PROVO, Utah – A high-scoring home opener resulted in a 10-8 loss for BYU baseball against UC Santa Barbara on Thursday night at Miller Park.

"We need to win games," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "It's getting old saying that we're close and competitive. We need better pitching performances out of the pen. We need to be able to rely on guys to come out of the pen and compete."

BYU’s first run came off a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second inning from Brock Hale, whose solo shot extended his hitting streak to 12 games. After two runs from UCSB in the top half, the Cougars trailed 2-1.

The Gauchos extended their lead to 3-1 in the top of the third after a pair of errors and a fielder’s choice. BYU responded in the bottom half when Daniel Schneemann’s two-out double plated Kyle Dean and cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Cougars tied it up an inning later, when Hale’s double to right-center was followed up with a run-scoring single the same way from Keaton Kringlen.

BYU starter Maverik Buffo showed some resilience in the top of the fifth inning after giving up a leadoff double. He punched out one Gaucho and forced two flyouts to leave the inning unscathed and the score tied at 3-3.

The Cougars took their only lead in the bottom of the fifth when Tanner Chauncey’s fielder’s choice scored Nate Favero from third base.

UCSB struck for three runs in the sixth inning when Buffo started the frame by giving up two singles and hitting a batter. His replacement, lefty Rhett Parkinson, was victim of a throwing error and a sacrifice fly that put the Gauchos up 6-4.

In the top of the seventh inning, UCSB extended its lead as Mason Marshall, relieving Parkinson, walked a batter to load the bases and gave up a two-run single. The Gauchos led 8-4 as a double play ended the frame.

In the bottom half, Favero and Brennon Anderson led off with a walk and a double. After a flyout from Schneemann, Chauncey singled to bring in Favero, and a wild pitch plated Anderson to cut the lead to 8-6. Kringlen made it 8-7 with a single that scored Chauncey, before UCSB reliever Shea Barry induced a pop-up and a flyout to stop the bleeding.

Riley Gates was chased for BYU after allowing four hits and two runs in the eighth inning as the Gauchos led 10-7. Bo Burrup came in and got some help from Favero, who snared a line drive above third base and stepped on his bag to double-up a UCSB runner.

A single from Kringlen sandwiched by a pair of walks put Larsen at the plate with one out in the bottom of the ninth. He took a walk from Alex Garcia to put the Cougars down 10-8. Dean popped up to the first baseman and Favero flew out to right field to end the game.

Buffo (1-3) took the loss for the Cougars as Gaucho hurler Noah Davis picked up the win (3-1). Buffo went 5.1 innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with six strikeouts. The BYU bullpen gave up four earned runs over 3.2 innings.

The Cougars play a doubleheader against the Gauchos tomorrow, with start times at 2 p.m. (seven innings) and 5:30 p.m. MST.

After 10 road games, BYU baseball begins its home season this Thursday against UC Santa Barbara to start a four-game series.

“It's been three long weeks of tough travel and tough ball games,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “To say we are happy to be back at Miller Park would be an understatement. We are playing very solid baseball and once we get our entire offense rolling we will be a very tough team to beat.”

Both he Cougars and the Gauchos have gotten off to slow starts, having won four games apiece. BYU is 4-6, while UC Santa Barbara is 4-7. UCSB leads BYU in the series 7-1.

Thursday’s game at 5 p.m. MDT at Larry H. Miller Field will be broadcast live on ESPN 960 AM along with its audio stream paired with BYU Radio and video stream via theW.tv. Friday’s doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.  MDT will also be carried via the same media outlets as will Saturday’s noon finale. BYUtv will televise Saturday’s game live.

Maverik Buffo (1-2, 4.50 ERA) will start the four-game series on the mound for the Cougars. Brady Corless (2-0, 1.89) will start on the mound for BYU in the first game on Friday which has been shortened to seven innings. In Friday's nightcap, lefty Hayden Rogers (0-0, 2.38) will start the nine-inning game for the Cougars.  Kendall Motes (0-1, 5.14) will be BYU's starting pitcher in Saturday's game.

The Cougars have shown glimpses of their preseason projections. Seven BYU sluggers have hit home runs thus far, led by Bronson Larsen with three and Brock Hale with two. Hale leads the team with an 11-game hitting streak and a .385 batting average, aided by a grand slam in BYU’s 10-2 victory last week. However, the Cougars lost a pair of games by one and two runs last week at CSU Bakersfield in California.

“We were a little snake bitten offensively in the Bakersfield series, but I saw glimpses of the offense I know we are capable of becoming,” Littlewood said.“We just need to concentrate on the here and now and play every game like it's our last.”

The Gauchos were picked in a tie for second place in the preseason coaches’ poll in the Big West Conference.

UCSB finished No. 6 and was one of the eight teams to advance to last year’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gauchos tallied a 43-20-1 record and went 1-2 their historic first appearance in the World Series. They had bookend losses to Oklahoma State and Arizona in the CWS and eliminated Miami. UCSB defeated the No. 2 and No. 3 national seeds during its postseason run.

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