Three-game win streak after Seattle sweep

Three-game win streak after Seattle sweepThree-game win streak after Seattle sweep

SEATTLE — A 10-0 victory Wednesday over Seattle University extends BYU’s winning streak to three games and evens its record for the second time this season.

The Cougars (5-5) got six innings from starter Jeff Barker, who improved his record to 2-1 as nine BYU players collected 12 hits in the shutout. Leading those hitters were Jaycob Brugman, Brennon Anderson and Cody Shepherd.

Brugman belted a pair of doubles, including a two-run shot down the left-field line to start BYU on a 2-0 lead in the first inning.  Anderson’s two-run homer, his second dinger of the season, lifted BYU to a 7-0 lead in the seventh inning.  Shepherd, a reserve from Richland, Wash., hit a two-run double in the three-run ninth inning.

“Brennon had a huge hit, but it was more of a team effort,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “It was nice to win a game by a large margin. It gave us a chance to relax just a tad; we haven’t had many of those type of games.”

Freshman center fielder Jacob Hannemann’s inning-ending diving catch in the sixth may have been the play of the game when BYU still had a 2-0 lead.

“It was the first time we had him (Hannemann) playing center,” said Littlewood. “They hit a line drive to left-center and he made a front-diving catch as he was running towards shortstop.  It would have been an easy double and scored the runners on the corners.”

Seattle (1-8) used seven pitchers in an effort to stop BYU.

The Cougars’ winning streak includes a pair of victories over Seattle and an upset at No. 2 LSU, pitting them next against Creighton in the home-opening series, which has been moved from Provo to St. George.

A Friday doubleheader with Creighton begins at 11 a.m., and will be broadcast live locally over Radio 960 AM and on the Internet through BYU Radio. A single game will be played on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.  All the BYU-Creighton games will be played at Bruce Hurst Field on the Dixie State University campus.