PROVO, Utah -- A seventh-run fifth inning for BYU baseball led to an 11-4 victory over Gonzaga. Parker Starr led the Cougars with three hits and two RBI, while JC Snyder drove in three runs and was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Jeff Barker won his fourth game of the year after pitching 5.1innings and allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked four for the Cougars (18-25, 8-11). Freshman Hayden Rogers earned his first career save pitching the final 3.2 innings allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.

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"We put the pressure on and put a couple runs up late," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "I just like the mentality of our team right now. It's the best we've played this year." 

The Cougars scored first, but Gonzaga (18-25, 13-9) took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth. BYU scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning as 11 hitters came to the plate. Three straight singles against two different pitchers started the inning. Eric Urry's single was the third of the inning and scored Brennon Lund to make it 3-2  Gonzaga. A walk loaded the bases and Bret Lopez's base on balls scored a run to tie the game. 

Urry scored from third on a wild pitch to take back the lead before Snyder knocked a two-run double off the top of the left-field wall for a 6-3 BYU advantage. Hayden Nielsen finished the inning with a triple to the right-centerfield gap that scored two to make it 8-3.

Cougars added three more runs in the seventh inning as Starr singled in two runs, scoring Jarrett Jarvis and Snyder. Three pitches later, Urry drove a single past the diving glove of the second baseman and scored Nielsen for an 11-3 Cougar lead.

The Cougars scored first in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, Lopez drew a walk and Jarvis singled him to second. Snyder singled through the left side to score Lopez without a throw and take a 1-0 lead.

Starr and Jarvis extended their hitting streaks to four games, while Lopez had his team-best, five-game hitting streak snapped.

"You can see in the rest of our lineup that everyone's been hitting well," Starr said. "My pitch that I like is the fastball away and they gave that to me a lot today."

Barker and Rogers combined to limit the Bulldogs to four runs on seven hits and struck out six. The Bulldogs' leadoff hitter reached base in five straight innings, from the second to the sixth inning, but were only able to get a run across in one of those innings.

"We were living on the edge there in the first four innings," Littlewood said. "(Barker) did a good job pitching out of trouble the first few innings and we turned a double play in the eighth inning, which was big." 

In the top of the fifth, Gonzaga scored three runs to take their first lead of the game. Two walks to start the inning led to a sacrifice bunt and a lined single to centerfield by Caleb Wood to score two runs. Wood moved to third on a groundout and a wild pitch. He scored the Bulldogs' third run on a strikeout that would have been the third out, but skipped away from the catcher and allowed the batter to reach safely and Wood to score.

Gonzaga scored its final run in the top of the ninth. A bloop double to left scored Mitch Gunsolus from second to make it 11-4.

The Cougars and Bulldogs face each other again on Friday night at 6 p.m. MDT at Larry H. Miller Field as BYU's Kolton Mahoney faces Gonzaga's Brandon Bailey. The final game of the series will be on Saturday at 1 p.m. MDT.

Coming off a bitter-sweet bye week, BYU's baseball team readied for its next nine instate games starting this Tuesday night at Utah Valley University (19-22).

“We came off of a weekend where we played very well and could have ridden that momentum into the following week,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said as the Cougars took time off for final exams and a couple of practices as the sweet part of the deal. “We used last week to get rested, healed up and prepared to make a final push at a conference tournament berth.”

BYU, 16-25 overall and 7-11 in the West Coast Conference, will start senior co-captain Desmond Poulson (4-5, 4.73) in a pre-designated role as it rotates through its pitching corps Tuesday at 6 p.m.

“We have a huge game at Utah Valley and hopefully we can get a little redemption from our previous game. Eric Madsen (UVU coach) does a great job with his team and I know they will come out ready to play.”

After the non-conference game at UVU, the Cougars host league Gonzaga this week, then Santa Clara the following week before closing league action at Portland. In between the WCC games are two non-league games with Utah.

“We feel like we need to win seven or eight of our remaining nine league games in order to secure a playoff spot,” Littlewood said. “Right now that is in our grasp and we will come out and fight with everything we have no matter where we are in the standings. Gonzaga is a great team and it should be an exciting series with a lot on the line for both teams.”

Jeff Barker (3-5, 4.48) will start the series against Gonzaga, followed by Poulson returning to the mound on Friday. Both Thursday and Friday's games are at 6 p.m. On Saturday at 1 p.m., Kolton Mahoney (5-5, 4.30) takes the hill for the Cougars.

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