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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah is back in the NCAA baseball tournament for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The Utes are ending a 49-year drought by playing this weekend in the NCAA regionals, a berth they claimed with an upset run through the Mountain West Conference tournament.
"We want to prove that we're a good program and show the nation we deserve this bid," said second baseman Corey Shimada, a senior whose career has been extended by at least two games.
The Utes open their first NCAA tournament since 1960 on Friday when they play Cal State Fullerton, the No. 2 national seed and host of the four-team regional. While the Titans are regulars in the regionals, the Utes have gone generations between appearances.
The last time Utah made it this far there was no "ping" of the bat -- hitters were still using wooden bats -- and there was no such thing as a designated hitter.
One of the only things that hasn't changed in the 49 years is the College World Series is still played in Omaha. The Utes are still a long way away from Rosenblatt Stadium, but much closer than anyone would have predicted at the end of the regular season.
Utah was the bottom seed in the Mountain West tournament -- No. 6 in a six-team field that included five teams with NCAA regional aspirations. Only three made it and one of them was Utah, which at 26-29 is the only team with a losing record among the 64 schools still playing.
Utah went 5-1 in the conference tournament, winning three straight after falling within one loss of ending the season.
"The winning has kept us relaxed. We've got nothing to lose," senior pitcher Brian Budrow said. "We'll go in there and try to get three straight wins and move on."
Why not? The Utes are already the first No. 6 seed to win the Mountain West tournament in its 10-year history, beating top-seeded TCU twice on the Horned Frogs' home field. The Utes finished off the tournament with two straight wins over the Aztecs, who needed just one victory in the double-elimination format to win the title.
Utah blew an 8-1 lead in the eighth inning of a 9-8 loss to San Diego State last Thursday, but beat the Aztecs Friday and Saturday in two games that mattered much more.
"We had a devastating loss. For us to come back and play the way we did, with the determination that we had was really special to watch," coach Bill Kinneberg said.
Utah hit .308 in the tournament and scored 38 runs in the six games, 24 coming with two outs. The Utes had only four errors and other than the disastrous performance in the loss to San Diego State, Utah's pitchers came through with some of their best outings of the season.
"Hopefully we keep getting the breaks we've been getting," Budrow said. "We played great defense. We had timely hits. Balls were falling in for us. That hadn't really happened all year."
Budrow played his first two seasons at Oregon State, but was not on the postseason roster when the Beavers won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. He will be making his NCAA tournament debut along with the rest of his teammates this weekend.
Budrow said he felt at the beginning of the season that the Utes were capable of being a nationally ranked team.
"We've got a chance to prove it in the tournament and keep proving it," Budrow said.
It's a slim chance. Fullerton (42-14) has advanced past the regionals six straight years and made it to the College World Series 15 times -- winning four national titles. The winner of Friday night's game between the Utes and Titans will play either Gonzaga or Georgia Southern, who play in the opener Friday at Goodwin Field. The losing teams will play Saturday in an elimination game.
Whatever the outcome this weekend, it's been quite a school year for Utah athletics, starting with a perfect football season and No. 2 national ranking. Utah tied for the Mountain West regular season men's basketball title, then won the conference tournament and returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2005. And the women's basketball team also tied for the regular-season conference title and made it to the NCAA tournament.
The karma seems good for the Utes and Kinneberg will gladly take it. Utah was due for some breaks after losing 11 games by one run during the regular season and another in the conference tournament.
"Our players really did a tremendous job last week to earn the right to go," Kinneberg said. "We played good baseball at the right time."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
