STOCKTON, Calif. – Blowing the game open in the third and fourth innings, BYU baseball cruised to a 12-1 win in game two of its series against Pacific at Klein Family Field on Friday.
BYU (28-10, 12-5 WCC) scored three runs in the third and five more in the fourth to jump ahead 9-1 and, with the Cougars’ 11-7 victory Thursday, took the series against the Tigers.
“We were pretty good tonight in the three areas we always talk about: pitching, defense and timely hitting," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "Easton (Walker) was a stud and our hitters answered the bell tonight."
Game Summary
- BYU scored four in the third and five runs in the fourth. BYU has outscored opponents 52-17 in the third and 46-10 in the fourth this season
- Coming into the game second in the nation in ERA, Easton Walker kept his season average under 1.00 by allowing just one earned run in eight innings against Pacific. Walker’s ERA is now at 0.93 on the year
- BYU scored more than 10 runs for the second-straight game; the Cougars have won 64-straight games dating back to 2014 when hitting the 10-run mark
Player Highlights
- Jackson Cluff: 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 R, BB, 4 RBI
- Austin Deming: 1-4, HR, R, BB, 3 RBI
- Easton Walker: W (6-0), 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
With two outs and two on in the third, BYU got on the board thanks to a three-run home run by freshman Austin Deming, his second home run of the year, to take a 3-1 lead.
The Cougars piled on in the fourth. Abraham Valdez, Danny Gelalich and Brian Hsu loaded the bases with one out before Bryan Call’s single through the right side scored two. Jackson Cluff followed in the next at-bat with a triple to right center, scoring two more and giving BYU a 9-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, Casey Jacobsen doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch, then came home on a groundout by Gelalich for another run.
The Cougars played solid in the field, committing no errors and ending the first, second and third frames with double plays; they added another double play in the seventh. After giving up a run on two singles in the first inning, sophomore pitcher Easton Walker blanked the Tigers over the next seven innings, scattering five hits with one walk.
With the win, Walker improved to 6-0 on the year. Coming into the game with the second-lowest ERA in the country, Walker is now at an impressive 0.93 ERA this season.
BYU added two runs in the eighth inning with Cluff hitting an RBI-double to bring home DJ McNew who had reached safely on a double himself. After advancing on a wild pitch, Cluff came home on a groundout by Mitch McIntyre.
Senior Bo Burrup came in to finish off Pacific in the ninth, retiring the side and ending the game on a strikeout.
Cluff was a home run short of a cycle, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs in addition to eight assists at shortstop. Brock Hale also had three hits with a run and an RBI while Hsu, Jacobsen and Gelalich added two hits apiece.
BYU and Pacific will play game three on Saturday, April 27, at 1 p.m. PT on TheW.tv, BYU Radio and ESPN 960 AM.