SAN FRANCISCO — 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.