PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball won both games of a doubleheader over Gonzaga on Friday, dominating the first game 11-2 before winning the nightcap 6-4. Combined with a 3-2 win on Thursday, the Cougars swept the series with Bulldogs for the first time ever.
BYU improves to 5-5 on the 2024 season, while Gonzaga falls to 1-9.
“I thought our guys played great today” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “We needed to put together a couple of wins, so this was a good weekend for us. We played error-free baseball today which was big for this team. Our guys did a good job of executing offensively during the series and the pitching was solid. Now we need to build off this week and carry it over into next week.”
GAME ONE
BYU jumped out to a big lead in game one, scoring runs in each of the first four innings to take a 9-2 lead.
After Gonzaga led off the top of the first inning with a run, BYU countered with three runs on four hits, including a double by Kuhio Aloy and singles by Bryker Hurdsman, Easton Jones and Brock Watkins for a 3-1 advantage.
The Cougars picked up another run in the second on an RBI single by Luke Anderson that scored Chipper Beck. BYU plated two more in the third with two walks, two hit batsmen and an RBI groundball by Anderson.
Three runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth finished off the BYU scoring. A home run by Cooper Vest and a double by Crew Robinson did the damage in the fourth, while a two-run homer to left center by Luke Anderson in the sixth gave the Cougars an 11-2 win.
BYU starting pitcher Bryce Robison (1-1) picked up the win, going six innings while surrendering just one earned run and striking out seven. The victory is Robison’s 23rd of his career, tying him with John Desilva (1987-89) and Ed Zinter (1987-89) for eighth place all-time at BYU.
GAME TWO
The Bulldogs scored first in game two with a run in the top of the second inning. Cougar second baseman Crew Robinson tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run to right center, his first of the year.
BYU scored two more runs in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run by Vest with Collin Reuter on board for a 3-1 lead. Gonzaga responded with three runs in the top of the fourth inning on four hits and a walk to take a 4-3 lead.
The Cougars picked up another run in the bottom of the fifth on a single by Reuter that scored Hurdsman who had previously tripled. Walks in the sixth inning by Brock Watkins and Ryker Schow, followed by a two-out, two RBI single to right field by Hurdsman gave BYU a 6-4 win and a series sweep.
Dahle (1-1) picked up the first win of his BYU career pitching scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh before handing the ball over to Stone Cushing to close out the ninth for his second save of the year in as many days.
BYU hits the road again next week for a March 5 game versus UNLV at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas. Tuesday’s game with the Rebels is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on the BYU Radio App as well as BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market.
The Cougars then travel to Morgantown, West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers in BYU’s inaugural Big 12 baseball matchup. The three-game series with West Virginia is scheduled for March 7-9 at Monongalia County Ballpark. The Thursday and Friday games are set for 3 p.m. ET, with the Saturday game scheduled for 1 p.m. All three games will air live on Big 12 Now | ESPN+ and can also be heard on BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM.