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Show 7 S Monday, April 21,2008 www.dailyutahchronicle.com Baseball Men's Tennis Women's Tennis Softball Track Golf Gymnastics Southern Utah () @ Utah (13-20) Utah (13-10) § MWCTournament Utah (14-8) @ MWCTournament UNLV (23-30-1) @ Utah (23-20) Utah@ Drake Relays Utah § MWC Championships Utah @ NCAA Championships-Prelims 6p.m. Franklin Covey Field All Pay, Fort Worth, Texas 2,4p.m,UteField AliOay,DesMoines,lova All Day, Tucson, Ariz. All Day, Fort Worth, Texas Rugby team loses 2, out of QBs impress in Red-White game when picking the teams, Weddle assumed the kicking duties. After Manis1 second touchdown With the majority of its starters on the run, Weddle's extra-point sidelines as a precautionary measure, the U attempt was blocked. football team was a little sparse in the latest The loose ball was A version of its annual Red-White game Satur- picked up by Justin Taplin-Ross, who day. Still, Kyle Whittingham and Co. took advan- ran 12 yards before / tage of the spring scrimmage to take a look at pitching it to teammate Scan Smith, some of their younger players. "We got a good look at a lot of the (second- Wearing a polo and and third-string) players," Whittingham said. shirt "To get those guys some experience was in- shorts amidst 21 fully padvaluable." In the end, quarterback play dominated the ded players, scrimmage. Third-stringer Chad Manis had a Weddle purhand in three touchdowns en route to leading sued Smith the White team to an 18-10 victory. The soph- the length of the field. The defensive omore connected with wide receiver Freddie back nearly caught Smith multiple times Brown for a 12-yard touchdown, following up but was blocked every time he got close. with touchdown runs of five and eight yards. "I hope the Chargers don't see the tape of Red team quarterback DeVonte' Christo- him trying to defend that return," Whittingpher also impressed, rushing for 84 yards in ham said. "They'll kill me. He's so competitive, he couldn't help himself." the scrimmage. Smith jokingly chided after the game when "(Christopher) is obviously raw, but he has a lot of talent," Whittingham said. "He has asked whether Weddle could have caught him big-play capabilities. He's going to be a good if he had not been blocked, saying there was no way. one in the future." After the game, players drenched Weddle Running back Ray Stowers supplemented Christopher's play making with 50 rush- with Gatorade to honor his first victory as ing yards of his own in addition to a touch- head coach. down. "I ultimately want to end up coaching, so Returning starter Brian Johnson played it was good to get out here, call some plays the first series for both teams before giving and be around the team," Weddle said. "It was up the reins to the two youngsters. Johnson awesome. I love this place. I love the town. I ended the scrimmage having completed two love the people, and I love this university. So of his four passes for 23 yards and an inter- any time I get to come back, I'll be here and supporting them." ception. In addition to leading the White team to As for the real coach, Whittingham said he victory as an honorary coach, former Utah thought the execution was fairly clean and Ail-American and current San Diego Charger was happy with how the team's spring pracEric Weddle was also inadvertently part of tices ended. the day's most exciting play. Since the White team didn't draft a kicker See WEDDLE Page 10 Cody Brunner ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Jason Peterson STAFF WRITER Softball splits against rival Cougars Jason Peterson STAFF WRITER The U softball team exhibited some real gumption against its archrivals last weekend. On Friday, BYU gave the Utes one of their most lopsided losses of the season—an 8-0 shutout behind Cougar pitcher Christina Gwyn TVice's two-hitter. Rather than roll over the next day, though, the Utes punched back by doing BYU one better— handing the Cougars a heartbreaking 6-4 loss on their own field. BYU unleashed its bats Friday for n hits and eight runs in three straight innings. The game was called by the bottom of the fifth inning because of the eight-run rule. "It was just one of those days," said Utah pitcher Ashley Smuda, who watched Friday's game from the bench while fellow pitcher Brittany Parker took the mound. "We just didn't catch any breaks with our hits, and eventually we were just playing not to lose." Despite holding the Utes to just two hits, Gwyn-Trice had just three strikeouts. "We were hitting the ball," infielder Kara Foster said of Utah's continuous flow of pop flies and ground-outs. "But their batters were able to find the gaps. They just took us out of our element, our game plan." The Utes used Friday's loss as fuel for Saturday's contest. "We wanted to win on BYU's field for the last game in Proyo," Foster said. Atfirst,the second game looked to be a repeat of Friday's shutout. BYU pulled out to an early 3-0 lead that was highlighted by a Kristin Delahoussaye home run in the game's first hit. "Were were like, 'Okay, whatever,'" Foster said. "We gave them that one, but we knew we'd get them back later." It wasn't until the fourth inning that the Utes caught fire from the plate. Kristie Keller doubled off BYU pitcher Paige Affleck with two on base. Pinch runner Tori Medina and Angie Boardman scored off the hit. Keller ran home on a fielding error from Cougar rightfielder Stephanie Platt-Hopkins to tie the game at three. BYU's Amanda Vance brought home Delahoussaye in the bottom of the fourth to put the CouSee UTES Page 9 Like a glass ceiling that came raining down in . pieces, the U rugby team's hopes for a deep run in the USA Rugby/National Guard playoffs precipitated back to earth with a pair of heartbreaking losses over the weekend. Despite successfully enduring a season full of injuries to key players—including Ail-Americans Cam Kiser and Andrew Swindle—the Scrummin1 Utes had built up high expectations, climbing to a No. 5 national ranking and 13-4 record. Unfortunately for Utah, those injuries caught up and forced less-experienced backups into the lineup. On Friday, against first-round opponent Colorado, it was either make or break for the Utes in the one-game elimination playoffs, and they fell. "In the end, I think it was injuries and inexperience that hurt us," Utah assistant coach Blake Burdette said. "We had a lot of unforced errors." Flyhalf Mike Harman scored two tries and flanker Mike Kimball and wing Jeff Beck each scored another, but the Utes fell to No. 6 Colorado, 31-30. After falling behind 14-8 at the half, the Utes reeled off 22 points to stay in the game. Each team scored four tries, but the Buffaloes converted for extra points on all four while Utah converted on two. "Colorado has been playing very well all year, and I think they just kind of blew up on us," Burdette said. In Saturday's consolation game, the Utes took on No. 18 Minnesota, which fell to Penn State in Friday's Round of 16. Utah struggled to get going against the scrappy club and were outscored in both halves, eventually losing 31-18. Wings Redge Benheim and Matt Byrd each scored a try while Scott Cowley and Harman contributed with a drop kick. "We faced a very determined and underrated Minnesota team," Burdette said. "Give them credit." As for his own club, Burdette said they will have their work cut out for them this summer in. preparation for next season. "We still have a lot to learn as far as being mentally prepared when faced with adversity," Burdette said. "At the same time, I think we gave our young players a chance to gain some valuable experience for next year." Senior and team captain Jake Anderson will not be returning next year along with Benheim, Byrd, Cowley, Kiser and prop Nate Herrscher. The Ute roster still features plenty of returning talent, including Harman, Swindle, lock Chase Jardine and centers Kave Lauti and Matt Wunderli. "Even though we're losing a number of great' seniors, we still have a lot of young talent, and we should be really competitive next year," Burdette: said. j.peterson@chronicle.utah.edu' Utes suffer dismal weekend, drop 3 against New Mexico Cody Brunner ASST. SPORTS EDITOR For the second consecutive weekend, the U baseball team dropped all three of its games against a conference opponent. This time around, the culprit was New Mexico, and the Lobos beat the Utes in AARON SCHMHOIMAH/Iht Daily Utah (htasklt The Utes were swept for the second weekend in a row as New Mexico handed them another three losses. convincing fashion in two out of the three games. The one game when the Utes did give themselves a chance was Friday's round. Utah raced out to a 4-0 lead after the first two innings due in large part to Cody Guymon. Corey Shimada and DC Legg both got on base in the top of the second inning, and Guymon brought them home with a three-run blast. The four-run lead was short-lived, though. New Mexico would have its rebuttal in the bottom of the Second inning when Kevin Atkinson pounded out a two-RBI home run of his own. Rafael Neda followed up with a triple and crossed home shortly after thanks to a Utah error. The Utes held onto a 4-3 lead until Brian CavazosGalvez evened the score with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning. The two teams battled into extra innings, but neither could get a runner across the plate. New Mexico left three on base in the bottom of the ninth inning. Utah left a runner in scoring position in the top of the nth. New Mexico left two on in the bottom of the nth. In the top of the 12th inning, Shimada worked his way to third base, but a third out prolonged the outcome. Finally, in the bottom of the 12th inning, Neda ripped a two-out double to left field to conclude the game. The Utes just weren't the same team for the rest of the weekend. On Saturday, Utah carried a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning but couldn't stymie late Lobo rallies. New Mexico scored multiple runs in each of the final four innings—six of which were unearned—and ran away with a 13-3 victory. Neda led the charge for the Lobos, tallying five RBIs on 2-of-5 hitting. "We made some mistakes in the fifth inning, and we gave them some runs and some breathing room," Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "Our relief pitchers came in, and they didn't get the job done." "I feel like it was a complete breakdown on offense, defense and hitting. It was very frustrating." See BASEBALL Page 9 TBA, Athens, 6a. The Utah men's tennis team concluded its regular season with a 4-3 loss at home to UC Santa Barbara. The Utes finished the season 13-10 and will begin postseason play next week at the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Despite the loss, seniors Zach Ganger and Miron Mann won both of their matchups in singles and doubles play in their final home game. The match came down to the fourth spot in singles play where Ute Timmy Allin faced UC Santa Barbara's Max Taylor. While AUin's performance pushed the game into three sets, Taylor was able to hold on for the match win and overall team victory. "We're disappointed for not being able to give our seniors a win on Senior Day," Utah assistant coach Roeland Brateanu said. "We are now looking forward to a better performance from the team at the conference tournament." Next up for the Utes is the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Fort Worth, Texas, starting April 24. The Utah women's tennis team closed out the regular season with a 5-1 upset win against rival BYU. With the win, the Utes finished with a foutth-place tie with BYU in the Mountain West Conference. The win marked the first time since 1992 that the Ute tennis team defeated its archrival. From the start of the match, the team came out strong and never let up. After winning two out of three matches in doubles play, the Utes continued to dominate the field as they won five of the final six matches in singles play. "This is a tremendous win for our program," Utah head coach Mat Iandolo said. "It's hard to call this a rivalry since it has been so one-sided in the past, but hopefully this is a good sign of things to come." The Utes will now head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which starts April 24. WTRACK The Utah track and field team concluded the Faldmo Invitational with many impressive individual performances. Ashley Patterson finished first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.47. The time also set a new school Record. Alyssa Abbott also came in first in her event, winning the 800-meter with a time of 2:13.23. Chelsea Shapard and Sarah McFee also won events, coming out victorious in the 400-meter hurdles and the1 triple jump, respectively. Another notable performance came from Josefin Berg, who finished second in the hammer throw. She fell one inch short of winning the event. "I'm very happy with how hard we competed today," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Now we have to prepare for next week where we will be at two meets that will test us against some of the best in the nation." Those next two meets for the Utes are the Drake Relays and the Robison Invitational on April 25 and 26. |