MORAGA, Calif.— Multiple RBI with two outs gave pitcher Adam Miller the needed cushion Saturday afternoon for a 7-3 BYU victory over St. Mary’s College.
BYU, now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the West Coast Conference, took the three-game series against the Gaels, now 5-2 and 1-2. Miller, Austin Hall and Jaycob Brugman were key for the Cougars who jumped out to a 4-0 lead before SMC scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning.
Hall and Brugman hit back-to-back doubles in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. The duo came back again with consecutive hits in the eighth when Hall tripled with two-outs and was driven in by Brugman for the final run of the game.
But the two-run, two-out RBI by Tanner Chauncey in the second frame and RBI in the seventh and eighth innings with two-outs keyed the victory over the Gaels.
“When you can get two-out RBI, it takes wind out of their sails,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “Chauncey was big in second. Then to increase our lead when Dillon Robinson hit a line drive to centerfield and Hall hit one down the first base line were huge.”
Hall, who went 4-for-5 at the plate, also came up big in the bottom of the third when Cole Norton tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out at second base by the talented senior who started his first game at leftfield.
For the second game in a row, Brock Whitney recorded the game-winning RBI. Whitney’s one-run, one-out single scored Hall in the fifth when the Cougars took a 4-0 lead.
Law lauded Miller as well for his five-hit performance in seven innings to pick up his first win of the year.
“When he (Miller) has two pitches working, that is all he needs as hard as he throws, “ said Law. “I’m pleased with way he has pitched last two games. “
BYU next plays a two-game series at No. 4 Arkansas starting Tuesday.