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Show 6 SPORTS Wednesday March 27, 2013 TODAY'S SKI REPORT 22° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. Alta www.dailyutahchronicle.corn Conditions and weather from utahskiweathercom Wet snow and bumps Brighton UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS 22° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. 27° / 9 a.m. 46° / 3 P.m. Canyons 27° /9 a.m. Deer Valley 460 I 3 p.m. Snowbird 22° / 9 a.m. 40° / 3 p.m. Solitude 23" a.m. 41° / 3 p .m. FOOTBALL THURSDAY Softball Utah vs. Arizona 6 p.m. Utah Softball Stadium Baseball Utah @ Arizona 6 p.m. Tucson, Ariz. FRIDAY: Men's Tennis Utah vs. Oregon 1:30 p.m. Crimson Court Swimming & Diving Utah @ NCAA Men's Championships All Day Indianapolis BASEBALL AMERICA TOP 25 NCAA BASEBALL 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 RECORD North Carolina 21-1 Oregon St. 21-2 Vanderbilt 21-4 Louisiana St. 22-2 Cal State Fullerton 21-3 Florida St. 22-2 UCLA 17-4 Kentucky 18-5 Virginia 22-2 Louisville 19-4 Mississippi 21-4 Oregon 18-6 Georgia Tech 18-5 Oklahoma 22-4 Arkansas 17-7 Notre Dame 14-6 South Carolina 18-6 Rice 18-8 Indiana 18-3 Houston 21-4 Gonzaga 14-7 Georgia Southern 16-7 Cal Poly 17-5 South Alabama 21-4 Mississippi St. 21-6 CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Lineman Junior Salt (74) and other 0-linemen practicing during spring camp. The offensive line will be a large concern for coaches this offseason. 0-line aims for perfection NO MISTAKES Utah's offensive line will utilize trust, communication to combat the pressure and expectations of their position n Brandon Barlow STAFF WRITER Sometimes big deeds go unnoticed. In football, when things go right for a team's offense, we don't see them. Yet, when things go horribly wrong, we know the first place to look. You wouldn't typically think a guy who weighs more than 300 pounds would go unnoticed. But the life of an offensive lineman is one of almost no recognition but of high expectation. For sophomore left tackle Jeremiah Poutasi, expec- SOFTBALL tations are all part of the job. "I love it," Poutasi said. "We just got to be on our 'A'. game. All five linemen have to be on the same page." Though lineman are usually recognized for their size and strength because they usually go against players that are as big and sometimes faster than they are, the positions on the line take as much mental capability as physical capacity. If they so much as flinch before the ball is snapped after they are set, it will cost them five yards. Everyone recognizes an offensive lineman who fails to do his job. Senior center Vyncent Jones strongly believes an offensive line group is about trust and communication. When everyone does what they are supposed to, you don't worry about the other linemen, he said. "If you go up to the line of scrimmage and you don't know where to go, you will not be successful," Jones said. "The more you know, you're not going to be thinking too much." It all begins at the front. An offensive lineman has to know what is happening on every play and down because they are the players that make the play happen. Linemen must know how to pick up an incoming linebacker or two on a blitz and must try and account for every man trying to reach the quarterback. Utah's offense has changed with the hiring of co-offensive coordinator, Dennis Erickson, but the schemes and plays the Ute offensive line runs haven't changed much from their original responsibilities. Co-offensive coordinator, Brian Johnson, hopes the familiarity will help, since the line is key to how this offense will function. "Coming from last year, I just feel more comfortable with the offense we are running right now," Poutasi See FOOTBALL page 8 BASEBALL Utes claim victory in extra innings against Cougars Chad Mobley STAFF WRITER CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah softball played its first game in an unfinished stadium Tuesday night against Utah Valley University. The Utes lost 4-1. Team's offense costs them win in home opener Connor Wallace ley University 4-I. "UVU wanted to beat us STAFF WRITER more than we wanted to A new era of Utah softball beat them and we played began Tuesday night, but tentative and they played the result was all too much aggressive," said Utah head the same. coach Amy Hogue. "They In the Utes' first contest came out to beat us [and] at their new stadium, they we came out to not lose on were outplayed in every our home opener. It's a teraspect of the game. But the rible way to approach the most glaring issue was once game." again the team's lack of ofOutfielder Kate Dickman fense. Utah had seven hits drove in the Utah's (13-14-I) but was only able to score once as it lost to Utah Val- See SOFTBALL page 8 It was time to do or die for Utah shortstop Cory Hunt. He stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the ninth, down by one run against BYU. After drawing a full count, Hunt smoked a line drive down the right field line for a triple that scored Tyler Relf to tie the game. Hunt was 4-4 on the game with two RBI. His triple took the Utes to extra innings, where T.J. Bennett hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the loth to give Utes the 5-4 win. "BYU battled the whole night," Hunt said. "It was just a BYU, Utah game. That's what you're going to get every time. It ended the way we like, absolutely." BYU had only managed to tally three hits against Utah's pitching staff heading into the ninth. Then the Cougars got hot. Kelton Caldwell led off the ninth for BYU by smashing a home run over the right field fence to tie the game at one apiece. The Cougars weren't done yet. After loading the bases, BYU first baseman Brock Whitney plated another run on a fielder's choice up ERIN BURNS/The Daily Utah Chronicle The Utes celebrate as junior TJ Bennett comes toward second base in the 10th inning-win against BYU 5-4. Bennett's hit allowed freshman Dallas Carroll to score the winning run. the middle to take the lead. With runners on the corners, Adam Law continued his eight-game hitting streak by lining a double into the right field corner to score two more. It was 4-I in BYU's favor heading into the bottom of the 9th. Despite the late-inning rally, Hunt said the Utes never gave up. "I wasn't going to lose it like that," Hunt said. "Our team battled all night." For the third time in a week, the Utes went to extra innings and came out on top. Dallas Carroll led off the loth by getting hit by a pitch. Trey Nielsen hit a hard ground ball that got past BYU's third baseman Adam Law and moved Carroll to third. Nielsen then stole second base and the Cougars intentionally walked Will Taylor to load the bases with one out. Bennett stepped into the batter's box and came through in the clutch once again, smacking a walk off single to center field just like he did against Utah Valley University in extras a week ago. On the same day Carroll was named the first ever Pac12 Player of the Week for Utah, he scored the winning run. See BASEBALL page 8 |