SAN FRANCISCO—Defending champion San Francisco blanked BYU baseball Thursday afternoon, 12-0.
The second-place Cougars (17-16, 6-4) were stung in the West Coast Conference by the Dons (20-25, 7-6) by virtue of 10 unearned runs.
Compounding BYU’s four errors was an offense that stalled with bases loaded situations in the second and third innings as USF’s lead soared to 8-0. BYU tallied four hits, all singles through three innings until Brock Whitney doubled in the ninth. USF’s belted 13 hits, including three doubles.
The Dons’ third baseman Aritz Garcia went 2-for-3 with three RBI and catcher Mason Marioca, a high school teammate of BYU pitcher Marc Oslund, went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the shutout.
That shutout was the fourth against BYU this season--at UC Riverside, at Creighton and at No. 4 Arkansas.
The two teams meet on Friday afternoon when Oslund takes the mound for the second of a three-game series at Benedetti Diamond.