League play begins with BYU at San Diego

League play begins this week for BYU baseball as Thursday starts a three-game series at the University of San Diego.

BYU [9-7) meets USD (11-6) on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, with the finale on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We want to take the same approach of concentrating on the things we can control, playing catch, throwing strikes and working to keep ourselves in games to give us a chance,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.

Scheduled to start the opener for the Cougars is  Desmond Poulson (2-0, 1.57 earned run average). Fellow junior Adam Miller (1-3, 3.91) will be on the mound Friday evening, and sophomore  Jeff Barker (2-2, 3.27) will be on the hill Saturday.

The Cougars are coming off a pair of upset victories over No. 21 UC Irvine, 6-3 and 3-1, as they head to San Diego.

Seven of BYU’s pitchers have registered victories, Poulson and Barker each with two wins. Sophomore James Lengal  has recorded four of the Cougars’ five saves.
Thanks to freshmen mid-fielders Brennon Anderson and Hayden Nielsen, along with juniors Adam Law and Brock Whitney at the corners, BYU remains in the NCAA’s Top 10 teams in double plays.

USD is ranked No. 4 in the nation in home runs, led by All-American and reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Week Kris Bryant who is No. 1 in the nation in runs, home runs and walks.  Fellow Torero Dillon Haupt is also No. 1 in doubles.

The Cougars fly to San Diego, then bus to Las Vegas for a Monday non-conference game at UNLV before flying home for a four-game series with Kansas.  All of the games at USD and UNLV will be broadcast live locally over KOVO Radio 960 AM.