Another day, another blowout win for Utah baseball over BYU.
The Cougars allowed eight Ute runs for the second time in less than a 24-hour span on Saturday, falling 8-3 at Miller Park in Provo.
Utah, which also won 8-1 on Friday, clinched the weekend series victory by taking two of three contests, while the Utes and BYU will split their regular season matchups with two wins apiece.
Matt Flaharty’s three-run homer headlined a five-run third inning that made all the difference for Utah, as the Utes scored more runs in that single frame than the Cougars could muster all game.
“We couldn’t find a rhythm, we couldn’t get anything going,” BYU head coach Trent Pratt said postgame.
“When we got a hit, we (hit into a) double play. Give them credit, they made pitches when they had to, they got a couple of big hits when they had to.”
Utah tallied 14 hits in all — six for extra bases — and chased BYU starter Cayson Bell out of the ballgame after just eight outs.
In addition to Flaharty’s longball, Cameron Gurney provided four base knocks to drive in three runs, Jake Long hit two doubles, Luke Jacobs and Jet Gilliam each had two hits and all but one Ute starter reached safely at least once.
Seth Graham-Pippin opened the day for Utah on the mound, tossing 4 and 2/3 innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts, while Kaden Soder’s three innings of relief notched him the win.
While Bell’s outing was brief, BYU’s Nate Gray came out of the bullpen for more than five innings of work and allowed just two runs and recorded eight punchouts.
The Cougars did have eight hits, but they struggled situationally in batting just 1 for 16 with runners on base.
Bryker Hurdsman tallied three hits, Crew McChesney reached base three times with a home run and Ezra McNaughton put a ball over the fence as well.
Utah now moves to 23-19 on the year and 11-13 in Big 12 play, while BYU is a .500 ballclub both overall (23-23) and against league foes (12-12).
The Utes next face UVU at home next Tuesday before a three-game trip to TCU, and the Cougars will hit the road for a game at UNLV on Tuesday followed by three games at Texas Tech.