BYU baseball scored early and often on Saturday defeating San Francisco 12-4 at Benedetti Diamond in the final game of the three-game WCC series.

“Bryce did a great job on the mound for us today.” said interim head coach Trent Pratt. “I’m real proud of the way the guys responded to a tough loss yesterday. They are resilient and came ready to play today. We did a real good job of making San Francisco pitch in the strike zone and hit the ball hard when they did.”

BYU (23-18, 8-10) scored four runs in its first at bat to take an early 4-0 lead. With two outs and bases loaded, Austin Deming picked up the first RBI of the game when he was hit by a pitch from USF starter Jesse Barron. Jacob Wilk then singled to right center to score Mitch McIntyre and Cole Gambill. Josh Cowden then singled to load the bases for a second time and Collin Reuter was hit by a pitch for the Cougars’ fourth run of the inning.

BYU tacked on another run in the top of the third on a lead-off home run to left field by third baseman Deming for a 5-0 lead.

The Cougars scored five more runs in the sixth inning to take a 10-0 lead. Leadoff walks by Watkins and Ryan Sepede, combined with a single by Gambill loaded the bases for a Deming single that scored Watkins. With one out and bases loaded, Wilk hit a towering grand slam over the left field wall for a 10-run lead.

San Francisco (23-24, 11-10) got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the sixth. The Dons scored three more in the bottom of the seventh, after BYU had put up two more runs in the top half of the inning. Scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth gave BYU the 12-4 victory.

As the team, BYU had a runner reach base in each of the first eight innings and all nine offensive starters got on base. The Cougars are 7-0 on the year when scoring double digit runs. Cougar sophomore starter Bryce Robison pitched 6.2 innings for the win to improve to 6-1 on the year.

“I had my curveball and changeup working today,” said Robison. “Having command of three pitches allowed me to get ahead of their hitters. It also helped me keep my pitch count down so I could go deep into the game.”

BYU returns to action at Cal State Fullerton (17-22) on Tuesday, May 3, at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California. Following the midweek game, The Cougars will resume West Coast Conference play against Pepperdine in a three-game series in Maibu, California, May 5-7. The Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 3 p.m. PDT, with the Saturday game at 1 p.m.

BYU track sets three school records

It was a weekend of record-breaking performances for the Cougar track and field team.

BYU set records at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on both Friday and Saturday. The first one, on Friday, was when the medley relay team won the event and the first wheel in school history with a time of 10:50.22.

Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes ran a 3:18.22 split in the 1,200-meters, Alena Ellsworth a 53.63 in the 400-meters, Claire Seymour clocked a 2:05.95 800-meters and Courtney Wayment anchored the 1600-meters, closing out the victory with a 4:32.39.

The quartet also crushed the program’s previous record of 10:57.51 set in 1999 and now own the No. 3 all time in Penn Relays women’s DMR history.

The second was on Saturday when Ellsworth, Seymour, Ellsworth-Barnes and Meghan Hunter teamed up in the 4×800-meter relay, placing third with a time of 8:28.24 and surpassing an 11-year old program record in the event, a time of 8:31.59.

Finally, at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday, Adaobi Tabugbo, Taye Raymond, Dolita Awala-Shaw and Annalise Hart clocked a 44.68 in the 4×100-meter relay to finish third, breaking a school record of 44.88, set in 2010.

Cougar men’s golf comes in second

BYU men’s golf shot 12-under-par (288-285-274–852) in the final round of the WCC Championship at Reflection Bay Golf Club on Saturday to finish runner-up to defending national champion Pepperdine.

“We needed a great start to overtake Pepperdine, but we just didn’t get it done,” said BYU director of golf Todd Miller. “As a team we were 6-over-par after three holes and had fallen all the way to fourth place. The guys knew we had to battle back, which they did. I’m proud of the fight they showed the rest of the way.”

The Cougars made two bogeys and two doubles in the first three holes but rebounded nicely going 3-under on the par-4 fourth hole to get back on track. In the final 14 holes, BYU carded 19 birdies to shoot 12-under on the day and finish in a tie for second with LMU (288-289-275–852), who posted a 13-under-par 275 in the final round.

No. 6 Pepperdine (288-285-274–847) shot 14-under in the final round to win the title, with all four counting scores being sub-70. The Waves have now won five-straight WCC Championships dating back to the 2017-18 season.

San Francisco (292-284-281–857), who started the day in a tie for second with BYU, fell to fourth after a 7-under final round, while Santa Clara (293-292-285–870) rounded out the top-5 with a 3-under final 18-holes.

Softball sweeps Santa Clara

Pitcher Chloe Temples stepped in for the save as BYU softball capped off a sweep of Santa Clara with a 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon at Gail Miller Field.

Temples relieved starter Autumn Moffat-Korth in the seventh inning and preserved the Cougars’ win as she faced three Broncos’ batters without allowing a hit or run. Saturday marked Temples’ second save of the season.

With its ninth-straight win, BYU improves to 34-10 on the season, 14-4 at home and 7-2 in West Coast Conference play, in sole possession of second-place in the league.

The Cougars head on the road for five games next week. BYU will face Utah on Tuesday, May 3 at 6 p.m. MDT followed by a matchup with UVU on Wednesday, May 4 at 4:30 p.m. MDT. A three-game series with Pacific awaits the Cougars next weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 6-7 in Stockton, California.

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