PROVO, Utah – Casey Jacobsen's ninth-inning double led to BYU baseball's 10-9 series-clinching win against UConn in the finale on Saturday at Larry H. Miller Field.
"We won the series and that's good," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "It's all about the wins. What you've seen is that we never give up. That will take us a long way this season."
Jacobsen's double and Brennon Anderson's sacrfice fly gave the Cougars (9-9) a 10-9 win against the Huskies (9-8), after claiming the series opener on Thursday and dropping the second game on Friday.
BYU put three runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Bronson Larsen, Jacobsen, Brian Hsu and Tanner Chauncey all singled off UConn lefty Mason Feole.
Two extra base hits plated another Cougar run an inning later, as Brock Hale tripled to centerfield and Kyle Dean brought him home with a double down the left field line for a 4-0 BYU lead.
Hsu started a rally in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single. He came around to score, as did Anderson, who reached on an error. Hale and Keaton Kringlen both knocked sacrifice flies and the Cougars led 6-0.
The Huskies had a single, double and triple in the top of the sixth inning off BYU starter Hayden Rogers. Keaton Cenatiempo relieved Rogers for the last two outs of inning and a total of three UConn runs came across. Rogers surrendered five hits and three earned runs over 5.1 innings pitched.
Cenatiempo worked a scoreless seventh inning and Larsen cut down Conor Moriarty’s steal attempt for the second out.
The Huskies scraped two more across in the top of the eighth inning. Both runs scored with Mason Marshall on the mound but were credited to Cenatiempo. Heading into the bottom half, the Cougars’ lead was cut to 6-5.
Kringlen provided a pair of security runs in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run single up the middle with the bases loaded. Larsen plated another BYU runner with a sacrifice fly and the Cougars led 9-5 heading into the final frame.
Marshall walked in a UConn runner with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth. Connor Williams came in and gave up a single to score two more Huskies, which trimmed the lead to one run. A wild pitch plated the tying run, still with one out. Jordan Wood struck out back-to-back hitters to get out of the jam with the score tied.
Jacobsen led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Anderson's walkoff sacrifice fly to right field.
BYU begins West Coast Conference play Thursday at LMU at 6 p.m. PDT.