PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball recorded a season-high 18 hits Thursday night at Miller Park while starting pitcher Easton Walker fanned eight en route to a dominant 12-0 shutout over Saint Mary’s.

“Easton was really great tonight, he had great command of his fastball,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “Our hitters did a great job of swinging at strikes and taking balls. It shows that our guys are locked in and feeling more comfortable at the plate. Our guys had some really great at-bats tonight.”

Jacob Wilk, Andrew Pintar, Mitch McIntyre and Joshua Cowden each tallied three hits on the game to lead the Cougars’ (14-23, 7-9) hitters. Wilk nearly hit for the cycle, posting three RBIs with a single, double and triple. McIntyre had a pair of RBIs while Pintar hit the only home run of the game, a solo shot to left center in the third inning.

Walker was dominant on the mound, fanning eight Gaels (20-18, 9-10) batters while giving up just three hits and two walks in seven innings of work. McKay Heaton tallied a pair of strikeouts in relief duty through two innings to keep the shutout intact. The Cougar defense allowed just five hits with no errors.

Game Highlights

• BYU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, as Watkins drove Wilk home from second with a single through the left side. Wilk had led the inning off with a single up the middle before advancing to second on a Hayden Leatham blooper to right.
• Pintar launched a solo shot over the wall in left center in the bottom of the third, starting a five-run inning for the Cougars. Wilk, Leatham, Watkins and McIntyre also tallied RBIs in the frame as BYU went up 6-0.
• Wilk doubled to left center to drive home Cole Gambill, who reached on a bunt single, all the way from first. Leatham then scored Wilk, who managed to just avoid the tag at home, on a fielder’s choice. With the bases loaded later in the third, Watkins was hit by a pitch, sending Cowden home. McIntyre capped the five-hit, five-run inning for the Cougars with an infield single to drive Leatham home from third.
• BYU added another three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 9-0 advantage. Wilk scored Pintar and Gambill, who had both reached on singles, with a triple deep to right field. Wilk then jogged home on a passed ball for his third run of the game.
• The Cougars tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth frame, going up 10-0 as Leatham scored from second on a McIntyre single to left field. Leatham had reached base on an infield single and advanced to second after Abraham Valdez drew a walk.
• In the bottom of the seventh, BYU added a pair of runs to take a 12-0 lead. Valdez singled through the left side with the bases loaded, sending Pintar home. Watkins drew a walk in the following at-bat to score Cowden.

Player Notes

• Easton Walker: 7.0 IP, 8K, 3H, 2BB, 2.35 ERA, W (2-4)
• Jacob Wilk: 3-6, 3RBI, 3R, 3B, 2B
• Andrew Pintar: 3-4, HR, 3R, RBI
• Mitch McIntyre: 3-6, 2RBI
• Joshua Cowden: 3-5, 2R

BYU will play Saint Mary’s again Friday, April 30, at 6 p.m. MDT at Miller Park in game two of the three-game WCC series. The contest will be broadcast live on BYUtv and the BYUtv app. Audio broadcasts will also be available on the BYU Sports Network: BYU Radio FM 107.9 FM, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball is at Miller Park Thursday through Saturday for a WCC three-game series with Saint Mary’s.

The Cougars are coming off an 8-5 win over No. 26 Arizona State Tuesday afternoon. BYU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning verses the Sun Devils and never looked back, scoring eight runs on 11 hits. Right fielder Cole Gambill had a big night going 3-4 with two home runs, a double, four RBI and three runs scored.

The Cougars (13-23, 6-9) now turn their attention to Saint Mary’s (20-19, 9-9) who comes to Provo in fifth place in the WCC, while BYU enters the weekend series in seventh. Nationally ranked Gonzaga leads the conference at 14-4, with San Diego in second at 11-4.

Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT, with the Saturday contest at 1 p.m. BYU is 5-4 at home this year, while the Gaels are 9-7 on the road.

Saint Mary’s won two of three games (4-9, 3-2, 3-2) from Pacific at home over the weekend, while the Cougars dropped three games at No. 27 ranked Gonzaga, before rebounding with a big win over ASU on Tuesday.

Game one on Thursday features BYU right-hander Easton Walker (1-4, 2.68 ERA) versus Gaels righty Ryan Taurek (2-1, 2.91 ERA). Walker has appeared in 10 games for the Cougars and has given up 15 earned runs, while recording 49 strikeouts over 50.1 innings. Taurek has pitched in 12 games for the Gaels with five starts. He has given up with 14 earned runs and has 40 strikeouts in 43.1 innings of work. 

BYU and SMC have met 32 times in baseball, with the Cougars holding a 22-10 overall advantage in the series and a 11-1 record at home. Due to the 2020 pandemic, the WCC foes last met during the 2019 regular season in Provo on March 28-30. BYU swept the series 3-0 with scores of 5-3, 11-0, 10-6. The Cougars would go on to finish the season 36-17 and win the WCC regular season title with a 18-9 record. 

All three games of the series will be broadcast live on the BYUtv App as well as online at BYUtv.org. The Friday and Saturday games will also be broadcast live on BYUtv. The BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio FM 107.9, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app—will have the radio broadcast of all three games.