OREM — After BYU's 8-6 baseball victory over Utah Valley State Tuesday, nobody would fault Cougar right fielder Ben Saylor for biting his thumb at those who say you can never go home again.
Saylor, a junior college All-American during his lone season as a Wolverine in 2001, collected the two most important BYU hits Tuesday: a fourth-inning single that broke up UVSC starter Dan Christensen's no-hitter, and a two-run double in the seventh inning that put the Cougars ahead by three runs and finally gave the spunky Wolverines a deficit they could not overcome.
"It's always a lot of fun to come out and play a good game against a team I used to play for," Saylor said. "I've still got a lot of friends on that team; I've still got some teammates that I played with on that team."
With BYU clinging to a tenuous 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh, a UVSC error extended the inning and brought Saylor to the plate with two on and two outs. With the hit-and-run on, Saylor roped a double to right field to make it 8-5.
"It was a huge at-bat, because the game was pretty close," Saylor said. "We had guys on first and second, so in my mind I was thinking gap-to-gap, trying to hit a double. The pitcher hung me a curve ball, so I got a little out in front but stayed through and hit it down the line. We got both runs in."
Although Christensen navigated the first three innings retiring all nine batters he faced, the Cougars knew it was just a matter of time until he would tire. In 12 appearances before Tuesday, Christensen had made only one start and pitched less than 20 innings.
With his single up the middle in the top of the fourth, Saylor not only broke up a no-hitter but also sparked the rally that brought BYU back from an early deficit. Two batters later, Kasey Ko doubled home Saylor and Seth Johnson to tie the score at 2-2. Christensen couldn't regain his composure, and less than an inning later he was out of the game.
BYU used six pitchers, with none pitching more than 2 1/3 innings. Clayton Barnes got the win in relief, and Cortland Andrews earned his first save of the season by striking out the side in the ninth.