OREM, Utah—Dillon Robinson was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and Brady Corless pitched well as BYU baseball beat Utah Valley 5-2 on Tuesday.

With the win, BYU (22-19) completed a three-game sweep over the Wolverines (13-28) this season.

Before 4,240 fans (fourth-largest in UVU history), Robinson pounded a three-run homer, followed by a single, double and a single to post a 4-for-4 night from the plate. Corless threw six innings of relief for the win with as many strikeouts.

“I’ve never coached a better complete hitter in my 21 years,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said of Robinson. “It was pretty cool to see tonight.”

Robinson smashed a three-run home run in the second inning to give the Cougars their initial lead, but UVU answered with a pair of runs in the third inning when Corless was saddled with the bases loaded with no outs in the third.

‘He (Corless) was gutting it out and looked really sharp in the eighth,” Littlewood said. “My only concern is that I want him for Saturday in case we have to use (Michael) Rucker on Thursday or Friday or both.

“Bronson (Larsen) probably made the play of the game when the ball went off the wall and he threw the guy out at third. You don’t see that kind of arm in the outfield a lot.”

Larsen threw out a Wolverine attempting to advance to third base in the fifth frame with one out. Larsen was playing in left field because of a tweaked BYU lineup. Regular left fielder Derrick Whitney was out with the flue and starting right fielder Eric Urry is currently out of the lineup except for pinch-running duties due to a broken finger.

Those health problems forced Coach Littlewood to move the hot-batting Larsen from catcher to left field before the game and insert seldom used freshman Court Iorg in right field. Larsen extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a pair of singles, the last of which scored Robinson for the fifth run in the ninth.

“Court made a great sliding catch in right—he can really run,” Littlewood said.

The game had a bit of comedy in the seventh when several timed sprinklers began spraying the field with water, which delayed play for several minutes.

BYU returns to West Coast Conference play when it starts a three-game series on Thursday at University of the Pacific at 6 p.m. PDT.
 

PROVO, Utah--Freshman Colton Shaver of BYU was named the Rawlings West Coast Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

BYU’s baseball team (21-19 overall, 11-7 WCC) winner of four straight games last week, hopes to keep the momentum going with help from players like the designated hitter Shaver. The Cougars are at Utah Valley University (13-27) on Tuesday, then resume league play in a three-game series at University of the Pacific (9-32, 6-12).

“I believe our guys are focused and ready to go entering tomorrow's big game with Utah Valley,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We want to get the week started off right by playing well and hopefully coming away with a win Tuesday night.”

Scheduled to start on the mound for BYU against the Wolverines is freshman Maverik Buffo (0-1, 7.71).

“We've been playing very well of late and want to finish the last three weeks of conference play strong as we make a push to make the conference tournament,” Littlewood said.

Junior Kolton Mahoney (4-4, 4.52) will be BYU’s starting pitcher on Thursday at Pacific, followed by senior Brandon Kinser (5-2, 3.77) on Friday.  Both of those games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. PDT.  The Cougar starter for Saturday is yet to be announced.

“Pacific hasn't had the season they had hoped for but they are talented and I know Ed (Sprague) will have them ready to play this weekend,” Littlewood said.

Shaver batted .353 (6-17) over the three San Francisco games last week and recorded four home runs to give him 10 on the season. The Cougars out-scored their opponents 30-17 in the four games and Shaver drove in 11 of them for a 1.118 slugging percentage.

Shaver opened the week with a two homer effort against instate rival Utah and then powered home runs in the series opener and the series finale against San Francisco. Five of his six hits were for extra-bases. Shaver leads the league in home runs (10) and total bases (87).

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