The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have drafted Utah first baseman C.J. Cron. 

Cron led the Utes to a 29-21 record and second place finish in the Mountain West Conference - even though they were picked sixth out of seventh prior to the season beginning. 

It was the most successful regular season for Utah baseball since the MWC formed in 1999 and Cron certainly became an electrifying and most talked about player in program history.

Cron is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and was named to the Louisville Slugger All-American team last week. 

Utah baseball's hopes of winning the conference tournament took a big hit Thursday night with a loss to New Mexico. The 6-5 defeat was a huge setback as the Utes lose their inside track to the conference championship and now must take on TCU at 4:00 Salt Lake time for a chance to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. 

The Lobos advance to take on the winner of the earlier Utes-Frogs games, which means Utah will not only have to take out a top-ten TCU team they've struggled against the past few years, they'll have to turn around and play another game against a rested New Mexico - who already defeated them once in the tournament.

That's why Thursday's game was so important and, unfortunately, Utah couldn't take advantage of their lower-seeded opponent.

Now hopefully they can do to TCU what New Mexico already did a couple nights ago.  

Utah's path to the NCAA Baseball Championship continues with a 7-3 win over San Diego State in their first game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. They advance to take on New Mexico, who upset TCU Wednesday night. 

The Utes swept the Lobos in their series back in April, so this is certainly a winnable game for Utah. If the Utes do beat New Mexico today, they then will turn around and play the winner of Game #9 on Friday  - so the possibilities include TCU, BYU or San Diego State. That latter game will take place the same day as the Utes' contest with the potential winner - setting up a shot at winning the tournament.

If Utah loses today to New Mexico, then they would play in the Game #9 series and take on either TCU, BYU or San Diego State and then, if they were to win that game, advance to play New Mexico. 

Confused? You're not the only one and I'm not exactly sure I got that all right - so don't freak out if I have some of the games mixed up. 

What we do know, definitively, is that the Utes will play New Mexico today for a chance to advance.

Utah baseball enters their three game set against TCU looking to win the program's first ever Mountain West Conference regular season title. 

The Utes are currently 1.5 games back of the 10th ranked Frogs, though have three more conference losses, so there certainly is little room for error heading into these next three games. The series kicks off today at 5:30 Salt Lake time and you can view the contest on the mtn network. 

If Utah wins all three games, they'll be guaranteed at least a share of the title and could win it outright if TCU loses once to New Mexico in their final conference series of the season. 

So here's to a solid series and the potential for a conference championship. Of course, it might be asking too much for the Utes to leave Fort Worth with three straight wins. The Frogs are a fantastic team and haven't lost a series yet in Mountain West play. 

But that shouldn't diminish what Utah has accomplished this season. They were picked to finish sixth in the conference at the start of the season and regardless of what happens in Fort Worth, will easily finish in the top-two.

That's pretty impressive and it's certainly been a special regular season for Utah baseball. Hopefully it continues this weekend. 

James Brooks' six hits tied a school record as Utah baseball overwhelmed the UVU Wolverines 15-8 in a windy and cold Tuesday night contest down in Orem. 

Utah opened the game with an impressive first inning, scoring five runs on their way to a quick 9-2 start and held off the Wolverines' comeback hopes when they pulled within three in the sixth. Two runs in the seventh, however, ended any comeback and the Utes won their second straight contest and their 19th total on the season. 

Trey Neilsen had a three-run home run in the first, as Utah wasted little time getting on the board.  

UVU is currently at the top of the Great West Conference and had already defeated the Utes earlier this season. However, Utah, fresh off a series-winning three game set against Tulane, proved too much for the 15-19 Wolverines. 

Brooks is the fifth player in program history to have six hits and the first since Doug Beck in 2005. Beyond just his hits, though, he drove in six runs. 

Luke West earned his first career start for the Utes, who used a total of four pitchers Tuesday. Reliever Stephen Streich pitched three innings and recorded his first win of the season. 

Utah now returns to conference play as they travel to take on Air Force for a three-game set Friday. They will also complete the March 27th contest that was halted due to travel plans. It's a game Utah leads 9-4 through seven innings. 

The box score is after the jump...

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Since we're officially done with spring ball and exhausted every aspect of the basketball coaching change, I thought it appropriate to move on to baseball.

The Utes are actually having a pretty decent and surprising season. Picked to finish sixth (out of seven) in the 2011 preseason Mountain West poll, Utah currently sits at second in the conference - three games ahead of third place BYU. 

It's unlikely the Utes can catch TCU, who lead the conference with a record of 13-2 (Utah is 9-4), but in its final Mountain West season, Utah is certainly putting forth one of their better seasons in recent history. 

Though they lost to BYU in an official non-conference contest back on Tuesday, the Utes rebounded nicely on the road against what has traditionally been a strong Tulane program. They defeated the Green Wave in the first game of the series 7-1, lost in a comeback effort in the second game 7-6 and officially took the series with a 8-1 victory on Saturday. 

In that victory, Brock Duke pitched a perfect game through four innings and allowed only five hits and one run in seven innings of play. 

C.J. Cron hit a two-run home run in the third to put Utah up 3-0 and they really never looked back - pushing the lead to 6-0 on three more runs into the fourth. 

The Utes will play at Utah Valley this Tuesday. Utah split the first two meets between the Wolverines - defeating them 13-5 in Salt Lake City back in March and losing 12-4 down in Orem earlier this month. 

Utah reenters conference play against the Air Force Falcons on Friday. 

Box score after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

Obviously I'm late to the game here and I apologize for that. It's definitely not something I meant to do, but I've been busy. 

What's unfortunate is that with the baseball team now officially done, there won't be much to report on until August. I hate summer. Ok not really, but this is the worst time for college football fans. 

Anyway, the Ute baseball team ended their improbable run a few days ago with another loss to Cal State Fullerton. It wasn't a surprise, since Utah had lost to them at the start of the tournament, but still tough to see the school lose. With that said, this season was amazing and not one any expected, especially since Utah just isn't a baseball school. It never has been. Which makes what we saw that much more awesome and I say soak it up, because you're probably not going to see it again. 

The down side is that I'm not a baseball fan. I used to be back when I was younger, but lost interest in the game the more I began following basketball and football. So I can't say that I was all that depressed with their loss. I wasn't. It would have been nice to see them succeed and advance to the Super Regionals, but it's just not a sport I get emotionally involved in and probably never will. So that's why I didn't follow the season or the tournament as well as I should have. That's my fault, but I don't think there is much of a market for Utah baseball coverage anyway, so I'm not going to lose sleep over it. 

I'm rambling here, so I'm going to close this up. It was a very successful year for Utah athletics and my hope is that it carries over into next year. Now while I doubt we'll see the same heights, it doesn't mean we still can't or won't enjoy it. 

So when does August get here?

Utah's making the most of their first NCAA baseball tournament since 1960. After getting embarrassed in their first game of postseason play, the Utes have bounced back with two huge wins against Georgia Southern and Gonzaga, staying alive for at least another. So the team that by all accounts shouldn't be here now advances and will face Cal State Fullerton -- again -- in a must-win contest tonight. 

If the Utes win this game and force game seven, which is scheduled for tomorrow, it would put them only a win away from the Super Regionals.

Utah will have to quickly figure Cal State Fullerton out if they have any hope of getting another game against the Titans, though. And it's not going to be easy, as they're one of the best teams in the nation this year, but as Utah has shown this season, you can't ever discount their chances. 

Tonight's game against Fullerton begins at 7:10 Salt Lake time.

Go Utes!