LUBBOCK, Texas (February 15, 2013)—Coach Mike Littlewood opened the season with his first victory, a 9-0 BYU baseball win, followed by a 6-4 loss in a Friday doubleheader split with Northern Colorado.

The Cougars (1-1), rode the arm of junior right-hander Desmond Poulson who went the distance in the 9-0 victory when he struck out a career-high 10 batters on 115 pitches.  BYU came up short in the nightcap as UNC (1-1) took a 5-0 lead before Littlewood’s charges rebounded with a four-run fifth inning.

“Desmond set the tone for us,” said Littlewood, who brought 181 Division one victories into his first game Friday at the BYU helm.  “He’s in the best shape of anyone I’ve ever coached.  He is a phenomenal athlete.  He didn’t have good velocity, but he had a great pro outing.”

In the game one victory, Poulson retired three Bears each swinging in the third, tainted only by a two-out double by Dylan Banach.  Seven of Poulson’s K’s came via swings, including the final batter of the game and he fanned a pair of Bears looking in the fifth-inning behind a 1-0 lead.

That lead came in the fourth when Jaycob Brugman led off with a triple to right field and scored on a Brock Whitney sacrifice fly.

Law’s two-run single to right field extended the lead to 7-0 in the four-run eighth. BYU batted through its order that inning, tacking on a pair of runs from Whitney’s second RBI of the game and a wild pitch.

“I could sense we were ready to play and it was nice to get a run on the board,” said Littlewood. “I was proud of our hitters making adjustments, but we didn’t do that in game two.”

BYU generated four runs in the fifth inning of game two’s loss thanks to four consecutive one-out singles from Jarrett Jarvis, Hayden Nielsen, Jacob Hannemann, and Adam Law.

Littlewood had high praise for Nielsen, who was one of five Cougar freshman on the field at the end of game two.

“Hayden (Nielsen) had a really good day,” said Littlewood.  “We did a great job executing our offense in the first game, but came out flat for the second game.”

The Cougars squandered an opportunity in the seventh inning of game two when an intentional walk to Brugman loaded the bases with one out.  Whitney’s fielder’s choice and a fly-out by Kelton Caldwell stalled that scoring threat.  BYU surrendered six walks and hit five batters in the nightcap.

“I’m happy we got a win, but disappointed we got a split,” said Littlewood of his Cougar debut in the chilling 33-degree weather.

The Cougars conclude play Saturday in the Brooks Wallace Classic at Lubbock, Texas, playing Northern Illinois in the morning and host Texas Tech at 6 p.m. CST.

New BYU coach Mike Littlewood begins the 2013 baseball season with a Friday doubleheader against Northern Colorado at the Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic in Lubbock, Texas.

On Saturday, the Cougars continue tournament play against Northern Illinois at 10 a.m. CST, and in the nightcap versus host Texas Tech at 6 p.m.  Friday’s doubleheader vs. UNC is at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“We are anxious to get going outdoors and see the sun again,” said BYU coach Littlewood. “I feel good about our starting pitching if they play up to our expectations, but we still have a lot of unknowns.”

Junior co-captain Desmond Poulson (1-3, 3.91 in 2012) will start on the mound for BYU in its opener against UNC.  Sophomore James Lengal (1-2, 3.86) is the Cougar starter in game two against the Bears.  Redshirt sophomore Jeff Barker will start against Northern Illinois.  And either Adam Miller (1-4, 9.49) or left-hander Mark Anderson (4-2, 3.93) will start against the host Red Raiders.

The probable BYU starting lineup would be Jacob Hannemann, Jaycob Brugman and returning All-West Coast Conference first-teamer Kelton Caldwell in the outfield, Brock Whitney at first, Brennon Anderson at second, Hayden Nielsen at shortstop, Adam Law at third, Dakota Hernandez at catcher and Nate Favero as the designated hitter. Catcher Dillon Robinson will not be making the trip due to an injury.

Most of the BYU practices have been inside at the Indoor Practice Facility, but the Cougars spent two weekends outdoors in St. George in preparation for this tournament.

“At St. George we got to knock some of the rust off, hit balls on dirt and see balls in the sky,” said Littlewood. “We had energetic practices this year. We want to be hard-nosed, mentally tough and gritty. Everybody on our team is going to have to compete because we don’t have a lot of depth.”

Following the Texas games, BYU returns home to prepare for a four-game series hosted by No. 3 LSU.  The Cougars play the Tigers twice on Feb. 21 and 23, and face Southeastern Louisiana twice in between the LSU games.

For the seven-page BYU game notes on the Brooks Wallace Classic, please see the PDF link below: