IRVINE, Calif.—Scott Gottschling’s two-out, three-run double off a first-inning fastball paved the way Thursday night for UC Irvine’s 3-1 victory over BYU.

The Anteaters (7-5) defended that lead through six frames of work by starting pitcher Kyle Hooper, who surrendered his first run in 23 innings.

That BYU run came in the fifth inning when Adam Law led off with a centerfield single, advanced to third on Stephen Wells’ single to right-center and scored when Tanner Chauncey hit into a fielder’s choice.

Those singles were two of the seven Cougar hits as BYU’s record falls to 4-5.

Three opportunities escaped BYU’s grasp.  The final threat came in the ninth with runners on the corners with two out.

“Wes Guenther smoked a hit that would have put on a lot of pressure had it made it out of the infield,” said BYU coach Vance Law of that ninth inning.  “If we could have scored (Kelton) Caldwell in the second, it might have been a different game.”

Two Cougars were stranded at third during the game—in the second when Kelton Caldwell led off with a double to left-center and in the third when Chauncey got aboard with an error to start that inning.

“Chris Capper pitched another excellent game,” said Coach Law.  “His record is not indicative of the games he has pitched.”

Chris Capper (0-3) struck out nine Anteaters and got key relief from Chris Howard in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

“Right now it’s the offense that is struggling and we are trying to address that as best as we can,” said Coach Law.  “We are pressing at the plate, trying to get too much done in one at bat.  I have confidence we will turn it around and get on a roll.”

The teams continue the three-game series the second contest on Friday evening.

Both BYU and host UC Irvine look to bounce back from a pair of baseball losses last week as they start a three-game series Thursday.

The Anteaters (6-5) have been ranked No. 21, 24 and 30 in previous weeks, but are out of the polls this week due to a pair of losses at Baylor.  Meanwhile, BYU (4-4) has hopes for a better showing after a pair of losses at No. 4 Arkansas.

“We’re excited to get back at it again,” said BYU coach Vance Law after a rare weekend off from games.  “This will be a good challenge against a good club.  Hopefully we learned a few things at Arkansas.”

The starting BYU pitching remains the same as those who produced a 4-2 record going into the Arkansas series.  Chris Capper (0-2, 4.91), Mark Anderson (2-0, 2.13) and Adam Miller (1-0, 0.00) will start on the mound for games Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Miller is among five pitchers on the BYU staff with a 0.00 ERA thus far, including freshman Mason Marshall who has two saves in 7.1 innings.

In the first NCAA statistics of this season, BYU was 59th in fielding and 63rd in triples. Austin Hall was 13th in triples and Miller was tied with many at No. 1 in ERA at 0.00.

The games at 6:30, 6:30 and 1 p.m. PST, will be broadcast live on the Internet through links on www.byucougars.com and may be broadcast live locally in California on KUCI FM (88.9) depending on the outcome of UC Irvine basketball games in the Big West Tournament.

BYU leads the series, 7-6, against UC Irvine, having split the last time they played in 2005.  The Anteaters won the first meeting in 1970.