BYU’s bats finally came alive and thanks to four home runs, the Cougars stayed alive in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Bronson Larsen belted a pair of two-run homers as No. 3 seed BYU defeated No. 4 Saint Mary’s, 8-4, in Friday’s elimination game at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, California.
It marked the Cougars’ first WCC Tournament victory since 2013, snapping a six-game tourney losing streak. The Gaels (37-20) were the first team eliminated from the WCC Tournament.
After struggling mightily while getting swept at Gonzaga last weekend, BYU mustered only three hits Thursday night against Loyola Marymount.
But Friday afternoon against the Gaels, BYU’s offense woke up.
The Cougars (34-19) trailed 2-0 after one inning, but they ended up with three two-run home runs, including the two by Larsen and one by Brock Hale. Nate Favero also added a solo homer.
Larsen’s first two-run homer came in the second inning and he duplicated the feat in the fourth. Hale’s two-run bomb came in the sixth.
Coach Littlewood shook up his batting order a bit, switching Larsen and Colton Shaver and it paid off. Larsen batted sixth and Shaver batted seventh.
BYU starter Hayden Rogers pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up eight hits and two runs while striking out four. Rogers improved to 8-2 this season.
The Cougars take on the loser of Friday afternoon’s game between top-seed Gonzaga and No. 2 Loyola Marymount at about 8:30 p.m. MDT (TheW.tv) Friday. The winner of the late game advances to the championship contest Saturday.