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Austin Jones broke the Utah record for homers in a game and tied the MWC record.
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May 1, 2009
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Behind a school and conference-record four home runs from Austin Jones, including a grand slam, the Utah baseball team defeated Air Force, 19-12, on Friday, May 1.
Down 8-5 going into the seventh inning, three walks loaded the bases to bring Jones to the plate. He took the 1-2 pitch over the left field fence to put the Utes up 9-8. Corey Shimada also hit a three-run homer in the inning, giving Utah a 12-8 lead.
Jones, who put Utah on the board in the first inning with a solo homer, added two-run home runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. He broke the school record for home runs in a game, which was previously three, and tied the Mountain West Conference record, set in 2008 by New Mexico's Brian Cavazos-Galvez. Jones was 4-for-6 with four runs scored and nine RBI on the afternoon.
"The grand slam was really the key base hit that opened the door for us," head coach Bill Kinneberg said. "That put us ahead and we started to get into their extend bullpen.
"It was cold and wet, making it a tough day to pitch and play defense. I think it affected both teams a lot. We did swing the bat well from the fourth inning on."
Utah's 19 runs are the most it has scored in a game this season. Every player in the lineup had at least one hit. Shimada was 4-for-6 with four RBI. Devin Walker also hit one over the fence in a 2-for-4 performance, scoring four runs and driving in two. Tyler Yagi and Michael Beltran each had three hits on the day.
Tyler Andersen picked up his first win of the season on the mound, pitching three innings and striking out three. Utah starter Brian Budrow pitched 5.1 innings with six strikeouts while Greg Krause faced the final two batters of the game, striking out both.
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The Utes took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. After Jones got the scoring started with his first home run of the day, Cooper Blanc reached on an error with two outs to keep the inning going. Gavin Green reached base with a single, which set up back-to-back RBI singles from Beltran and Shimada.
Air Force rallied in the bottom of the fourth to score seven runs. Addison Gentry hit a two-run home run in the inning for the Falcons, while Nathan Carter had a two-RBI triple.
Walker's two-run home run in the fifth inning cut the Falcon lead to 7-5 before Air Force added a run in the bottom of the inning before the Utes pulled away in the late innings.
Utah and Air Force play the second of their three-game series on Saturday, May 2, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
