MALIBU, Calif. (April 10, 2014)—Pitchers Jeff Barker and Brandon Kinser combined for a 1-0 BYU upset Thursday over league-leading No. 24 Pepperdine.

With the help of several Cougar teammates, Barker and Kinser staved off the Waves, posting their second shutout in a row.

While Barker struck out six Wave batters and gave up three hits in seven and one-third innings, he did not get the win which went to Kinser, who is now 3-2. Kinser sealed the win, striking out Pepperdine batters for the first and third outs in the ninth.

Kinser entered the eighth with runners on first and second, and then enticed Aaron Brown to line into an inning-ending double play. When Kinser took the mound again in the ninth, he had the lead.

BYU freshman Brennon Lund led off the ninth getting hit by a pitch. Lund ended up on third with the bases loaded and one out following consecutive singles by Dillon Robinson and Brock Whitney. Lund scored the game-winning run when Kelton Caldwell flied out deep to right field for a sacrifice.

Pepperdine fell to 25-8 and 10-3 in the West Coast Conference, while BYU improved to14-21 and 5-8  in the league.

“Both teams did a good job,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “I can’t say enough about what Jeff (Barker) did. Our goal has been timely hitting, playing catch and throwing strikes, that just what we did.”

The Cougars were not able to cash in on earlier on opportunities in the first, third, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Lund led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to nine games, but was picked off first base in the first inning.

Parker Starr hit a one-out single and stole second where he was stranded in the third. In the fourth inning Eric Urry led off with a single, but was thrown out on an inning-ending double play. Starr got his second single of the game in the sixth, advanced to second on Hayden Nielsen’s sac-bunt, but Urry lined out to first to end that frame.

Whitney extended his hitting streak to 11 games in the seventh, but was stranded after that one-out single. Nielsen got a two-out single in the eighth, but was caught stealing second.

Pepperdine threatened in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, getting runners on first and second each time. The Cougar defense and Barker rallied to quell the Waves, including an inning-ending strikeout in the fifth, fanning his fifth batter of the game. Starr turned an inning-ending double play in the sixth. Nielsen caught the liner in the eighth and tagged out a gambling Austin Davidson.

“Everything was working today,” Barker said. “It was awesome. It seems like we are on a roll and we need to take advantage of this momentum.”

The BYU-Pepperdine series continues with game two on Friday at 3 p.m. and ends on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.

Games at No. 24 Pepperdine and No. 14 UC Santa Barbara highlight the next week of baseball for BYU, but first the Cougars play at Washington State on Tuesday.

The WSU Cougars (15-13, 6-3 in the Pac-12) have also been nationally ranked this season, but are not currently in the top 25.  BYU (12-21, 4-8 in West Coast Conference) plays that Tuesday night contest away from the WSU campus in a special game at Pasco, Wash., at 6:30 PDT.

Desmond Poulson (4-3, 4.10) is scheduled to start in a pre-designated rotation on the mound against Washington State and will start again on Saturday at first place Pepperdine (24-7, 10-2 WCC).  Jeff Barker (2-5, 5.65) will start the first game of the Pepperdine series on Thursday at 3 p.m. PDT.  Kolton Mahoney (4-4, 4.10) will start on Friday for the Cougars. Both Thursday and Friday's games are at 3 pm., while Saturday's game is at 1 p.m. PDT.  BYU’s starter at UC Santa Barbara is TBA for Monday afternoon.

“If we play to our potential for nine innings we can compete with anyone,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We need to avoid big innings on defense, throw strikes, play catch and have timely hitting.”

Currently the team’s leaders in hitting streaks are Brock Whitney at nine games, Dillon Robinson at eight games and Brennon Lund at seven games.

The BYU-WSU game will only be available on livestats, while the games in California will be broadcast live by KOVO Radio 960 AM and through its audio stream on the Internet along with BYU Radio/Sirius XM 143.

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