OREM, Utah (May 10, 2016)—Four home runs along with Brennon Lund finishing a homer shy of the cycle, elevated BYU baseball to a 17-6 victory at Utah Valley University on Tuesday night.

The Cougars improved to 32-13 before a season-high crowd of 4,120 at Brent Brown Ballpark as they now get ready for West Coast Conference action on Thursday against the University of San Francisco. Utah Valley is now 28-20 after losing two of three to BYU as the Wolverines return to play in the Western Athletic Conference.

“I thought our approach at the plate tonight was really good,” BYU Coach Mike Littlewood said. “We were patient and swung at good pitches.”

Lund, who was 4-of-6 on the night, led off with a single in the first inning and scored on Eric Urry’s three-run homer to right field. Lund then doubled in the second inning, scoring again as the Cougars took a 4-0 lead. Lund singled again in the sixth before tripling to right center with a belt that cleared the loaded bases for a 9-3 lead.

BYU built a 5-0 advantage until the Wolverines scored a pair of runs in the fifth frame.

“I changed our lineup a little bit last weekend and it seemed to work well for us tonight,” Littlewood said. “Overall, we looked comfortable at the plate and played with a lot of confidence and energy. It felt a lot like the way we played the first five weeks of the season.”

The victory marked a return of Tanner Chauncey to the defensive lineup for the first time in three weeks. Chauncey, who doubled against UVU along with Keaton Kringlen, had been batting in previous games only as the designated hitter. Connor Williams threw for one inning in the third, marking his first action in three weeks as well.

Urry’s homer was the first of two for the senior who extended his hitting streak to a team-best 11 games. He also knocked a two-run dinger in the eight-run seventh inning for his fourth and fifth RBI of the night. Bronson Larsen added a two-run homer in that frame.

Colton Shaver hit his team-leading 10th homer of the season with a single shot in the ninth inning as the score soared to 16-5. Shaver’s blast completed the accomplishment of every starter recording at least one hit in the victory.

The Cougars threw six pitchers, with starter Hayden Rogers credited with the victory, improving his record to 5-3.

PROVO, Utah (May 9, 2016)—With the nation’s winningest pitcher on the mound, BYU baseball is undefeated.  Without him, the Cougars are 21-13.

While Michael Rucker (10-0, 2.58) is not scheduled to pitch until Thursday when BYU opens a three-game series at San Francisco, the Cougars play a make-up game on Tuesday at Utah Valley University. Game time is 6 p.m. MDT.

Sophomore lefthander Hayden Rogers (4-3, 3.51) is scheduled to start for BYU as it seeks to improve its 31-13 overall record.  For the first time in eight weeks, the Cougars are not ranked in a national poll.

“We have to come and play every single day,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We need to finish the most important 10 percent of the games we play.

“Utah Valley is scrappy, they have confidence and they are playing really well. It’s a game we need to win just like Utah—it’s a must win."

The Wolverines won last week’s game, 7-6 in 11 innings at BYU.

After the UVU game, the Cougars look to improve their 13-8 record in the West Coast Conference at San Francisco en route to a possible berth in the four-team WCC tourney.

“Mentally, we should be at peak performance—holding the conference bid in the palm of our hand,” Littlewood said.  “We have given ourselves a chance to control our own destiny, we don’t have to scoreboard watch. We have to keep plugging away, its imperative we get one.  The goal is to win the series.  If we sweep the series, I think that gets us in the tournament.”

Rucker will start for the Cougars at USF on Thursday at 3 p.m. PDT.  Sophomore lefty Riley Gates (2-1, 4.50) will start for BYU on Friday at 3 p.m., and Rogers is the likely starter for Saturday’s game at 1 p.m.

Tuesday’s game was postponed from two weeks ago at Utah Valley. The BYU-UVU game will be broadcast live on the Internet by BYU Radio and Sirius Satellite 143. The USF series will also be carried on BYU Radio through broadcasts from ESPNSports 960 AM.

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