WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao (Nov. 24, 2016)—A pair of home runs by Daniel Schneemann and Colton Shaver accounted for half of BYU baseball’s runs in a 12-1 win against the Curaçao National Team on Thanksgiving evening.
Schneemann had an inside-the-park grand slam, followed by Shaver’s mammoth two-run blast to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead in the seventh inning.
"We played a very solid, well-rounded game tonight," BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. "Maverik (Buffo) gave us five strong innings, followed by solid performances by Bo (Burrup) and Keaton (Cenatiempo). We played great defense, which I believe will be a strong suit for us this year, and Daniel (Schneemann) picked us up on the offensive side. It was also nice to see (Colton) Shaver take a couple good swings tonight."
Starting pitcher Maverik Buffo shut down Curaçao with a pair of strikeouts in the third, backed by a pair of infield double plays in the first two frames. Curaçao had loaded the bases in the first inning.
Buffo was relieved by lefty Bo Burrup in the sixth, who set Curaçao in order that frame before surrendering the lone run in the seventh. Keaton Cenatiempo relieved Burrup in the eighth frame and struck out the side.
Schneemann broke the scoreless tie in the sixth with a triple to plate Brian Hsu and scored himself from Tanner Chauncey’s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. Keaton Kringlen accounted for two of the four runs in the eighth with a single.
BYU takes a 1-0 advantage in the second annual Curaçao Cup, a three-game series which continues in the second game Friday evening at Tio Daou Field at the Caribbean island. Curaçao won two of the three games against Dallas Baptist University last year.
Live updates on the games can be found on the team’s twitter account @BYUbaseball.
BYU 000 002 440—12
CN 000 000 100—1
Buffo, Burrup, Cenatiempo and Larsen. 2B-Curaçao 1. 3B-Schneemann. HR-Scheemann, Shaver
WP-Buffo