MORAGA, Calif.—League-leading Saint Mary’s remains undefeated in the West Coast Conference baseball as it beat BYU Thursday, 10-3.
Every starter collected at least one of 16 hits for the Gaels (12-12 overall and 4-0 in the WCC), while the Cougars (9-18, 1-6) sputtered throughout the game.
BYU senior Desmond Poulson, who threw 112 pitches in six innings, turned a 1-2-3 double play to end the fifth inning and threw one of two Gaels out at the plate in the sixth inning.
"It could have gotten ugly, but he (Poulson) really battled," BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. " But you can’t live on the edge."
Gael starting pitcher Ryan Brockett improved his record to 4-2 as he limited the Cougar batters.
"He (Brockett) did a great job, we knew what he was going to do," Littlewood said. "He was throwing strikes with all three pitches, but we didn’t make the adjustments."
The Cougars trailed 2-0 after the first inning, and then closed the gap to 2-1 in the fourth inning when Brennon Lund scored from second base on a one-out single up the middle by Dillon Robinson. The singles by Lund and Robinson that inning accounted for two of the seven hits in the game by BYU.
The 2-1 lead lasted until the sixth inning when Saint Mary’s stretched its margin to 5-1.
Lund drove in the first of two more BYU runs in the eighth, scoring CJ Latham on a one-out single. Latham doubled to lead off the inning after subbing in left field in the seventh. Lund stole second, advanced to third and scored on Robinson’s second RBI-single of the day to close the score, 7-3.
"We are losing concentration and attention to detail defensively," Littlewood said. "We need to keep plugging away. Every game we play now is a must-win."
The Cougars and Gaels play a doubleheader Friday starting at noon, moving Saturday’s game to Friday because of forecasted rain.