PROVO, Utah – No. 18 BYU baseball put double digits on the board for the third-straight game on senior day as it won 16-3 and completed a sweep against Portland on Saturday at Larry H. Miller Field.
"We put the pressure on them all weekend and that resulted in big run totals," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "It was an exhausting week and it will be good for us to rest."
The Cougars (32-15 overall, 20-4 West Coast Conference) remain the WCC leader and assure no worse than the tourney's third seed with their fifth series sweep this season. The Pilots fell to 10-37-1, 5-19 (WCC). BYU got multiple RBI from Brock Hale (four), Brennon Anderson (two) and Tanner Chauncey (two).
Hale’s liner through the left side gave BYU a run in the first inning.
With the infield in, David Clawson singled up the middle in the fourth to score Bronson Larsen from third base.
The Cougars opened things up in the fourth inning with six runs. A trio of Pilot errors made way for Brock Hale’s three-run blast over the centerfield fence.
In the fifth, Chauncey clubbed a double down the left field line to score Anderson and give BYU an 8-0 lead.
Portland had a home run, triple and double in order in the sixth to put up three runs.
Cougar starter Hayden Rogers (7-1) was lifted after 6.1 innings. He allowed three earned runs on five hits in a winnning effort. He was replaced by Riley Gates, who got BYU out of the seventh without incident.
Eight more BYU runs crossed in the seventh as Kringlen, Larsen, Favero and Mackay Jacobsen each knocked in one run before an Anderson two-run double. Daniel Schneemann then lined a one-run single to right field and Chauncey provided a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Gates retired the side in order in the eighth. Keaton Cenatiempo took over on the mound in the ninth and set down all three batters he faced.
Seniors Cenatiempo, Mason Marshall, Chauncey, Larsen and Brady Corless were honored before the game.
The Cougars will host Utah Valley for the finale of the UCCU Crosstown Clash series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MDT.