevan Noonan scored on Matt Flaharty’s groundout, Gilliam delivered a two-run single that brought home Luke Jacobs and Zakye Hawkins for the win. David Galindo earned his first victory as a member of the Utes.
Utah will next play Washington State at home on Tuesday, March 17 at America First Ballpark.
