BYU vs. Omaha Game One Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Jordan Wood carried a shutout into the ninth inning and BYU baseball tallied 12 hits in an 8-1 win over Omaha for the Larry H. Miller Field home opener Thursday night.

"Jordan Wood gave us the start we needed," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "He set the tone for us and Brock had a big hit that let us breathe a little. There were some things to improve and things to build upon."

The Cougars evened their record to .500 (6-6) as the Mavericks fell to 4-9 on the season.

Wood (1-1) started the game and fanned the first two Mavericks before inducing an inning-ending groundball for a clean first frame.

In the top of the second, Brock Hale swatted the second pitch he saw just over the left field fence for a solo home run and a 1-0 Cougar lead.

Brennon Anderson roped a double down the left field line to move Mitch McIntyre to third base with zero outs in the third inning. Then, Daniel Schneemann’s liner couldn’t be caught by a diving Maverick right fielder. The runners, who had frozen, each advanced one base as McIntyre crossed for a 2-0 BYU advantage. With Cougars on the corners, Keaton Kringlen skied a sacrifice fly to right field to score Anderson. Nate Favero then brought home another run with a drive that glanced off Omaha pitcher Cal Hehnke. BYU took the 4-0 lead into the fourth inning.

McIntyre flashed his leather out in center field for the first out of the fourth, diving forward to take away a Maverick hit. That followed his sprinting effort to grab one in the left-center gap in the second inning. Through four innings, Wood had surrendered just one hit and no runs.

Kyle Dean and Brian Hsu led off the bottom half of the fourth with a double and single, respectively. Hsu swiped second base to put two runners in scoring position. With one out, Anderson grounded to the third baseman, who came home in time to nab Dean. A flyout kept the Cougars off the board in the fourth.

Wood first saw trouble in the top of the sixth, as the first two Omaha batters reached base. He committed a throwing error on a bunt to load the bases, still with no outs. Wood escaped the jam by fanning a Maverick and turning a comebacker into a 1-2-3 double play to maintain a shutout through six.

The Cougar offense threatened again in the bottom of the seventh, with Schneemann singling and Kringlen doubling. Hale slapped a fielder’s choice to the left side to bring home Schneemann for a 5-0 BYU lead.

Wood continued to deal through eight innings, as he had allowed just three hits while fanning a career-high nine.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Cougars plated two more, via extra-base hits by David Clawson and McIntyre. They led 7-0 and loaded the bases for Brock Hale with two outs. Cam Fowler came on for Omaha and drilled Hale to make it 8-0 before the final out.

The Mavericks scored their first run in the ninth, with Thomas DeBonville tripling and coming home on a throwing error. Wood stayed on for the final out to complete his complete game effort and give BYU an 8-1 win. The Cougar ace finished the night with four hits and one run allowed.

The Cougars continue their series with the Mavericks Friday and Saturday.

BYU vs. Omaha Game Notes

The official debut of BYU baseball’s new state-of-the-art field is Thursday against Nebraska Omaha to start a three-game series.

This week for the first time, the Cougars will play an NCAA game on the new field at Miller Park. In the history of BYU baseball it has always played on natural grass, including the past 48 years at the present site at Larry H. Miller Field.

The synthetic turf field looks stunning. The most valuable upgrade is the heating and drainage system that was installed underneath.

The new system can melt three to four inches of snow and drain 19 inches of water per hour, allowing a lot more field time during the winter months. Bullpens and batting cages were also expanded and a new bunting station was added since last season.

On this new surface, BYU looks to better its current 5-6 record in hosting the Mavericks. Omaha took a 4-7 record into a Tuesday night game at Minnesota. For three weeks the Cougars have been on the road. The series against Omaha starts an 11-game home stand for BYU.

On Thursday at 5 p.m., junior right-hander Jordan Wood (0-1, 3.71) will be BYU’s starting pitcher. Freshman right-hander Ryan Brady (0-0, 9.45) is scheduled to start in Friday’s game at 5 p.m. Senior lefthander Hayden Rogers (2-1, 4.05) will start in Saturday’s series finale at 11 a.m.

Both the Cougars and Mavericks landed player of the week honors this past week for their respective leagues.

Omaha pitcher Kinney Payton threw 140 pitches last Sunday in a no-hitter against Ohio for Summit League honors and National Pitcher of the Week honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. His team is ranked No. 2 in the nation in sacrifice bunts.

BYU slugger Brock Hale was the West Coast Conference Player of the week in raising his batting average 103 percentage points.

Admission will be free to Thursday’s game for those showing “A Pass of All Passes,” and to Saturday’s dollar hot dog game for Rex Lee Runners.

All of the BYU vs. Omaha games will be streamed live over the Internet and broadcast live over BYU Radio—Sirius XM 143. Saturday’s game will be televised live by BYUtv and broadcast live by ESPN Radio 960 AM.

Pending the outcome of Utah Valley basketball games in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Thursday and Friday’s BYU baseball games may also have coverage on ESPN 960 AM.