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Show 6 SPORTS Wednesday March 20, 2013 TODAY'S SKI REPORT Alta 25° / 9 a.m. 30° / 3 p.m. www.dailyutahchronicle.com -11 Conditions and weather from utahskiweathencom Snow showers beginning early afternoon Brighton UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS 25° / 9 a.m. 30° / 3 p.m. Canyons f0 0TB A lL ■11111■■ 30° / 9 a.m. 360/ 3 p.m. Deer Valley -336° -° ° //93pa.m m . . Snowbird 3225° 00 //39 ap i m i Solitude football begins TODAY: Women's Basketball Utah @ Long Beach State TBA Long Beach, Calif BACK ON THE TURF The Utes hit the field in their preparation for a new season Softball Utah @ Utah State 4 p.m. Logan, Utah Brandon Barlow Volleyball STAFF WRITER Utah vs. Utah Valley 4 p.m. Crimson Court It's good to be back FRIDAY: Softball Utah @ California 3 p.m. Berkeley, Calif Baseball Utah @ Stanford 7 p.m. Palo Alto, Calif USA TODAY TOP 25 NCAA SOFTBALL RANK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 TEAM Oklahoma Arizona St. Florida Alabama Texas A&M California Missouri Tennessee Texas Oregon Louisville UCLA LSU Michigan Stanford Arizona Washington Baylor Tulsa Hawaii Kentucky Virginia Tech Georgia Oregon St. Nebraska 26° / 9 a.m. 31° / 3 p.m. RECORD 27-1 29-2 27-3 26-3 26-2 23-3 15-2 23-6 27-4 23-4 23-3 23-4 23-5 21-7 22-5 20-8 22-7 25-5 23-5 22-7 19-7 18-4 21-7 21-5 18-5 CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Co-offensive coordinators Dennis Erickson (left) and Brian Johnson (right) during the team's first practice of the season. Erickson joined the team to help improve the stagnant offense of a season ago. It has been a long time since the Utes have been able to get onto the practice field. After ending the 2012 season at 5-7 and missing a bowl appearance for the first time in io years, the Utes couldn't hit the turf soon enough. "It seems like forever since we have been out here," said head coach Kyle Whittingham. "It was good to be back out." All players and coaches literally ran up and down as well as in and out of the Spence Eccles practice facility. The offense was running plays at a rapid pace and the defense was able to keep up and showed a lot of intensity throughout the session. "Players were very eager," Whittingham said. "Great tempo throughout the whole practice." Defensive end Trevor Reilly was one of a few Utes who will miss spring practice because of a knee injury. Running back Kelvin York, who saw the most action Tuesday, is battling a turf toe suffered in the offseason. "[York] is a little bit slowed See NOTEBOOK page 8 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Utah committed to success in tourney Michael Smith STAFF WRITER Utah spent much of its time during the regular season in California, and that trend will continue during the postseason. The Utes received a bid to play in the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Monday evening, and they'll be traveling to California for the third time this season. Utah will play Long Beach State on Wednesday at the 49ers' home court in Los Angeles. This is the second consecutive year and seventh time overall that Utah will be playing in the WNIT. The Utes have gone I-1 in each of their past three WNIT appearances, and they're not only looking to advance past the second round for the first time in four tries. They're looking to win the whole thing. "This team wants to keep playing," said head coach Anthony Levrets. "They love being around each other. We had great practice when we got back [from the Pac12 Tournament] because we knew we would be playing. We didn't know who or where we would playing, but we know we would be in the NIT." Utah is coming off a 54-43 quarterfinal loss to UCLA in the Pac12 Tournament. Their tilt in the conference tourney improved their record to 18-13 overall, and BASEBALL they're winners of seven of their past ten. The Utes are eager to get back on the court after their disappointing loss to the Bruins on March 8. "Us seniors are ready to play," said shooting guard Iwalani Rodrigues. "We don't want it to stop. I didn't like the way we ended [against UCLA]. No one did. When we found out we were in See WNIT PREVIEW page 8 SOFTBALL Team snags a win over UVU in extra innings Utes looks to hit the basics to stop Aggies Chad Mobley STAFF WRITER In a rivalry game that didn't disappoint, the Utes got back to .5oo Tuesday night. Their ninth win of the season came against Utah Valley University — thanks to a bases-loaded pinch-hit single from TJ Bennett in the 11th inning that plated Tyler Relf. "It was just another at bat and I was able to keep calm," Bennett said. "[The count] got to 3-2, and I knew he didn't want to walk me. It was just a fastball out over the plate and I was able to stay short and put the barrel on it." Bennett's RBI sealed the victory for Utah, but it was a big one out triple by Relf that put Utah in a position to win. "That was huge for us as a team offensively," Bennett said. "He put a spark plug in us and it was a big knock in the gap. It put the pressure on them." Though the Utes got the clutch hit when it mattered most, they struggled to get hits throughout the game. After io innings, Utah only had three. However, when trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, Utah managed to stretch across the tying run by utilizing the Wolverines' pitching mistakes. After being hit by a pitch to start the inning, Braden Anderson moved from first to second on a pitch in the dirt. Anderson then took third as Kody Davis drew a walk. With one out and runners on the corners, Dallas Carroll hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right that tied the game at two apiece. Carroll also had a double and a single with a run scored earlier in the game. Utah's pitching staff also played a vital role in claiming the win. After starting pitcher Chase Rezac allowed only two runs through five innings of work, dominant relief performances from Luke West and the rest of the Utes bullpen kept UVU from scoring after the fifth. West came on in the sixth and mowed down the Wolverine batters. He claimed six strikeouts on his way to retiring 12 of the 14 batters he faced. "I am so proud of Luke," said Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg. "He's had a tough two years here. He pitched outstanding tonight. The two heroes were West and Relf with the big hit in the nth." Although they claimed the win, Kinneberg said the Utes still need to work on executing their offense. "We had a lot of people in scoring position throughout the game," Kinneberg said. "We got a little anxious at the plate and struck out a couple of times in key situations." The Utes will continue a busy week as they will head back to California to face Stanford, their second Pac-12 opponent. "It was a good victory," Kinnberg said. "Now our focus is this weekend on Stanford." Game 1 of that series is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday night. c.mobley@chronicle.utah.edu Twitter: Chad Mobley Connor Wallace STAFF WRITER ERIN BURNS/The Daily Utah Chronicle Freshman third baseman Dallas Carroll hits late in Tuesday's game against the Utah Valley Wolverines. The Utes won 3-2 in an extra inning. Utah starts Pac-12 play this weekend and begins playing at home next week, but before either can occur, the Utes will take on Utah State University today at 4 p.m. The game will be the Aggies first home game of the season, which will be a welcome change for the 5-22 team. Utah is looking to end a four-game skid. The Utes (13-Io-I) have already ruined a home opener for another Utah team after beating Utah Valley on March 5. Utah State hasn't been much of a challenge in the past, as Utah has blanked the Aggies in each of their past two meetings. Shutting out the Aggies will be easier with the improvement of Utah's pitching staff, which allowed just five runs in four games at the University of Hawaii Tournament. The Utes lessened their reliance on Naomi Amu, as Kayce Nieto and Mariah Ramirez both had strong performances in the tournament. "They have made a complete turnaround," said head coach Amy See SOFTBALL page 8 |