Utah Utes baseball

Utah Utes
2024 Utah Utes baseball team
Founded1892
UniversityUniversity of Utah
Head coachGary Henderson (3rd season)
ConferencePac-12
(Big 12 in 2025)
LocationSalt Lake City, UT
Home stadiumSmith's Ballpark
(Capacity: 15,500)
NicknameUtes
ColorsRed and white[1]
   
College World Series appearances
1951
NCAA Tournament appearances
1951, 1959, 1960, 2009, 2016
Conference tournament champions
2009
Regular season conference champions
1964, 1965, 1997, 2016

The Utah Utes baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The program's first season was in 1892, and it was a member of the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference from the start of the 2012 season until the conference's collapse after the 2024 season. The Utes will join the Big 12 Conference for the 2025 season and beyond.

Through the 2024 season, its home venue has been Smith's Ballpark, located in downtown Salt Lake City. With the ballpark's main tenant, the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, opening the new Daybreak Field in nearby South Jordan in 2025, combined with the planned redevelopment of the Smith's Ballpark site, the university is building the new on-campus America First Ballpark and plans to open it for the 2026 season. The university has not yet announced its plans for a 2025 venue.[2]

Gary Henderson is the team's head coach starting in the 2022 season. The program has appeared in 5 NCAA tournaments. It has won 1 conference tournament championship and 4 regular season conference titles. As of the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, 17 former Utes have appeared in Major League Baseball.

Year by year record

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Season Coach Record Notes
Overall Conference
Western Athletic Conference
1963 Pres Summerhayes 15–14 4–4
1964 14–16 6–4 WAC Northern Division Champions
1965 21–16 7–5 WAC Northern Division Champions
1966 19–20 5–7
1967 19–14 3–7
1968 19–13 4–5
1969 20–22 7–11
1970 20–18 3–10
1971 17–24 7–11
1972 21–28 4–14
1973 11–20 7–11
1974 Tom Kilgore 18–25 11–7
1975 17–28 6–12
1976 15–26 8–9
1977 17–28 6–12
1978 8–27 6–12
1979 7–36 2–15
1980 Mike Weathers 17–19 5–12
1981 23–20 15–9
1982 Lonnie Keeter 17–31 12–12
1983 15–18 7–15
1984 23–25 13–11
1985 29–21 12–11
1986 9–32 3–21
1987 16–34 8–16
1988 Rick Sofield 10–32 8–17
1989 17–32 10–18
1990 19–33 10–16
1991 23–30 11–12
1992 20–34 11–15
1993 31–19 14–9
1994 22–32 9–15
1995 Steve Gillespie 15–39 7–21
1996 Bill Kinneberg 30–22 15–15
1997 Tim Esmay 36–21–1 22–8 WAC Northern Division Champions
1998 23–31 12–18
673-900-1
Mountain West Conference
1999 Tim Esmay 22–30 8–20
2000 26–30 15–15
2001 27–29 14–16
2002 33–26 16–14
2003 24–32 10–20
2004 22–36 11–19
2005 Bill Kinneberg 19–36 10–20
2006 28–28 9–13
2007 24–31 12–12
2008 26–31 10–14
2009 28–31 8–16 MWC Tournament champions
NCAA Regional
2010 23–28 10–13
2011 29–21 16–7
331-389
Pac-12 Conference
2012 Bill Kinneberg 14–42 7–23
2013 21–31 7–23
2014 16–36 4–26
2015 16–36–1 7–22–1
2016 25–27 18–11 Pac-12 Champions
NCAA Regional
2017 27–24 15–15
2018 16–39 8–22
2019 16–33 6–24
2020 6–7 0–0 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2021 17–33 7–23
2022 Gary Henderson 26-27-1 10-20
2023 1-4
201-335-1
Total 1205-1628-2

Conference membership

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Utah in the NCAA tournament

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1951
College World Series

Defeated Tennessee, 7–1
Lost to Southern California 2–8
Defeated Texas A&M15–8
Lost to Tennessee 4–5
Third Place

1959
District 7 playoffs

Lost to Colorado State College 8–17
Defeated Colorado State College 13–8
Lost to Colorado State College 8–12

1960
District 7 playoffs

Defeated Colorado State College 24–3
Lost to Colorado State College 2–3
Lost to Colorado State College 2–6

2009
Fullerton, CA Regional

Lost to Cal State Fullerton 2–18
Defeated Georgia Southern 11–10
Defeated Gonzaga 9–7
Lost to Cal State Fullerton 3–16

2016
Oxford, MS Regional

Defeated Ole Miss 6–510
Lost to Boston College 3–4
Lost to Tulane 1–4

Individual awards

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All Americans

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Conference awards

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Current and former major league players

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Source: Baseball Reference

See also

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References

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  1. ^ University of Utah Athletics Brand Guide (PDF). August 23, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "University of Utah Ballpark". University of Utah. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
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