SEATTLE—Seattle University ended BYU baseball’s four-game winning streak Saturday afternoon at Bannerwood Park with a 5-2 victory.
The Redhawks (16-15) handcuffed BYU (17-13), limiting the Cougars to four hits, singles in the second, fourth and ninth innings. SU lefty Garrett Anderson and reliever Jake Chutney combined for eight shutout innings.
“He (Anderson) pitched well, but we could have gotten to him,” BYU coach Vance Law said. “We waited way too long to get things going.”
BYU mustered a pair of unearned runs in the ninth, but could not establish momentum throughout the game despite several jumpstarts.
In the second inning, Cougar third baseman Dillon Robinson hit a two-out single to advance Alex Wolfe, who singled earlier that frame, but the rally ended with a pop-up. Meanwhile, the Redhawks countered with two-runs in the bottom of the second off the first of two BYU errors.
When Cougar lefty Daniel Welch replaced starter Cameron Keysor in the fourth, BYU escaped a bases-loaded situation when two Redhawks flied out to end the threat.
BYU first baseman Brock Whitney minimized the damage in the fifth when he went across the diamond to third to throw out the leadoff batter for the first out.
Wes Guenther got out number one in the sixth when he threw out a Redhawk at second with the swipe tag by shortstop Austin Hall. That sparked the only one-two-three put-down of the afternoon.
When freshman reliever James Lengal took the mound with the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, he fanned the Redhawk batter, then was called for a balk leading to SU’s fifth run.
“Lengal and (Matt) Milke threw well,” said Law. “We need to eliminate walks and hit batters leading off. Instead of nibbling, we are trying to teach our staff to trust their stuff.”
The Cougars took the series with SU, winning three of four games in the road trip in Seattle and split with the Redhawks last month in Provo.
BYU continues non-league play this Tuesday when it hosts Utah in the finale of the Deseret Duel at 6 p.m.