SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A five-run second inning was all Santa Clara needed to take game one of a three-game series 5-0 over BYU baseball on Thursday afternoon at Stephen Schott Stadium.
The Broncos score five runs on four hits and a Cougar error in the second inning that included a three-run home run to leftfield by junior third baseman Matt Jew.
“We obviously struggled on offense today and need to learn to be tougher at the plate,” said BYU coach Mike Littlewood. “I thought their starter Nick Santo was effective. He competed his tail off tonight, so you have to tip your hat to him.”
BYU (8-14, 4-3) had runners on base in every inning after the fourth but could not come up with timely hits to drive in runs. Santa Clara (10-14, 3-4) starter Sando and reliever Alex Reelfs scattered just four singles over nine innings to Cougars Bryan Call, Mitch McIntyre, Joshua Cowden and Peyton Cole.
The Cougars got solid relief pitching from Mabeus (1.1), Heaton (1.2) and Zimmerman (1.0), who combined for four innings of no-hit baseball, retiring 12 of the 13 Bronco hitters they faced.
BYU is back in action at Stephen Schott Stadium on Friday, at 3:00 p.m. PDT for game two of the series with the Broncos. The game will be broadcast live on WCC Network, as well as the BYU Sports Network on BYU Radio FM 107.7, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.