Cougars collect 15 hits in 9-2 win over LMU

LOS ANGELES — BYU jumped out to an early lead with a five-run third inning and cruised to a 9-2 win over Loyola Marymount in game two, Friday, of a three-game series at Page Stadium.

“I’m excited about the way we played the last two nights,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “I really like the energy and the way we are swinging the bat one-through-nine in the lineup. Winning comes down to doing the little things and we’ve done that pretty well the past couple of nights.”

After a scoreless tie through the first two innings, the Cougars exploded with seven hits in the top of the third to take a 5-0 lead. Singles by Andrew Pintar, Bryan Call and Mitch McIntyre gave BYU (5-11, 2-0) its first run of the game. Later in the inning with two outs and two on, Cole Gambill doubled down the rightfield line to score Call and advance McIntyre to third. A single to centerfield by Jacob Wilk drove in Gambill and McIntyre, and back-to-back singles by Freddy Achecar and Danny Gelalich plated two more runs.

LMU (7-9, 0-2) picked up a couple of runs in the bottom of the fourth on one hit and two BYU errors to close the gap to 5-2.

The Cougar bats remained hot scoring runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to push the BYU lead to 9-2.

A two-out triple to left center by Gelalich scored Achecar for one run in the fifth inning. A home run by Pintar to lead off the next inning, combined with a double by Gambill to score Call gave BYU two more in the sixth. A double down the leftfield line by Gelalich, and an RBI single by Pintar finished off the BYU scoring in the seventh.  

BYU sophomore Tyson Heaton closed out the game with three scoreless innings to get the save, while freshman Boston Mabeus picked up the win in middle relief with three strikeouts over 1.2 innings. Sophomore starter Carter Smith went 4.1 innings, striking out a game-leading eight LMU hitters.

“Carter Smith gave us a great start,” said Littlewood. “He set the tone early and was a bulldog on the mound for us tonight.”  

Player Highlights

• Gelalich: 3-5, 2 RBI
• Pintar: 3-6, HR, 2 RBI
• Gambill: 2-5, 2 doubles, 2 RBI
• Wilk: 2-4, 2 RBI
• Mabeus: 1.2 IP, 0 hits, 3 K, win
• Heaton: 3.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 K, save

Game three of the series with LMU is set for Saturday, March 20 at 1:00 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on the BYU Sports Network via BYU Radio FM 107.9, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app. Live stats are available at StatBroadcast.com.

Notes

• The Cougars collected a season-high 15 hits and a season tying 9 runs on Friday.
• The Thursday-Friday wins over LMU gives BYU its first back-to-back victories of the year.
• Gelalich was a home run away from hitting for the cycle with a single, a double and a triple on the night.