Utah
Cal Sweeps Utah, Earns No. 6 Seed in Pac-12 Baseball Tournament
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Dom Souto, who started the day because the Pac-12’s main hitter, knocked within the game-winning run within the backside of the ninth inning to provide Cal its sixth straight win, a 9-8 victory over Utah on Saturday.
It additionally gave Cal the No. 6 seed within the Pac-12 event. The Bears will open event play in opposition to No. 3 seed UCLA on Wednesday in a recreation that may begin at about 8:30 p.m. in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cal and Arizona State started the day tied for seventh place within the Pac-12, a half recreation behind Washington. However Arizona State misplaced to Washington State on Saturday whereas Cal gained, lifting the Bears (28-25, 14-16 Pac-12) right into a tie with Washington for sixth place. (The Huskies performed a nonconference recreation in opposition to Northern Colorado Saturday.) Cal earned the tiebreaker with the Huskies as a result of the Bears gained two of three video games in opposition to Washington throughout the common season.
The Pac-12 event is break up into two divisions, very like the School World Sequence. Cal, UCLA, Oregon State and Washington are in Division Two, whereas No. 1 seed Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon and Arizona are in Division One. The winner of every division in double-elimination play will meet within the Pac-12 championship recreation on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
Cal should win the event to earn a berth within the NCAA event, whereas Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA appear to be assured at-large berths to the NCAA event, and Arizona and Oregon are good bets to obtain at-large bids as nicely.
Cal might be within the more durable division, with UCLA and Oregon State. The Beavers are presently ranked No. 2 within the nation, though they’re prone to drop just a few spots on this week’s rankings.
Nonetheless, the Bears are feeling fairly good about their possibilities. Cal got here into this remaining sequence in opposition to Utah needing to win two of the three video games to get into the Pac-12 event. The Bears ended up profitable all three and are driving a six-game profitable streak through which they outscored their opponents 82-16.
Souto, the Bears’ No. 9 hitter, began the day hitting .376, one level higher than Stanford’s Brett Barrera. Each went 1-for-4 Saturday, however Souto’s one hit was extra essential, as a result of it got here with two outs within the backside of the ninth with a runner at third. Souto is now batting .372.
Additionally, Cal’s Nathan Martorella went 3-for-5 to carry his common to .344, and Rodney Inexperienced Jr. went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Listed below are the opening-day matchups within the Pac-12 event on Wednesday:
DIVISION ONE
Scroll to Proceed
9 a.m. — No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Arizona
Roughly 1:45 p.m. — No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 8 Arizona State
DIVISION TWO
4:45 p.m. — No. 2 Oregon State vs. No. 7 Washington
Roughly 8:30 p.m. — No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Cal
Click on right here for your complete Pac-12 baseball event bracket and schedule
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Cowl picture of Nathan Manning
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Observe Jake Curtis of Cal Sports activities Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53
Discover Cal Sports activities Report on Fb by looking out: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.fb.com/si.calsportsrepor
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Utah
Opinion: A new effort in Utah will help each of us overcome ideological silos
Utah
Op-Ed: Kyle Whittingham and Utah are where they want to be, respected but not hyped
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In the current landscape of college football, Utah finds itself in a truly ideal situation. Most fans want to hear their team mentioned nationally with the usual customers. However, that typically is an indicator of national respect. If your team can be mentioned with the likes of Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan and Oregon, you can rest easy that those outside your market recognize and show respect by putting them in that conversation. For Utah, searching for validation through that metric, at least for now, is not necessary.
In the latest ESPN top 25 rankings, the Utes are mentioned in fact with those names. Behind Georgia, Ohio State and Texas, but ahead of Michigan, Florida State and LSU. The respect factor is present. You can see it almost anywhere in major college football circles. Whether it’s the television networks, CFB reporters or platforms. Almost everywhere you look, Utah is getting the respect part without hesitation. Due in large part to the return of Cam Rising and a focused approach to the transfer portal.
Utah finds themselves in an advantageous position on the field before they ever take the field. They finished the last year’s campaign with a lower win total than expected. However, a large portion of that comes back to an offense that was not whole and didn’t have their preferred signal caller due to a knee injury. Prior to Rising being out, he led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships and an eventual Rose Bowl appearance.
Utah picked to win 2024 Big 12 Championship in preseason media poll
Even coming off their 8-5 finish, almost every national publication that puts out a preseason Top 25 ranking has Utah slotted above the 20th spot. Not to throw shade, but 247Sports is the only real outlier, ranking the Utes at 18th in the country. Every other big national outlet has Utah somewhere between 8th and 14th. Putting them right in that discussion with the best programs entering the 2024 season. It would also suggest making the 12-team College Football playoff is not an unrealistic goal.
The factor that Utes fans don’t have to contend with is the hype dynamic. The national media seems content to respect Utah from a distance, but has not moved into pumping them up or pushing a narrative like we see due east at Colorado. While it’s nice to be noticed, and nicer still to be feared, hype is not necessary to win. As a matter of fact, hype makes winning more difficult. It also inflates expectations to an unrealistic level.
When there is no hype, the expectations are what they are and typically remain unchanged. When you look around the country, there are plenty of teams that are operating against lofty or even unfair expectations due to that factor. Alabama doesn’t have Nick Saban, but the expectations are still set for the Alabama we’ve come to know over time. Oregon seems to keep moving the goalposts on themselves. After Georgia saw all 11 defensive starters get drafted, the expectation was the championship was theirs to lose. There are even a couple of teams that are basing their actual expectations on the hype aspect, which is a recipe for trouble.
Everyone in Salt Lake City and abroad rooting for the Utes should all enjoy this dynamic as one typically leads to the other. When teams are respected as a top 10 team at this juncture in the calendar, hype usually follows. Yet, for the most part, we aren’t hearing about where Rising ranks as an NFL draft prospect, what receiver will have 1,000 yards this year, or the damage Utah is going to do to the field once the season starts. All of which could prove to be true, but we aren’t hearing it. That’s the difference in where Utah is right now and where they don’t want to be. Kyle Whittingham’s team won’t be the Belle of the Ball before arriving. They want to be the one everyone isn’t paying attention to until it’s too late.
What separates Utah from other programs feeding into hype is that it doesn’t need to be more than they are. Some teams will have to be special to win games against teams viewed to be more consistently established. Utah just needs to be themselves. If health is not a massive concern, the season’s success should simply come down to whether they execute or not.
Utah opens the 2024 season at home against Southern Utah on Thursday, August 29.
Utah
Red Flag Warning expanded to include northern Utah, other areas
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SALT LAKE CITY — Northern Utah is now included in an expanded Red Flag Warning issued ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, with fire officials warning residents to use caution with fireworks and campfires.
REAL-TIME CONDITIONS: Get the latest real-time temperatures and forecasts by downloading the FREE Utah Weather Authority app
The National Weather Service updated its warning Wednesday to include all of northern Utah, along with the Grand Staircase and the San Rafael Swell. While the warning is in effect until 9 p.m., condition are expected to redevelop against the Swell Thursday.
Wind gusts are forecast to reach up to 30 miles per hour, with relative humidity measuring between 10-15%, which creates critical fire conditions.
The following counties are now under a Red Flag Warning:
- Box Elder
- Cache
- Emery
- Garfield
- Juab
- Kane
- Morgan
- Rich
- Salt Lake
- San Juan
- Sanpete
- Summit
- Tooele
- Utah
- Washington
- Wasatch
- Wayne
- Weber
Crews were battling a blaze in an Ivins neighborhood Wednesday, with air resources being used to drop water on the flames.
Santa Clara-Ivins Fire & Rescue
On Wednesday, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands said it had seen an increase in fire starts from debris burns and vehicles across the state. According to the agency, there have been 56 fire starts cause by vehicles and 31 by debris burns since June 1.
Drivers are warned to check their brakes and tires, which if worn out, can can sparks. If there’s a need to pull over to the side of a road, make sure to park away from dry vegetation and keep trailer chains tightened so they don’t drag on the road.
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