up for a challenge

Don’t overlook Utah in the Oxford Regional. Picked by at least one national publication to finish last in the Pac-12, the Utes won the league championship. They had to win the last two games of the regular season to earn that title and keep playing in June. They did, beating Washington by scores of 12-8 and 21-7. So forget that 25-27 overall record. This team went 19-11 in the Pac-12, a very competitive league. And this team has a legitimate ace, Jayson Rose, who’ll face Ole Miss and counterpart Brady Bramlett on Friday at Oxford-University Stadium. “I’ll take Jayson Rose over anybody right now,” Utah coach Bill Kinneberg told the Salt Lake Tribune. “I feel pretty good about that matchup.” Rose, a 5-foot-11 right-hander, went 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a school-record 102 strikeouts in 103 innings. In Pac-12 competition, he was 6-3, 2.44 with wins over Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Cal, Oregon and UCLA. Against Ole Miss (43-17), Rose may face as strong an array of hitters – Henri Lartigue, Tate Blackman, J.B. Woodman, et al. – as he’s seen all season. That could be a challenge. But the Utes seem to like it that way.