Robinson, Poulson help sweep Portland with 6-1 win

PORTLAND, Ore. (May 17, 2014)—Dillon Robinson accounted for four runs and Desmond Poulson picked up his final win Saturday in a 6-1 BYU baseball victory in sweeping  Portland.

The Cougars finished the season with a 22-31 overall record and 12-15 in the West Coast Conference while Portland, fell to 11-41 and 5-22 in the WCC.

Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, BYU loaded the bases for naught. Then Robinson gave the Cougars momentum and the lead.

In the third inning, Robinson smacked a three-run homer over the right field fence with no outs on a 2-1 pitch to lift BYU from a 1-0 deficit.

“I was looking to hit a sacrifice fly and got a good pitch to hit,” Robinson said. “I knew I got a hold of it because it moved towards the fence quickly.”

In the bottom of that frame, Robinson caught a foul ball leaning over the fence rail. Then Jarrett Jarvis combined with Hayden Nielsen to peg the Portland runner attempting to steal second as BYU ended up retiring the Pilots in order.  The junior from Pleasant Grove also scored the Cougars’ fourth run in seventh.

Those runs and plays gave Poulson breathing room as he scattered six hits in 6.2 innings, striking out five Pilots to even his record at 5-5 for the season and his 19^th win for the right hander who wore jersey No. 19 in his four-year Cougar career.

“We got three great pitching performances from our starters and everyone who came in did their job,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Desmond is a team guy first. He was efficient today.

“This series was our potential. We are starting to develop confidence. I can’t say enough about this series and how we finished the year. The guys showed tremendous character. I’m really proud of them.”