BYU vs. Santa Clara game 2  box score

BYU vs. Santa Clara game 3 box score

PROVO, Utah – Daniel Schneemann and Casey Jacobsen provided game-winning hits in dramatic wins (6-4 in 10 innings and 6-5) to seal a sweep for BYU over Santa Clara in a doubleheader Friday at Larry H. Miller Field.

“We were relaxed these last two days,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “We didn’t panic, and I just had that feeling that we were going to get that big hit when we needed it.”

The Cougars got back to .500 in the West Coast Conference at 6-6 (17-13 overall), while the Broncos fell to 15-14, 4-8 (WCC).

In the first game, Schneemann sent a two-run homer high above the right-center fence for a second-straight walk-off win over Santa Clara.

Jacobsen provided the heroics in the nightcap, with a three-run double off the left field wall in the eighth. He came on as a defensive replacement at third base in the fourth inning and came up big in his third plate appearance.

The Cougars took the middle of the three-game series 6-4, getting dingers from the top two hitters in the lineup, with Brennon Anderson also putting a charge into one in the sixth inning to bring BYU back from a 3-2 deficit.

Hayden Rogers threw 5.1 effective innings for the Cougars, surrendering just four hits and two earned runs. Bo Burrup (2-1) picked up the win by throwing a perfect 10th inning.

Anderson, Schneemann, Brock Hale, Nate Favero and Jarrett Perns all collected two hits for BYU.

Favero came up in the series finale with runners on second and third in the seventh and lined a two-run single into left field to shrink the Cougars’ deficit to one run at 4-3.

BYU got in the hole by giving up three runs in the first two innings. Joe Becht led off the game with a home run for Santa Clara.

The Cougar pitchers settled in, with Kenny Saenz, Justin Sterner and Rhett Parkinson combining for seven relief innings and just two earned runs. Parkinson (1-0) was credited with the win.

The Broncos manufactured a run in the eighth to lead 5-3, but BYU responded by putting Jake Brown, Perns and Anderson on base before Jacobsen’s decisive knock.

The Cougars are off until Thursday, April 12, when they begin a three-game road series at Portland.

Game notes for Utah, Santa Clara

Round two of the Deseret First Duel could be an extension of extra innings as BYU and Utah baseball rematch on Tuesday in Salt Lake City at 6 p.m.

The Cougars, 14-12 overall and 3-6 in the West Coast Conference, won the first meeting against Utah in Provo, 7-6 in the 10th inning. And in their last meeting of 2017, the two teams went 13 innings with Utah winning, 7-6 in Provo.

Both teams are starting lefthanders at Smith’s Ballpark: junior Bo Burrup (1-1, 8.31) who also started the first game against Utah for the Cougars and redshirt freshman Riley Pierce (0-2, 9.00) for the Utes. The two teams are scheduled to play twice more, on April 24 in Provo and on May 8 in Salt Lake City.

The Utes, 6-20 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12, are fresh off a pair of upsets over No. 1 Oregon State last week.  BYU was up and down last week, out-hitting opponents in a pair of victories and narrowly losing a pair at Pepperdine as it stranded many runners on base.

Among BYU’s top hitters is junior Brock Hale, who raised his batting average from .194 to .343, batting .408 in 18 games for March. Hale’s slugging percentage for the month was .789 and he leads the Cougars with seven home runs.

Following the tilt at Utah, the Cougars return to Provo for WCC action in a three-game series against Santa Clara, starting Thursday at 6 p.m.