LAS VEGAS—Junior Brennon Lund and a pair of sophomore starting pitchers secured a doubleheader sweep Saturday for BYU baseball over Saint Louis University, 5-0 and 11-3.

BYU, 3-0, got eight innings from right-hander Maverik Buffo in the 5-0 opener and six innings from lefty Hayden Rogers before 500 fans at Cashman Field.

“Maverik was a workhorse today and gave us the start we needed in game one,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Hayden Rogers did a nice job keeping Saint Louis off balance for six innings and gave us a quality start.”

Before Buffo took the mound in the opener where the Cougars were the visiting team, Lund started his terror of a 6-for-10 afternoon. He led off beating out a single up the middle to start game one in which he had a 4-for-4 outing with three singles and a double. He scored BYU’s first run after alertly stealing third base in the eventual shutout.

“Brennon (Lund) continues to set the offensive tone for us and it's good to see him get off to such a great start,” Littlewood said.

All told, Buffo threw 101 pitches, gave up six hits in eight innings, setting the Billikens down in order in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.  In particular, fanning SLU right fielder Trent Leimkuehler with a called strike on full count for out number two in the seventh was impressive.

Not to be denied among the sparkplugs for the day was BYU freshman third baseman Jackson Cluff.

“The at-bat of game one in my mind was Jack's RBI single in the sixth where he battled off a couple good sliders and found a way to get a guy home.  It's nice to see production like that from our young guys,” Littlewood added.

That single by Cluff scored Eric Urry, then Lund doubled off the right-field wall to plate Cluff, putting the Cougars up 4-0 with one out.

A couple of unsung contributors for the afternoon were senior Hayden Nielsen and sophomore Nate Favero.

“Hayden (Nielsen) hasn't skipped a beat from last year getting huge two-out hits for us,” Littlewood said.

Nielsen had a two-out single in the four-run sixth of the nightcap. Setting the scene for that sixth inning, Urry beat out a bunt with one out and alertly stole third on a pitch in the dirt after Favero collected the second of his three consecutive singles. Kyle Dean walked and then Cluff stroked a two-run single down the right-field line for the game-winning RBI.

Then came Nielsen’s single through the middle to score Dean. Cluff scored the fourth run as Tanner Chauncey duplicated Nielsen’s feat. In doing so, Chauncey extended his current hitting streak to 14 games.

After that sixth inning, Rogers was replaced on the mound by a pair of young Cougar hurlers.

“I really liked what I saw from Riley Gates and Jordan Wood tonight,” Littlewood said.  “We need guys to step up in the pen and shut things down. Mason Marshall did it in game one, and we were able to shut it down in game two as well. Overall, just a really good day for the entire program.”

The four-game series with Saint Louis University concludes Monday with a noon PST game in Las Vegas where admission is free.

Admission is free to all four games

Saint Louis University and host BYU open the 2016 baseball season with a four-game series at Las Vegas starting Friday.

Although the Cougars have been picked as high as third and as low as fifth in the West Coast Conference, hopes are high prior to 17 non-conference games scheduled before the league opener in March because there is more depth.

Friday’s season opener between BYU and SLU starts at 1 p.m. PST, with the Cougars as the home team.  Saturday’s doubleheader has the Billikens as the “home” team at noon, with BYU home in the nightcap.  SLU will be the home team in Monday’s noon tilt.

The 2016 season marks the fourth year for BYU coach Mike Littlewood, who has guided the Cougars to WCC tournament berths in his first and third years.

“Saint Louis is going to be a tough test as we open the season,” Littlewood said. “They've won the Atlantic-10 Conference the last four years and are picked to win it again this year. They've won 30 games for three or four years in a row now so they're used to winning and used to being successful. We know they are well coached, have great personnel, and they're going to play hard for nine innings.”

Probable pitchers for BYU in the SLU series are righthanders Michael Rucker (5-1, 3.22 in 2015), a junior; sophomore Maverik Buffo (0-1, 8.77); redshirt sophomore lefty Hayden Rogers (0-1, 9.00); and Connor Williams (0-0, 0.00) for Monday.

“As good as Saint Louis is, we feel like we are as ready to play as we have ever been.  We have great veteran leadership at key positions, and some talented young guys that are bringing a great energy to the park every day.  I think we are all more than ready to play.”

The Cougars have worked out mainly at the Indoor Practice Facility, but have had outdoor scrimmages in St. George and Salt Lake City the past two weekends. An outdoor practice is scheduled for Thursday in St. George en route to the games in Las Vegas.

The four-game series will be hosted by BYU at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, home to the New York Mets’ AAA 51s. Saint Louis University has been picked to finish first by several polls for the Atlantic 10 Conference.  Last season, BYU played Oklahoma in a four-game series at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, instead of at Norman, Okla., due to weather concerns last season.  OU won three of the four games.

Following the series at Las Vegas, BYU baseball returns to Provo, then travels to Birmingham, Alabama, to finish the month in a four-game series against Samford University, Feb. 25-27.

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