Completed Event: Baseball versus Vanderbilt on October 10, 2025 ,
Final Score
Baseball
vs Vanderbilt
Saturday, March 26
Salt Lake City, UT
2:00 PM
University of Utah
14-8-1
25
vs
8
Mercer
19-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Mercer
0
1
3
1
0
0
1
0
2
8
10
2
Utah
2
0
5
1
1
7
0
9
X
25
26
3
Photo by: Jonathan Wang
Offense Erupts as Utes Down Mercer, 25-8
3/26/2022 7:25 PM | Baseball
Utah posts first 25-run performance since the 2010 season; first 26-hit effort since 2008
SALT LAKE CITY – Every Utah player in the batting order scored at least one run, and both TJ Clarkson and Landon Frei had five hits, as the Utes racked up 25 runs on 26 hits in a dominant 25-8 win over Mercer on Saturday at Smith's Ballpark.
The Utes (14-8-1) will now look for a rubber game victory on Sunday, March 27 in an 11 a.m. MT game at Smith's Ballpark.
Saturday's game was the first 25-run performance for Utah since 2010, and the first time the Utes amassed 26 hits in a single contest since the 2008 season.
Six Utes finished the day with multi-hit performances, led by career-highs for both Clarkson and Frei (five each). Chase Anderson, Jayden Kiernan, Alex Baeza and Matt Richardson had three hits apiece. Baeza and Clarkson finished a double and triple short of the cycle, respectively.
For Clarkson and Frei, it marked the first time a Utah player racked up five hits in a game since former Ute DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. accomplished the feat in the 2018 season. Clarkson also had seven RBI, resetting his previous career-high (6) which came this past Tuesday vs. Northern Colorado.
Starting pitcher Randon Hostert worked 3.1 innings in a no-decision, responsible for five runs although only two were earned. Hostert allowed four hits and walked three, before being relieved by Dusty Schramm (2-0) who pitched 2.2 innings and ultimately received the win. Brady Maylett came out of the bullpen for the final three frames, recording three strikeouts, walking a pair and allowing two runs on two hits.
Utah plated a pair of runs in the first inning to take an early lead, thanks in part to some clutch opposite-field hitting. With Frei on second base, Clarkson put the Utes on the board with an RBI single through the left side to score Frei for the 1-0 advantage. After Anderson swiped third base with two outs, the right-handed hitting Jayden Kiernan went the other way for a base hit allowing Anderson to jog home.
Mercer halved the Utes' lead with one run in the second inning, then pulled in front by a 4-2 score with a three-spot in the third. It was a rather uncharacteristic half-inning for the Utes, who committed three errors—as a result, all three Mercer runs in the frame were unearned.
But the home ballclub used short-term memory to put that stretch in the rearview mirror, and it showed with a five-spot in the bottom of the third as the team batted around. Clarkson scored on an RBI groundout by Davis Cop and Kiernan came home to level the score at four on Richardson's two-out RBI single.
The clutch two-out hitting continued when leadoff hitter Kai Roberts popped a first-pitch single, plating Richardson. After a double-steal, Frei tapped an infield single and both Roberts and Richardson came home, aided by a throwing error.
The teams traded runs until Utah broke the game open with seven runs in its half of the sixth inning. Cop laced a double down the left field line into the corner to bring Baeza all the way in from first base. Frei went opposite field for a two-run single, Clarkson drove in two more with a knock up the middle and Kiernan used a sacrifice fly to bring home Anderson. It gave Utah a 16-5 lead at the time.
In the eighth inning the Utes sent 12 men to bat, and scored nine more runs on seven hits. Clarkson hit a three-run homer, his team-leading seventh of the season. Then, after Kiernan worked a walk, Baeza continued the long-ball theme of the inning with a two-run shot of his own, Baeza's second homer of the season. It crossed Utah over the 20-run mark and made the score 21-6.
Pinch hitter Britt Graham was hit by a pitch later in the eighth, and would score when nine-hole hitter Carter Booth reached on a fielder's choice. Jonny Barditch, stepping into the box for Anderson, added onto the hit parade with a two-run single to center field, then Clarkson rounded out the scoring with a double to score Barditch.
The base hit for Barditch gave the Utah newcomer his first two RBI as a Ute.
Baeza, Cop and Frei had three RBI each on the day and Kiernan had two doubles, the second multi-double game for Kiernan this season.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
The Utes (14-8-1) will now look for a rubber game victory on Sunday, March 27 in an 11 a.m. MT game at Smith's Ballpark.
Saturday's game was the first 25-run performance for Utah since 2010, and the first time the Utes amassed 26 hits in a single contest since the 2008 season.
Six Utes finished the day with multi-hit performances, led by career-highs for both Clarkson and Frei (five each). Chase Anderson, Jayden Kiernan, Alex Baeza and Matt Richardson had three hits apiece. Baeza and Clarkson finished a double and triple short of the cycle, respectively.
For Clarkson and Frei, it marked the first time a Utah player racked up five hits in a game since former Ute DaShawn Keirsey, Jr. accomplished the feat in the 2018 season. Clarkson also had seven RBI, resetting his previous career-high (6) which came this past Tuesday vs. Northern Colorado.
Starting pitcher Randon Hostert worked 3.1 innings in a no-decision, responsible for five runs although only two were earned. Hostert allowed four hits and walked three, before being relieved by Dusty Schramm (2-0) who pitched 2.2 innings and ultimately received the win. Brady Maylett came out of the bullpen for the final three frames, recording three strikeouts, walking a pair and allowing two runs on two hits.
Utah plated a pair of runs in the first inning to take an early lead, thanks in part to some clutch opposite-field hitting. With Frei on second base, Clarkson put the Utes on the board with an RBI single through the left side to score Frei for the 1-0 advantage. After Anderson swiped third base with two outs, the right-handed hitting Jayden Kiernan went the other way for a base hit allowing Anderson to jog home.
Mercer halved the Utes' lead with one run in the second inning, then pulled in front by a 4-2 score with a three-spot in the third. It was a rather uncharacteristic half-inning for the Utes, who committed three errors—as a result, all three Mercer runs in the frame were unearned.
But the home ballclub used short-term memory to put that stretch in the rearview mirror, and it showed with a five-spot in the bottom of the third as the team batted around. Clarkson scored on an RBI groundout by Davis Cop and Kiernan came home to level the score at four on Richardson's two-out RBI single.
The clutch two-out hitting continued when leadoff hitter Kai Roberts popped a first-pitch single, plating Richardson. After a double-steal, Frei tapped an infield single and both Roberts and Richardson came home, aided by a throwing error.
The teams traded runs until Utah broke the game open with seven runs in its half of the sixth inning. Cop laced a double down the left field line into the corner to bring Baeza all the way in from first base. Frei went opposite field for a two-run single, Clarkson drove in two more with a knock up the middle and Kiernan used a sacrifice fly to bring home Anderson. It gave Utah a 16-5 lead at the time.
In the eighth inning the Utes sent 12 men to bat, and scored nine more runs on seven hits. Clarkson hit a three-run homer, his team-leading seventh of the season. Then, after Kiernan worked a walk, Baeza continued the long-ball theme of the inning with a two-run shot of his own, Baeza's second homer of the season. It crossed Utah over the 20-run mark and made the score 21-6.
Pinch hitter Britt Graham was hit by a pitch later in the eighth, and would score when nine-hole hitter Carter Booth reached on a fielder's choice. Jonny Barditch, stepping into the box for Anderson, added onto the hit parade with a two-run single to center field, then Clarkson rounded out the scoring with a double to score Barditch.
The base hit for Barditch gave the Utah newcomer his first two RBI as a Ute.
Baeza, Cop and Frei had three RBI each on the day and Kiernan had two doubles, the second multi-double game for Kiernan this season.
Follow Utah baseball on social media (@utahbaseball).
Lot of great performances out there today, Coach Henderson highlights a couple postgame ?#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/9jX383ksqf
— Utah Baseball (@utahbaseball) March 27, 2022
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schramm, Dusty (2-0)
L: Tanner Hall (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Trevor Austin 1
3B: Bill Knight 1
HR: Treyson Hughes 1
RBI: Treyson Hughes 2 ; Collin Price 2 ; Antonio Brown 1 ; Jozsef Rohrbacher 1 ; William Mapes 1
SF: Collin Price 1 ; William Mapes 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Colby Thomas 1 ; Treyson Hughes 2 ; Bill Knight 2 ; Angelo DiSpigna 1 ; Trevor Austin 1 ; Antonio Brown 1
HBP: Jozsef Rohrbacher 1
Batting:
2B: Clarkson, TJ 1 ; Kiernan, Jayden 2 ; Cop, Davis 1
3B: Baeza, Alex 1
HR: Clarkson, TJ 1 ; Baeza, Alex 1
RBI: Roberts, Kai 1 ; Frei, Landon 3 ; Anderson, Chase 1 ; Barditch, Jonny 2 ; Clarkson, TJ 7 ; Kiernan, Jayden 2 ; Baeza, Alex 3 ; Cop, Davis 3 ; Richardson, Matt 1 ; Booth, Carter 1
SH: Booth, Carter 1
SF: Kiernan, Jayden 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Roberts, Kai 2 ; Duffalo, Dakota 1 ; Frei, Landon 4 ; Anderson, Chase 3 ; Barditch, Jonny 1 ; Clarkson, TJ 3 ; Kiernan, Jayden 3 ; Baeza, Alex 2 ; Cop, Davis 1 ; Graham, Britt 1 ; Richardson, Matt 2 ; Booth, Carter 2
SB: Roberts, Kai 1 ; Anderson, Chase 1 ; Richardson, Matt 1 ; Booth, Carter 1
HBP: Graham, Britt 1 ; Richardson, Matt 1
Game Leaders
2b/3b
AB
7
R
4
H
5
RBI
3
AB
6
R
3
H
5
RBI
7
AB
4
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
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