MORAGA, California (April 15, 2016)—Pitching woes haunted No. 16 BYU baseball as Saint Mary’s defeated the Cougars again, this time 7-4 on Friday.

BYU starter Maverik Buffo didn’t make it out of the first inning with an ailing arm and his team trailing 2-1. The Cougars are now 26-7 overall and a game out of first place in the West Coast Conference with a 9-5 record.

Saint Mary’s, now 20-11 and 10-4, is the new occupier of first place in the WCC following its second consecutive victory over BYU in as many days.

“Saint Mary's just outplayed us today,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We made it very difficult on ourselves with five errors and a lot of two-strike mistakes in key situations.

“We came out in the first inning, hit four balls hard, got on the board and then lost the momentum by giving up a two-run home run.”

While the Cougars never regained the lead, they did close the gap to 4-3 when Colton Shaver swatted his ninth homer of the season, a two-run blast to left field in the sixth.

Again in the seventh BYU drew within one at 5-4 when Hayden Nielsen hit a two-out single to score Noah Hill.

The Cougars did have the tying run at bat in the ninth before hitting into a game-ending double play.

BYU used four pitchers, while the Gaels nearly got a complete game from lefty Johnny York who threw 123 pitches before Cameron Neff earned his first save of the season on one pitch.

“We are playing a very good team on their home field and we just need to wake up Saturday, go to work, and see if we can get out of here with a win,” Littlewood said.

Saturday’s finale will be streamed live on TheW.tv, broadcast by ESPN Radio 960 AM locally and BYU Radio—Sirius Satellite 143.

PROVO, Utah (April 11, 2016)--Conference co-frontrunners collide Tuesday when No. 16 BYU baseball of the West Coast Conference hosts a rematch against Utah of the Pac-12 Conference.

The Cougars, 25-5, and Utes, 11-17, meet in the second of three contests this season at 6 p.m. in Provo, but this time both are tied for first place in their respective conferences at 9-3 and 8-4.

Following the Utah game, BYU returns to WCC action in a three-game series at Saint Mary’s later in the week.

BYU is tied with Gonzaga, with Saint Mary’s a half-game behind, and Utah is tied with Cal.

“Utah has a good team,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “To me they are always dangerous, there has been a ton of close games, and it’s a crazy series. We are a little dinged up right now.”

Out of the starting lineup is Brennon Anderson with a sprained thumb, likely replaced for Tuesday’s game by freshman Daniel Schneemann at second base.

The Cougars remain ranked No. 16 for the second week in a row in the Perfect Game poll, but dropped a couple spots in the USA Today/Baseball Coaches poll to No. 22. BYU moved up to No. 21 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll and dropped to No. 26 in Collegiate Baseball.

Getting the starting pitching nod for the Utah game is Cougar lefty Hayden Rogers (3-0, 3.86). The regular rotation will be intact for the Saint Mary’s series leading off with Michael Rucker (7-0, 2.21) and Maverik Buffo (6-1, 3.27) in Thursday and Friday’s games at 3 p.m. PDT, and Connor Williams (1-1, 3.74) in Saturday’s game at 1 p.m.

The Utah game will be televised live by BYUtv. ESPN Radio 960 AM will broadcast all of BYU’s games this week as will BYU Radio—Sirius Satellite 143, and TheW.tv will stream all of the games at Saint Mary’s.

BYU is ranked No. 1 in scoring (9.1) and doubles per game (2.70) in the latest NCAA rankings. The Cougars are No. 3 in batting average at.336 and slugging (.517), No. 4 in doubles and No. 6 in runs. Individually, Rucker is tied for No. 1 in the nation with a 7-0 record, Brennon Lund is No. 7 in doubles and No. 9 in hits, while Colton Shaver is No. 15 in slugging.

The Cougars have a leg up in the Deseret First Duel, having defeated Utah 6-0 last month.

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