BYU vs. Gonzaga game 1 box score

PROVO, Utah – Brian Hsu hit a two-run blast in the seventh inning to break a tie and give BYU a 6-4 win on ESPNU in the first of a three-game set against Gonzaga Thursday night at Larry H. Miller Field.

"The guys came out fighting tonight," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "To get this win was really good, and it should make us come out relaxed and ready to play tomorrow (Friday)."

The Cougars (11-9, 1-3 West Coast Conference) got their first league win as the Bulldogs fell to 11-9, 2-2 (WCC).

Gonzaga put its first batter on after a BYU throwing error. He came around to score to give the Bulldogs an early one-run lead.

Keaton Kringlen singled to lead off the bottom of the second. A walk and a sacrifice bunt gave way to Jarrett Perns’ sacrifice fly to center field that pushed Kringlen across to tie the game.

Both teams scored a run in the third inning. For the Cougars, Daniel Schneemann lined a single over third base to drive home Brennon Anderson from second base.

In the fifth, BYU took the lead when Anderson doubled to the left-center gap to score Perns, who led off the inning with a single. Schneemann blooped one into shallow center field to bring Anderson around and make it 4-2 for the Cougars.

BYU starter Jordan Wood surrendered two runs in the sixth to square the score at 4-4 before escaping.

Hsu launched a home run just inside the left foul pole to make it a 6-4 Cougar lead in the bottom of the seventh. Anderson, who had walked, scored his third run of the game on the shot.

Wood (2-1) was replaced on the mound after 7.1 innings and 117 pitches. He allowed eight hits and three earned runs, while fanning six Bulldogs.

Drew Zimmerman came on for BYU and recorded five outs without any Gonzaga hits or walks for his second save off the season. Casey Jacobsen, who was brought on as a defensive replacement at third base in the ninth, made a diving play for the second out.

The Cougars host the Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday.

BYU vs. Utah, Gonzaga Game Notes

Both BYU and Utah’s baseball teams look to salve wounds from last week as they play on Tuesday in the first of four meetings this season.

The Cougars bring a 9-9 record into the Deseret First Duel against the Utes who are 2-16.  Tuesday’s game is at 6 p.m. MDT and will be televised live on BYUtv as well as broadcast live over ESPN 960 AM and on BYU Radio-Sirius XM 143.

“We need to be even keel and stay the course,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.  “The process has proven pretty fruitful over the last five years, so we need to persevere through this.”

Lefthander Bo Burrup (1-0, 14.14) will start for the Cougars against Utah. BYU has won the Duel the past six years and nine of the last 10 times it has been contested in this format. BYU leads the series with the Utes, 244-116-2, with Utah defeating the Cougars in the last meeting, 7-6, in 13 innings in Provo.

That non-league game precedes BYU hosting another fellow defending West Coast Conference tri-champion on Thursday when the Cougars meet Gonzaga in a nationally televised game on ESPNU at 6 p.m. That game with the Bulldogs begins a three-game series and ends an 11-game home stand.

Jordan Wood (1-1, 3.98) will start on the mound for BYU in Thursday's game, followed by Hayden Rogers (2-2, 5.16) on Friday and Blake Inouye (1-2, 7.71) on Saturday.

Gonzaga brings a 2-1 league record into Thursday’s game, which is a rematch of an ESPNU telecast last season in which the Bulldogs won 6-2 in Spokane. The announcers for the ESPNU telecast are Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements who also called last season’s game. Friday’s game at 6 p.m., and Saturday’s game at 1 p.m., will both be televised live by BYUtv.

BYU is 0-3 in the WCC after being swept last week in Provo by league co-leader Loyola Marymount.