SANTA CLARA, Calif. — BYU defeated Santa Clara, 13-8, in game two of the West Coast Conference three-game baseball series at Stephen Schott Stadium on Friday night.
With the win, BYU improves to 13-20 (6-8 WCC) on the year, while Santa Clara falls to 17-12 (7-7 WCC). The Cougars and Broncos will square off on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT with the winner taking the season series.
“We had a lot of clutch hits tonight that got us going as a team,” BYU head coach Trent Pratt said. “Hitting is contagious and the guys fed off each other. Tomorrow is a huge game for us. Hopefully we can use the momentum from tonight and come ready to play.”
Game Summary
• BYU scored 13 runs on 13 hits, while SCU scored 6 runs on 8 hits
• The Cougars went 7-16 (.438) and had 9 RBI with two outs
• As a team, BYU collected 25 total bases on 13 hits
BYU Highlights
• Ryan Deming: 2-3, 3 RBI, 3 Runs, HR, BB
• Cole Gambill: 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 Runs, HR, 2B
• Ozzie Pratt: 3-6, 3 RBI
• Cooper Vest: 1-5, 2 RBI, 2B
BYU jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the top of the first inning on a home run to right field by Cole Gambill that scored Austin Deming, who had been hit by a pitch. Ryan Sepede then homered to left for a 3-0 advantage. Santa Clara picked up a run in the bottom half of the inning for a 3-1 score at the end of one.
After a scoreless second inning, the Cougars picked up another run in the third with a Cole Gambill sacrifice fly that scored Luke Anderson, who had walked to lead off the inning.
In the top of the fourth inning, BYU struck for four more runs to take an 8-1 advantage. Anderson got the scoring started with a singled to right to score Jacob Wilk who had walked to open the inning and moved to second on a Chad Call ground ball. Deming then hit his ninth home run of the year for a seven-run lead, scoring Anderson and Parker Goff, who had been hit by a pitch.
Two runs in the top of the fifth inning pushed the BYU lead to nine runs. Following singles by Sepede and Call, Goff was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A two out single to right by Ozzie Pratt drove in Call and Sepede for a 10-1 lead.
The Broncos responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth on a three-run home run by Robert Hipwell and a triple by Jordan Lewis who later scored on a wild pitch for a 10-5 score.
The Cougars answered with two runs in the top of the sixth off a double by Cooper Vest that scored Deming and Gambill to push the BYU advantage to 12-5.
Hipwell hit his second home run of the night to lead off the seventh and close the Santa Clara gap to 12-6.
BYU tacked on an insurance run in the ninth on a single by Pratt that scored Call who had walked to lead off the inning. Santa Clara responded with two runs in the ninth for a 13-8 final.
Bryce Robison (4-2) got the win for BYU, going 5.2 innings with two strikeouts, while Nick Sando (1-2) took the loss for Santa Clara. Lefthander Cutter Clawson went 3.1 innings in relief to close out the game and pick up a save for the Cougars.
BYU and Santa Clara will face-off in the rubber match of the three-game series on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT at Stephen Schott Stadium in Santa Clara. The game will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and simulcast on 107.9 in the northern Utah market. The voice of the Cougars, Greg Wrubell, will have the call. Santa Clara will also broadcast the game on the WCC network.