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Show 4 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Friday, April 8, 2011 Shackelford steps up in Cron's absence After winning 7 of 10 at home, Utah pushes for success on the road The Utes made themselves at home in the friendly confines of Spring Mobile Ballpark by winning seven games during their recently completed ro-game home stand. They now face the task of carrying that momentum to the road, as they kick off a stretch of 15 consecutive road games this weekend with a three-game series at San Diego State. The Utes (12-1o, 5-2 Mountain West Conference) said that they will draw on the experience of opening the season with several road series to find success during the extended trip. "We have a pretty chopped-up schedule this year," said outfielder Austin Shackelford. "That first four weeks of the season playing all road games gave us a pretty good understanding of what it takes to win and play on the road." So far this season, the Utes have compiled a 5-7 away record, including a 0-5 stretch to start the year. However, head coach Bill Kinneberg said he doesn't expect the road trip to be a problem. "We've got to go back and (play a long road trip) to find that niche for us again," Kinneberg said. "We've always handled that very well in the past. I don't think it's going to be a big deal for us to get back on a plane, get back in hotel rooms and be ready to play Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays on the road. This club's determined. I really like the mental aspect of this club so I'm really looking forward to Friday night to see how we play." San Diego State (9-2o, 3-3 MWC) has struggled this season, though it has played the nation's third toughest nonconference schedule. Seven of its losses have been against nationally ranked teams. Kinneberg said the Aztecs' poor record is not indicative of their true talent, and that SDSU can beat any team at any given time. "I know (coach) Tony (Gwynn) will have them ready to play Friday night," Kinneberg said. "Their backs are against the wall a little bit. They're a prideful team so they'll come out and get after us. We've got to do the same thing." Utah is facing some injury concerns heading into the series. Starting pitchers Zach Adams and Brock Duke are expected to be out, and first baseman C.J. Cron, who was listed on Baseball America's midseason AllAmerican team Wednesday, is questionable but expected to play. Cron has missed two games after bruising his bone Friday against Utes open conference play against Cougars Alex Rasmussen STAFF WRITER Bubba Brown STAFF WRITER SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Outfielder Austin Shackelford has six RBI's this season and a 100 percent fielding percentage. UNLV. The good news for the Utes is that players have stepped up amid the injury concerns, notably Shackelford, who has hit homers in each of his last two games. "I'm pretty comfortable at the plate," Shackelford said. "I'm seeing the ball really well, and the team's good feeling going on is really helping my confidence at the plate as well." For the year, Shackelford has a .379 batting average, a .455 on-base percentage and a .655 slugging percentage in limited playing time this season. He acknowledged that Cron's short absence has pushed him to improve his play. "I know that I'm going to see different pitches hitting toward the middle of the lineup," Shackelford said. "I just wanted to be prepared to see those different pitches and do what I could in RBI situations to help the team. So far, I've been very fortunate for it to have worked out." The Utes kick off the three-game set tonight, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. bubba@chronicle.utah.edu • Utah .282 .355 .389 70 152 3.81 .254 BASEu Season Stats SDSU Batting Average On Base % Slugging % Walks Strikouts ERA BAA .246 .352 .349 131 217 5.10 .276 Friday, April 8, 2011 The Utes have put together a 7-I record into their 10-game home stand, which will finish with a two-game set against BYU this weekend. The Utes are coming off a sweep of Weber State on Wednesday that served as their final tune-up for conference play, which starts this weekend. In the two games, the Utes were able to defeat the Wildcats in two straight five-inning games by 8-o and 9-I, respectively. Generra Nielson's and Naomi Amu's pitching kept the Wildcat offense at bay and allowed the Wildcats only three hits in game one. "I just try to be mentally prepared throughout the whole lineup," Nielson said. "Everyone is good from No. I batter to No. 9." In game two, the Utes almost duplicated their success by opening up a 7-0. Utah was one run away from winning on the eight-run mercy rule, when Weber State got a single run in to extend the game. But the Utes wouldn't be denied, as they added two runs in the bottom of the fourth, before Joni Cook would close out the game in the top of the fifth. "It was a good day," said head coach Amy Hogue. "To get ahead of a team and let everybody take a swing at the teams is a good day for US. Nielson and Amu were again strong on the mound. At bat Tia Palauni led the team in batting average (-444), on base percentage (.615) and slugging percentage (.937). BYU will be led by senior Jessica Fitu this weekend, who broke the Mountain West Conference record for the most RBI in a career with 212 last week. BYU is coming off a 14-0 win against Seattle and a 10-4 victory over Loyola Marymount to improve its record to 20-14. "I'm so excited to play BYU," Palauni said. "Our biggest challenge will be just to stay confident as a team. Sometimes we may go in nervous because it's such a big game, but we just need to jump on them early and let it roll from there." Utah's confidence is at a season high; as it has outscored its opponents 46-10 over its sevengame winning streak. "BYU has been such a power-free swinging team in the past but they have a whole new look this year," Hogue said. "They have great pitching so we will have to hit the ball well." This weekend's series is the beginning of the Utes' final season in the MWC and Utah is playing its best ball of the season as the conference schedule gets under way. Utah hopes to leave the conference in style and improve on last year's 4-11 conference record. The two-game series begins today with first pitch at Ute Field scheduled for 4 p.m. a.rasmussen@ chronicle.utah.edu SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily litaff Chronicle After allowing only one run to Weber State in a double header Wednesday, the Utes are confident in facing BYU this weekend. The Utes play Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. 5 |