STOCKTON, California—Once again Pacific seized the momentum and overtook BYU’s early lead Friday to claim an 11-6 victory.
BYU (22-21, 11-9) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Tigers (11-32, 8-12) rallied with a four-run second inning and never looked back.
“They (Pacific) beat us in every facet of the game,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We simply didn't show up to play tonight. Big hits have seemed difficult to come by the last two nights. I feel like guys are pressing and thinking they have to do too much to make up for (Eric) Urry being out of the lineup."
The Cougars closed the gap to 7-5 in the sixth inning when they scored two runs in the sixth frame.
BYU’s Brennon Lund (23), Bronson Larsen (16) and Dillon Robinson (8) continued their consecutive-game hitting streaks.
“We need to stay together as group and get back to playing fundamental baseball,” Littlewood said. “We are looking for a strong outing from Mike (Rucker) Saturday and as a team to get back to playing with confidence and enthusiasm.”
Due to the circumstances of the first two games, BYU was able to save ace reliever Michael Rucker who will start the final game of the series.
The two teams conclude the three-game series on Saturday with game time moved up to 1 p.m. PDT.