FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—A three-run second inning Tuesday afternoon propelled No. 4 Arkansas to a 5-0 victory over BYU baseball.

The Razorbacks (8-1) jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings.  The main damage came when Arkansas loaded the bases in the second inning, which caused Cougar starter Tyler Westensee to be replaced by Marc Oslund on the mound. A walk and two sacrifice flies helped three Razorbacks cross the plate in the second.

“We dug ourselves a hole and got off to a poor start when we walked too many batters,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “We can’t give a team like Arkansas free passes because they take advantage of that.

“Parry (David), Welch (Daniel) and Oslund (Marc) did good jobs in relief.  We’ve got to believe in ourselves because we are a good team, too.”

Senior Austin Hall got the Cougars off to a good start in the first inning when he beat out an infield single, then stole second and third.  However, BYU stranded Hall and later  in the third inning also left Wes Guenther on third.

Cougar designated hitter Alex Wolfe was denied a hit in the sixth inning because his fly was scored an error on a shoestring drop by the right fielder and that advanced Jaycob Brugman to third.  However, BYU again stranded a runner at third.

Hall, Stephen Wells and Adam Law collected the three hits for the Cougars, who now fall to 4-3 heading into Wednesday’s rematch at Arkansas when sophomore Desmond Poulson takes the mound for BYU.

The shutout was the first against BYU since splitting a pair at No. 6 Arizona State last May.

No. 4 Arkansas hosts BYU baseball Tuesday to start a two-game series.

Arkansas (7-1) hosts BYU (4-2) in the second meeting between the two schools, but it is the first time the Cougars have gone to Fayetteville.  BYU leads the series 1-0 with a 6-5 upset over then No. 7 Arkansas in 1990 at the Pepsi/Me-N-Ed’s Tournament in Fresno, Calif.

Sophomore returned missionary Tyler Westensee will make his first appearance on the mound for BYU on Tuesday against Razorback sophomore Brandon Moore (0-0, 3.60) in a matchup of right handers.  On Wednesday, the Cougars will start Desmond Poulson (0-0, 3.00) who was a Freshman All-American last season when he posted a 5-0 record. Poulson will face freshman Greg Milhorn (0-0, 0.00 in 3.0 IP).

"It's always a big challenge to face one of the top teams in the country,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “They are solid and have good tradition.  It's a nice challenge for us and a good measuring stick for us to see if we can represent ourselves well with consistent performance."

Among the leading BYU hitters is right fielder Jaycob Brugman, also a Freshman All-American last season, who has a current six-game hitting streak.  Sophomore first baseman Brock Whitney leads BYU with three game-winning RBI.

The Cougars are currently in first place in the West Coast Conference at 2-1 due to an early series last weekend against Saint Mary’s College.  No other league games will take place in the WCC until the end of March.

Following the Arkansas series, BYU’s baseball team will have a rare idle weekend before returning to California next week in a three-game series at UC Irvine.  The BYU-Arkansas games are available on live audio and video through paid subscription at http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com or livestats are free.

The Cougars fly to Tulsa, Okla., then have a two-hour bus ride to Fayetteville, the longest bus ride of the BYU 2012 season.