Corless fans 10 in 11-3 win over Portland

PROVO, Utah – Brady Corless pitched effectively into the eighth inning and struck out 10 as No. 18 BYU baseball beat Portland 11-3 to clinch the series on Friday night at Larry H. Miller Field.

"I can't say enough about Brady and the job he did," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "He saved our bullpen. Aaron (Cross) came in and got six key outs for us. Just a great night for our team."

Brock Hale and Nate Favero knocked in three runs apiece for the West Coast Conference-leading and league tourney-bound Cougars (31-15 overall, 19-4 WCC). Corless got the win to become the 14th pitcher in BYU history to begin a season with a 6-0 record as the Pilots fell to 10-36-1, 5-18 WCC.

BYU had three hits and was helped by a Portland error for two runs in the first. Tanner Chauncey’s single scored Daniel Schneemann and Brennon Anderson.

A drive off the bat of Hale in the third inning sent the Pilot centerfielder crashing into the fence. He wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, and it resulted in a long RBI single. Later, Favero took an 0-2 pitch up the middle to plate two more Cougars before Brian Hsu singled home another run. Favero stole third base and an errant throw sent him sprinting home for a 7-0 lead.

Hale belted a two-run double in the left-center gap for a 9-0 BYU advantage through four frames.

Portland scored three in the fifth inning thanks in part to a two-run double. The Cougars came back with a run on Favero’s RBI triple in the bottom half.

In the seventh, BYU tacked on with Schneemann’s bloop single to left field that plated Bronson Larsen. The Cougars led 11-3 heading into the eighth inning.

Aaron Cross relieved Corless after 7.1 innings. Corless struck out 10 and gave up three runs on five hits. Cross got the final five outs for the Cougars and allowed just one hit.

"Everything felt good," Corless said. "When I get in a groove and I'm throwing all three pitches for strikes, I feel like I can compete against anybody."

The series finale starts on Saturday at 1 p.m. MDT.