PROVO, Utah – Daniel Schneemann's second clutch home run in seven days gave BYU baseball a 7-6 win against UConn in their series opener on Thursday at Larry H. Miller Field.
"We just grinded through it," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "There's no quit in this team. That's what we've seen over the 16 games we've played. I'm proud of the guys overall."
Schneemann's game-winner came on a 2-1 pitch over the heart of the plate with pinch runner Cam Richins and Brennon Anderson on base. It was knocked just over the right field fence and a leaping Husky right fielder. The Cougars (8-8) got the win despite giving up a run in the first inning and trailing much of the game.
Anthony Prato led off the game with a triple for UConn (8-7) and second hitter Willy Yahn’s sacrifice fly made it 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
Two Cougars crossed the plate on wild pitches in the bottom of the first frame. Anderson hit his team-leading 10th double of the season and moved to third base on a groundout to the right side. Schneemann walked, stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw from the catcher. Anderson and Schneemann came home on pitches that dribbled to the backstop to give BYU a 2-1 lead.
The Huskies pushed another run across in the top of the third inning to knot the score up at 2-2 on three consecutive singles.
In the fourth inning, UConn plated three more and led 5-2 with a two-run double off the bat of Conor Moriarty and Prato's subsequent RBI single.
Colton Shaver drilled a solo shot to right-center for the 25th home run of his career in the bottom of the fourth inning. Third baseman Casey Jacobsen, who made his second start of the season, followed that up with a triple down the right field line and came home on a single up the middle from Anderson. Through the inning, BYU trailed 5-4.
A pair of Cougar errors in the top of the fifth inning extended the Huskies’ lead to 6-4. Buffo (2-3) stranded a runner on second base in the sixth inning and struck out the side in order in the seventh inning to end his night. He went seven innings, threw 118 pitches and allowed five earned runs on nine hits to pick up the win. Schneemann's home run came just after Buffo's final three outs.
In the top of the eighth inning, Bo Burrup got the first two outs on the mound for the Cougars and Aaron Cross got the third as the Huskies left the bases loaded.
Cross picked up his second save by setting down UConn in order in the top of the ninth.
Jacobsen made good on his opportunities with a single, double and triple in three at-bats.
Game two of the series will be at 6 p.m. MDT on Friday. A live stream of the game can be viewed on the TheW.tv with radio broadcasts on ESPN 960 AM and BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143).