BYU’s bats came alive in the late innings to defeat Utah Valley 9-3. Junior Kenny Saenz got the win for BYU to move to 1-2 while senior Marco Briones suffered the loss to put his record at 0-1.
UVU broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI double off the bat of freshman first baseman Pacen Hayes. Hayes later scored on a wild pitch to give the Wolverines a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth.
Although the bats got off to a slow start, BYU was eventually able to right the ship.
“We didn’t panic and that was the biggest thing. We just stuck with it,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood.
In the bottom of the fifth the Cougars bounced back to tie the game at 2 apiece via an RBI double from sophomore catcher David Clawson, and a single from senior Brennon Anderson that scored Clawson.
The Wolverines took a 3-2 lead in the top half of the six when senior outfielder Jackson Overlund knocked a two-out RBI single to score junior Michael Beltran who led of the inning by reaching on an error. The unearned run would be the last time UVU would cross home plate.
BYU put together a four-run sixth inning to take a 6-3 lead and never look back. In the frame junior Brian Hsu got a sacrifice fly to even the score. Then Clawson, who finished 3 for 3, got an RBI single to take a 4-3 lead. Finally, with two outs and runners on the corners, freshman outfielder Jarrett Perns laced a stand-up triple to the right center gap scoring both runners and give BYU some breathing room.
The Cougars would add two insurance runs in the seventh on a solo home run from junior shortstop Daniel Schneeman and an RBI single from Hsu. In the eighth, BYU tacked on one final run as Clawson scored on a sacrifice fly from Schneeman to give the team a 9-3 lead heading into the last inning.
Sophomore Jake Suddreth came into the game to close the door on the win for BYU by delivering a 1-2-3 inning. Suddreth was one of seven pitchers that BYU used in the game. Senior Kaden Schmitt started for UVU and went five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs.
UVU will travel to UC Irvine this weekend to take on the Anteaters. BYU begins league play with a series against Loyola Marymount.
