LOS ANGELES — LMU pitching ace Diego Barrera held BYU scoreless through seven innings, leading the Lions to a 12-2 win on Thursday night at George Page Stadium. 

The win evened LMU’s record at 8-8 on the season, while the Cougars dropped to 5-11. 

“We knew we were in for a tough night against Barrera, and he was really good,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “I thought we had a good approach at the plate and put together some good at bats, but defensive errors really hurt us in some key spots.”

Game Summary
  • LMU scored 12 runs on 17 hits, while BYU scored twice on five hits
  • BYU left fielder Cooper Vest went 3-4 with a solo home run and a double
  • The Cougars fall to 0-7 on the season when being outhit by the opponent

BYU Highlights
  • Cooper Vest: 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI
  • Safea Mauai: 1-4, 2B, RBI
  • Peyton Cole: 1.2 IP, 0 Hits

LMU scored first with two outs in the bottom of the first inning on a double down the left-field line by third baseman Diego Baqueiro for a 1-0 lead. The Lions picked up two more runs on three hits in the fourth inning to push the advantage to 3-0.

Three runs in the third inning, combined with two more in the sixth, pushed the lead to 8-0 and broke the game open for the Lions. 

BYU left fielder Vest homered in the top of the eighth to get BYU on the scoreboard, 8-1. In three at bats, Vest went three-for-four on the night, with a home run, double and single.

LMU finished off the scoring with four runs in the eighth, while BYU pushed across a second run in the top of the ninth on a double by Safea Mauai that scored Cole Gambill for a 12-2 final score. 

Barrera (2-1) got the win for the Lions, while BYU starter Jack Sterner (1-2) took the loss for the Cougars. 

The 17 hits by LMU tied Omaha (March 4) for the most by a BYU opponent on the season. 

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market, with Greg Wrubell on the call. The game will also air on the WCC Network. 
 

LOS ANGELES — After shutting out rival Utah, 7-0, on Tuesday, BYU baseball will take on LMU in a three-game series on the road, March 16-18, to open the Cougars' final year of West Coast Conference play before joining the Big 12 in 2024.

The Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 6 p.m. PT, with the Saturday game set for 1 p.m. PT. All three games in the series will be played at George Page Stadium in Los Angeles. 

BROADCASTS. The games will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market, with Greg Wrubell on the call. The games will also air on the WCC Network. 

BYU-LMU SERIES HISTORY. Wednesday’s contest will be the 40th meeting between BYU and LMU. The Cougars lead the overall series 20-19 and are 19-15 in conference play versus the Lions. LMU won the last meeting, 5-1, between the two schools in the first round of the WCC baseball tournament on May 25, 2022. 

LMU REVIEW. The Lions enter the weekend series with a 7-8 overall record having played previous games with San Jose State (2-2), Long Beach State (1-0), Oklahoma State (1-2), UC Riverside (2-1), UC Irvine (1-0), Vanderbilt (1-2) and UCSB (0-1). LMU is 2-3 at home and 5-5 on the road.  

BYU REWIND. BYU enters the series at 5-10 on the season, having defeated Utah of the Pac-12 on Tuesday, 7-0, at Miller Park. BYU has played 11 of its 15 games in 2023 on the road, including LA Tech (2-2), Louisiana (0-4), Utah Tech (0-1) and Creighton (0-2). The Cougars are 3-1 at home having won a series with Omaha (2-1) to go with the win over Utah.  

COUGARS ON THE HILL. Junior right hander Jack Sterner (1-1, 6.85 ERA) is scheduled to start on Thursday for BYU, while junior righty Bryce Robison (1-1, 6.41 ERA) will start Friday. The Cougars starter on Saturday will be determined later. 

LIONS PROJECTED STARTERS. Junior left hander Diego Barrera (1-1, 1.48 ERA) will start on Thursday for LMU, with senior righty Zach Kirky (0-2, 5.23 ERA) slated to start on Friday. Junior right hander Owen Hackman (1-1, 6.23 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday.  

AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Austin Deming, Ryan Sepede and Ozzie Pratt. Deming is a returning first-team All-WCC performer who leads the team in multiple offensive categories including average (.393), RBI (18), hits (22), HRs (7) and slugging (.893). Sepede leads the Cougars in on base percentage (.464) and is second in average (.383), hits (18) and RBI (9). Pratt leads BYU in at bats (61), doubles (8) and is second in hits (18) and triples (1).

The Lions are led by Jared Thomas who is hitting .326 and leads LMU in hits (15), RBI (13) and slugging (.543). Khadim Diaw leads LMU in home runs (3) and total bases (26) and is second in average (.271), runs (10) and RBI (11).

UP NEXT. Following the weekend series at LMU, the Cougars will return home to Miller Park to play four games next week with Utah Valley (March 28), and a weekend series with Gonzaga (March 30-31, April 1)