RIVERSIDE, Calif. (February 17, 2012)—Host UC Riverside won the baseball season opener, 5-0 and BYU won game two of the Friday doubleheader, 6-2.

BYU rebounded from a 1-0 first-inning setback in the nightcap to take leads of 2-1 in the second, 3-1 in the third, 4-2 in the fourth , 5-2 in the fifth and 6-2 in the eighth. 

BYU centerfielder Stephen Wells had consecutive one-run doubles in the second and fourth inning to key those rallies.  Brock Whitney got the game-winning RBI in the third with a single to left field and Kelton Caldwell drove in the fourth run in the fifth off a fielder’s choice.  Wells and Alex Wolfe extended their hitting streaks to 11 and six consecutive games, respectively.

Cougar freshman Dakota Hernandez replaced an injured catcher Wes Guenther with one out in the bottom of the sixth.  He scored in the eighth when his cousin Jaycob Brugman hit a one-out triple to left field to put BYU up 6-2.

Riverside hometown product Dylan Stuart threw 112 pitches in a complete game in the season opener for UC Riverside.  Despite BYU right-handed junior Chris Capper striking out seven Highlanders in the first five innings, the 4-0 deficit from the third inning took its toll.

Capper, fellow junior Mark Anderson and freshman Mason Marshall, who were coached or recruited by  former BYU pitching coach Bobby Applegate,  had impressive moments. Applegate switched to UC Riverside last fall as the Highlander pitching coach.  Anderson got the win in game two with 85 pitches with six strikeouts in as many innings and Marshall was credited with a save for the final three innings.

In game one BYU had runners on the corners in the first inning, but were unable to put together any of its five hits in the same inning.  Unlike game one, the Cougars belted three hits in the second, and a pair in the third, fourth and eighth innings in the nightcap.

The rubber match of the three-game series starts Saturday at noon PST.

Strategy is key in this Friday’s season opener for BYU baseball in a doubleheader at the University of California, Riverside.

The Cougars, 31-27 overall last year, have a three-game series at Riverside, 29-23, before their debut in the West Coast Conference at Saint Mary’s the following week.  Friday’s doubleheader against the Highlanders starts at 3 p.m. PST.  The third game will be on Saturday at noon.

Signs, pitches and tendencies are familiar to both squads because former BYU pitching coach Bobby Applegate is in his first year on the UCR staff.  Applegate will recognize the three BYU starting pitchers now groomed by first-year pitching coach Wally Ritchie, a former Major Leaguer.

Right-hander Chris Capper (3-6, 4.91 in 2011) and fellow junior Mark Anderson (4-2, 5.04), a southpaw, will start for BYU on Friday.  Saturday’s Cougar starter is right-handed sophomore Adam Miller, who posted a 3-3 record and 4.04 ERA at BYU prior to serving a mission to Mexico.

“We are excited for the season to begin,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “We shoot for improvement in our players’ skill since the first day of school.  Our players have developed and bought into the team concept.”

The Cougars have held nine scrimmages, including a final brisk one outdoors last Saturday, since November’s games in the Dominican Republic in preparation for this season.

“The games in the Dominican gave us a chance to see our players in a game-like situations and it has been valuable to us in our evaluations,” Law said.

None of the BYU-UCR games will be broadcast over BYU radio, which starts broadcasting several Cougar games the following week.  However, there is a live audio stream of the UCR doubleheader through a link on www.byucougars.com.