PROVO—Saint Mary’s College took advantage of nearly every mistake made by BYU baseball en route to a 14-5 victory on Thursday at Larry H. Miller Field.

The Gaels (25-24 overall and 10-15 in the West Coast Conference) behind superb pitching of left-hander Johnny York (7-4) kept BYU (23-22, 12-10) off balance all night.

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The game started a half-hour late due to rain and it looked like Cougar ace Kolton Mahoney was on his game, striking out the first two batters. Then SMC scored a pair of runs for a 2-0 lead that expanded to 10-2 by the sixth inning after Mahoney (4-6) left the mound with seven strikeouts.

“We are not as bad as we played,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “This isn’t the end of the world tonight, but for me, we need to play better. Our mantra has been to play to the end, no matter what.”

While BYU’s Bronson Larsen extended his hitting streak to 18 games, teammate Brennon Lund saw his 24-game hitting streak come to an end. Among the frustrating plays of the evening was a two-run triple to deep right field in the five-run sixth by Gael catcher Nate Nolan which got lost in the lights. Nolan recorded six RBI for the night, while the No. 4 and 5 batters each went 4-for-4 as the Gaels tallied 17 hits.

“They beat us in every single aspect of the game,” Littlewood said. “We need to wake up ready to play Friday. We are still trying to find the missing piece to the puzzle with Eric Urry (broken finger) out of the lineup.”

The two teams continue their three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m., MDT, with game time changed to noon for Saturday’s finale because of rain in the forecast.

For more detailed information on the make-up game to be played at Saint Mary's on May 18, see multi-page PDF below story

Seven seniors will be honored in the final game of the last home series this week for BYU baseball as it hosts Saint Mary’s College.

Jeff Barker, Andy Isom, Jarrett Jarvis, Brandon Kinser, James Lengal, Dillon Robinson and Parker Starr will be honored in Saturday’s pregame ceremonies.

The Cougars (23-21 overall, 12-9 in West Coast Conference] host the Gaels (24-24, 9-15) in the three-game series that starts on Thursday. Kolton Mahoney (4-4, 4.52) and Kinser (5-2, 3.77) will start on the mound for the Thursday and Friday games beginning at 6 p.m. MDT Starters for both teams are TBA for Saturday’s contest starting at 1 p.m. MDT.

“After three tough games at Pacific, we are happy to be back at Miller Park as we continue our run for the conference tournament,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Coach Valenzuela and his team will come in here ready to play. We can't afford to take one inning off the entire week if we want to achieve our goal of making the tournament.”

Brennon Lund leads the Cougars with a current 24-game hitting streak. Teammate Bronson Larsen has a 17-game streak and Dillon Robinson has a nine-game hitting streak.

BYUtv will televise all three games with Saint Mary’s. The magic number is four victories for BYU to qualify as one of four teams in the WCC Tournament on May 21-23 at Stockton, Calif.

BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall and gridders Jamal Williams, Devon Blackmon and Algie Brown will throw out first pitches on Friday and stay to sign autographs.  There will be fireworks following Friday's game.

After the final home stand, BYU plays on Tuesday at Utah in a game starting at 7 p.m. MDT, in a game televised live by the Pac-12 Network. The Cougars close the regular season next week with a three-game series at Santa Clara.

For more detailed information, see multi-page PDF below