Precipitation postponed three other games in the West Coast Conference on Friday, but Loyola Marymount rained on BYU baseball’s parade with a 9-5 victory.
Both teams zigzagged in scoring every other inning, BYU (now 10-10 overall and 1-1 WCC) answering in odd frames and LMU (12-10 and 3-2) in even innings until that skein was broken by the Cougars’ last at-bat.
BYU’s Brennon Anderson doubled off the first pitch of the game and scored on Daniel Scheemann’s ground out for the initial lead.
BYU sophomore lefty Bo Burrup pitched well in four innings despite giving up 10 hits and five runs. Burrup was a late substitution for scheduled starter Brady Corless who was scratched due to a tender arm.
“Bo did a great job stepping in as a starter,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Nothing went right for us in the second inning and we spent the rest of the night playing catch up.”
Cougar Colton Shaver belted his third homer of the season and 26th of his career in the fifth inning, a one-out solo shot to left field to close the gap to 5-3. Schneemann pirouetted with a super defensive play to end the fifth frame for LMU with one aboard.
However, back-to-back LMU home runs in the sixth padded the Lions’ lead to 8-3.
Shaver accounted for the Cougars’ fourth run with a one-out RBI single in the seventh inning. Then a new LMU pitcher took the mound with the bases loaded and the Cougars plated one more run, trailing 8-5.
“I loved the fight and energy we had. We need to bring that right back to the ballpark tomorrow (Saturday) morning and see if we can win this series,” Littlewood said.
The Lions and Cougars conclude the series with the rubber match on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.
Ralph R. Zobell has worked for BYU Athletic Media Relations in various capacities for over 30 years. You can view his bio at byucougars.com/staff/athletics/ralph-zobell or contact him at ralph_zobell@byu.edu.