STOCKTON, California (April 6, 2017)--Bronson Larsen’s grand slam and Maverik Buffo’s pitching gave BYU baseball a 6-0 victory Thursday afternoon over the University of the Pacific.

Larsen’s grand slam homer came in the fifth inning when the Cougars batted around their order. With two outs in the fifth, Daniel Schneemann’s single drove in Noah Hill who hit a one-out double.

“We played solid baseball today,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.  “It was a tough hitting day with the wind blowing in, but we put together good at bat after good at bat until we broke through in the fifth.”

The damage in the fifth frame continued with Brennon Anderson getting aboard on a shortstop error before Schneeman’s single. Then Keaton Kringlen was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

With the table set, Larsen swatted the first pitch offering into the teeth of the wind, a blast estimated at 350 feet over the short 317-foot porch and 12-foot-high wall in left field to give BYU a 5-0 lead. It was the third grand slam for BYU this season.

The Cougars added their sixth run in the eighth inning off three consecutive singles, one of which was by Kyle Dean, who extended his hitting streak to a team-leading six games, tying him with Tanner Chauncey. The last of the singles was by Nate Favero to plate pinch runner Brian Hsu.

In his best outing of the season, Buffo threw 123 pitches in eight and one-third innings, retiring the side in order in the second and seventh frames to improve his record to 4-3 and lower his earned run average from 5.95 to 4.91.

“Maverik was good today,” Littlewood said. “He battled through the first three innings and once he found his groove he was pretty unhittable. He did a good job setting the tone for the series.”

The Cougars improved to 15-12 overall and 5-2 in the West Coast Conference, while Pacific fell to 12-15 and 2-8. The game was moved up three hours earlier to avoid inclement weather.

The two teams are scheduled to play games two and three on Friday at 6 p.m. PDT and on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT, respectively.

After a solid week against its league leader and two Pac-12 teams, BYU baseball is on the road to play at the University of the Pacific starting Thursday.

The Cougars (14-12 overall and 4-2 in West Coast Conference) have a three-game series at Pacific (12-15, 2-7).

“Pacific is playing well right now, and they are particularly tough at home,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We have been playing solid baseball of late and will need to keep that up in order to have success in Stockton.”

BYU’s pitching rotation remains the same as it has in recent weeks with Maverik Buffo (3-3, 5.95), Brady Corless (3-0, 4.03) and Hayden Rogers (2-1, 2.23). The three games are at 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. PDT, respectively on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All three games will be broadcast live by Brent Norton on ESPN 960 AM radio and streamed on the internet through BYU Radio and on Sirius XM 143.

The Cougars will be without their top hitter in Brock Hale who is batting .398, but injured his knee last Saturday and is out for an indefinite period of time. 

The next leading hitter out of the regular lineup is fellow outfielder Keaton Kringlen with a .358 average.  Kringlen was recently named national Player of the Week by three organizations (Collegiate Baseball, National Baseball Writers Association and College Sports Madness) along with being Rawlings WCC Player of the Week for his spectacular performances against Utah and Saint Mary’s College.

Catcher Bronson Larsen has been replacing Hale in the outfield as Kringlen shifts from left to right field. Larsen and Kringlen lead the team with five home runs apiece.

Following BYU’s action in California, it returns to play at Utah Valley University this Tuesday, then hosts Pepperdine.

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