Cougars shutout Tigers, win three-game series

STOCKTON, Calif. — A four-hit shutout over 8.2 innings by BYU starter Bryce Robison led BYU baseball a 6-0 victory over Pacific at Klein Family Field on Saturday.

The Cougars scored six runs on 10 hits to win the WCC series 2-1. In addition to Robison’s performance on the mound, BYU got solid hitting on Saturday from Cole Gambill who went 2-4 with a home run and two RBI and Mitch McIntyre who also went 2-4 with a triple, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored.

"Everyone did their job tonight," said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. "We got solid hitting, played really good defensive and you can’t say enough about how Bryce pitched today. Its shows how good pitching can neutralize good hitting when you have the command of multiple pitches. I’m really proud of the way the guys played the last two nights.”

Robison came within one out of a complete game, going 8.2 innings allowing just seven of the 32 Tigers he faced to reach base. The Cougar sophomore from Las Vegas threw 104 pitches in his longest outing of the year.

“I just tried to focus on one pitch at a time and before I knew it we were in the eighth inning,” said Robison. “I really felt good on the mound tonight and the guys scored runs early to give me a lead. Cole is really hot right now. It’s sure nice to have a guy on your team like that who is helping us score runs.”

BYU (21-25, 13-11 WCC) scored early with a run in the first inning off a leadoff bunt single by McIntyre and a double by Gambill to leftfield to take a 1-0 lead. The Cougars picked up a second run in the top of the third with a home run to centerfield by Gambill, his 10th of the season and 35th RBI of the year.

The Cougars blew the game open in the sixth inning with four runs on four hits, including a triple by McIntyre. Austin Deming got the inning going with a single to leftfield. Following an out, back-to-back singles by Abraham Valdez and Brock Watkins scored Deming and put two runners on for the McIntyre 2-RBI triple. An error at third base, on a hard-hit ball by Andrew Pintar, brought in McIntyre to make the score 6-0.

The Cougars wrapped up the final two games of the Pacific (15-30, 5-16 WCC) series with back-to-back shutouts, holding the Tigers to nine hits in 63 plate appearances over 18 innings.

BYU returns home for the final four games of the 2021 season. The Cougars will face rival Utah at Miller Park on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT, before hosting Pepperdine Thursday through Saturday. The Thursday-Friday games are scheduled for 6 p.m., with the Saturday contest at 1 p.m.  

All four games will be broadcast live on the BYUtv App as well as online at BYUtv.org. The BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio FM 107.9, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app—will have the radio broadcast of all three games. 

Photos by Samantha Toy | Pacific