CORAL GABLES, Fla. — BYU baseball used four home runs from four different batters to score eight unanswered in an 8-2 win over Miami at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field on Saturday afternoon.
Despite allowing just two Miami runs through the first five innings, BYU had yet to get on the scoreboard and faced a 2-0 deficit headed into the top of the sixth. True freshmen Kuhio Aloy and Ryker Schow stepped up to the challenge and woke up the bats to jump start an 8-0 game-winning Cougar run.
“This was a good bounce-back win for us,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “For us to come from behind, get the lead and then hold onto it, that’s a step in the right direction. Our young guys are starting to grow up more and more.”
Aloy recorded his seventh and eight hits of the series while Schow posted a new career-high three RBI. Schow, Aloy, Easton Jones and Collin Reuter pitched in a bomb a-piece.
BYU’s pitching staff fanned nine batters and allowed just one walk as Ben Hansen (5-5) earned the win with a season-long-tying six innings pitched. Hansen and Stone Cushing each recorded three strikeouts, with Cushing closing the door on the Hurricanes late.
The Cougars (18-26) totaled eight runs on 10 hits with seven left on base, while Miami’s (21-25) two runs came on 11 hits with 11 runners stranded.
Player Highlights
- Ryker Schow: 2-2, Home Run, Double, 3 RBI
- Kuhio Aloy: 2-4, 2 Runs, Home Run, RBI
- Cooper Vest: 2-4, 2 Runs, Triple, RBI
- Easton Jones: 1-5, Home Run, RBI
- Collin Reuter: 1-5, Home Run, 2 RBI
After three-and-a-half scoreless innings, Miami put BYU in 2-0 hole with to solo homers in the bottom of the fourth. The Hurricanes came threatening again in the fifth with a pair of hits and a stolen base to put runners on second and third. Hansen kept BYU in striking distance as he worked his way out of the jam and ended the threat with a groundout and third strikeout of the day.
Aloy led-off the sixth with a single to left that sparked the Cougar offense for the remainder of the game. Collin Reuter followed Aloy at the plate and wasted no time bringing the designated hitter home with a two-run homer to left that squared the game 2-2.
Cooper Vest then got in on the action with a single to right center. Schow brought Vest home moments later with another two-run bomb, this one giving BYU a 4-2 lead. Aloy extended the Cougar lead to 5-2 in the top of the seventh with a two-out blast.
BYU kept the runs coming with two more in the top of the eighth.
Brock Watkins opened the inning with a single to short and scored as Vest tripled down the first base line. Schow then notched his second hit of the day and plated Vest with a double to left that put the Cougars up 7-2. Easton Jones added another run for good measure with a team-leading 13th homer of the season to cap the 8-2 win.
The Cougars retake the field on May 7 in a crosstown clash with Utah Valley at UCCU Ballpark in Orem, Utah. Watch the matchup between BYU and the Wolverines at 6:05 p.m. MDT on ESPN+ or listen live on BYU Radio 107.9 FM and the BYU Radio App.