# Utah Utes baseball

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.
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

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

## Conference membership

* 1939–1962: Mountain States Conference
* 1963–1999: Western Athletic Conference
* 2000–2011: Mountain West Conference
* 2012–present: Pac-12 Conference

## Utah in the NCAA tournament

* 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 6–5$^{10}$ Lost to Boston College 3–4 Lost to Tulane 1–4

## Current and former major league players

* Billy Cowan
* Stephen Fife
* Randy Gomez
* John Noriega
* Bill Parsons
* Chris Shelton
* Steve Springer
* George Theodore
* C. J. Cron
    Source: Baseball Reference