MALIBU, Calif. — BYU scored four runs on eight hits for a 4-2 victory over Pepperdine on Thursday to take game one of a three-game series at Eddy D. Field Stadium. 

“It was a great way to start the series,” said interim head coach Trent Pratt. “Jack gave us a solid start and Cy and Nate were just dominant on the mound. I thought we backed them up with solid defensive play and timely hitting. It was a solid team win”

The Cougars scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning off a single through the right side by Cole Gambill that scored Brock Watkins. The BYU shortstop singled to open the inning, advanced to third on a Ryan Sepede single and scored on the hit by Gambill. 

After two scoreless innings, BYU picked up another run in the top of the fourth for a 2-0 lead. With one out and bases loaded, Josh Cowden delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to score Sepede with the Cougars’ second run of the game.

Pepperdine (20-20, 8-11) tied the game with two runs in the fifth inning on three singles, a double and a passed ball. 

BYU (25-18, 9-10) answered with two runs of its own in the top of the sixth to retake the lead 4-2. Back-to-back singles by Austin Deming and Jacob Rogers put Cougar runners on the corners with one out. A single down the right-field line by Cowden scored Deming and advanced Rogers to third. Collin Reuter then scored Rogers with a sacrifice fly to center for what would be the final score. 

Left-handed pitcher Cy Nielson (3-0) got the win, while righty Nate Dahle (2) picked up the save for BYU. The two combined to shutout the Waves over the last four innings not allowing a runner to reach base, while striking out eight. 

Notables
  •  Austin Deming: 2-4, Run 
  •  Brock Watkins: 2-4, Run
  •  Josh Cowden 1-2, 2 RBI
  •  Cy Nielson 2.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 K
  •  Nate Dahle 2.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 K

BYU and Pepperdine will play game two of the three-game WCC series on Friday, May 6, at 3 p.m. PDT at Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu. The game will be broadcast live on the WCC Network as well as the BYU Radio Network—107.9 FM, BYU Radio App, BYU Cougars App and BYUCougars.com.

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball continues its four-game road trip in California with a three-game WCC series at Pepperdine on May 5-7 at Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, Calif. The Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 3 p.m. PDT, with Saturday’s contest at 1 p.m. PDT.

BROADCAST INFO. The games will be broadcast live on the WCC Network as well as the BYU Radio Network —107.9 FM, BYU Radio App, BYU Cougars App and BYUCougars.com.

SERIES HISTORY. Thursday’s contest will be the 55th meeting between BYU and Pepperdine in baseball dating back to 1954. The Cougars are 22-31-1 all-time versus the Waves and 13-16 in conference play since joining the WCC for the 2011-12 season. Last year, BYU won the three-game series 2-1 in Provo. The Cougars are 11-7 all-time versus the Waves in Provo and 11-22-1 at Pepperdine. The two teams have played two neutral-site games at the University of the Pacific in 2015 and 2016 as part of the WCC Tournament, with Pepperdine winning both games.  

Pepperdine was originally located in Los Angeles from 1937 to 1972. The school expanded in 1972 when the main Malibu campus opened. The Cougars’ record versus the Wave in LA prior to the move to Malibu was 5-12-1. In games played in Malabu, BYU is currently 6-10.

SERIES BY THE NUMBERS
BYU Overall 22-31-1 (H: 11-7 | A: 11-22-1 | N: 0-2)
WCC Series Record 13-16 (H: 10-5) | A: 3-9 | N: 0-2)
BYU Record in Malibu 6-10
First Meeting 5/27/1954 | 11-2 Pepperdine (Los Angeles)
Last Meeting 5/22/2021 | 14-7 BYU (Provo)

PEPPERDINE REVIEW. The Wave enters Thursday’s game with a record of 20-19 (.513) and 8-10 (.444) in conference and are tied with BYU for seventh place in the WCC standings. The Waves are 3-7 in their last 10 games, including a 4-7 loss on Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara and 1-2 series loss Santa Clara on April 22-24. The Wave had last weekend off due to graduation. 

COUGAR RECAP. BYU is 24-18 (.571) on the year and 8-10 (.444) in WCC play. The Cougars are 5-5 in their last 10 games and 2-2 last week, including a 7-0 shutout of Utah Valley at Miller Park in the midweek game and a 1-2 series loss at San Francisco in the weekend series. BYU is coming off a 10-5 road win at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday evening. 

ON THE HILL. Taking the mound for game one is right-handed sophomore Jack Sterner, who has a 4-3 record in 11 starts with a 2.77 ERA. The sophomore from Laguna Niguel, Calif., leads BYU in innings pitched (61.2) and strikeouts (55). In conference games, Sterner has an ERA of 2.70, fifth best in the WCC.

Game two starter will be sophomore righty Bryce Robison from Las Vegas, Nev.. Robison will be making his seventh start and 17th overall appearance on the mound. He is 6-1 on the year and has thrown 46 innings with a 3.91 ERA. In WCC games, Robison has an ERA of 3.72, 10 best in the conference. Game three starter for the Cougars has not been determined. 

Through 42 games in 2022, the BYU pitching staff has an ERA of 3.65 and has recorded 375 strikeouts, an average of 8.9 per game. 

AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Mitch McIntyre, Ozzie Pratt, Brock Watkins, Austin Deming and Jacob Wilk. McIntyre is the team leader in on-base percentage (.426), walks (31), doubles (12), triples (3) and stolen bases (8). Watkins leads the team in hits (46), total bases (75) and at bats (161).

Pratt was named WCC Player of the Week on April 11 and currently has the highest batting average on the team (.306). Wilk is hitting .298 (third) and leads the team in home runs (6) and slugging percentage (.521). In conference games only, Wilk leads the WCC in average (.409), slugging (.727), on-base percentage (.500) and OPS (1.227). Austin Deming is fourth in conference in average (.357) and OPS (1.026) and is leading BYU in runs scored (30) and doubles (12).  

NEW SKIPPER. On April 11, BYU baseball head coach Mike Littlewood resigned from his position for personal reasons. Associate head coach Trent Pratt has assumed the role of interim head coach of the Cougars for the remainder of the 2022 season. Pratt joined the baseball staff as an assistant coach in 2012 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2017. The balance of the baseball staff continues in their current roles.

POWER BALL. The Cougars are 10-4 versus Power Five programs in 2022. In addition to the three victories at Nebraska (3-2, 7-6, 4-3), BYU has wins over No. 4 Oklahoma State (8-6), Ohio State (9-6), Utah (10-3), and a program-first series sweep of Arizona State in Phoenix (4-2, 6-5, 19-3).