Cougars close out series with 8-4 victory over Panthers

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball got ahead early on its way to an 8-4 win and series victory over Milwaukee on Friday afternoon at Miller Park.

“We had much better at-bats today than in the entire 18 innings that we played yesterday ,” said BYU head coach Mike Littlewood. “We got some big hits and I'm really proud of the guys.”

The Cougars recorded eight hits and also benefited from eight walks on the day, scoring three runs while chasing three Panther pitchers in the first three innings.

Notables

• Janzen Keisel: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 K (starter)
• Mitch McIntyre: 1-4, R, 3 RBI
• Andrew Pintar: 1-3, 2 R
• Ryan Sepede: 1-2, 3 RBI
• Jacob Wilk: 2-3, R

Three-straight walks in the bottom of the first inning to Mitch McIntyre, Andrew Pintar and Cole Gambill brought up Ryan Sepede with the bases loaded and just one out. Sepede dropped a hit into left center to clear the bases, but was thrown out diving into third. 

The Cougars chased the Panthers’ starter, Johnny Kelliher, just 33 pitches in after Hayden Leatham was hit by a pitch and Jacob Wilk singled into left, but stranded two on a fly out to end the inning. 

Milwaukee got a run back in the second inning after a double and bloop single to open the inning, making it 3-1 midway through the second.

BYU hit around the order during a fourth inning that saw the bases loaded on two separate occasions. Hayden Leatham singled and both Jacob Wilk and Brock Watkins walked to open the inning. McIntyre then launched the Cougars’ second bases-clearing double of the game on a hit that went off the right field wall to put BYU ahead 6-1. 

After Pintar was hit by a pitch and Gambill walked, the Cougars saw the bases loaded once more. Collin Reuter walked, bringing McIntyre home for a 7-1 lead.

Pintar led off the sixth inning with a single through the left side. He advanced to second base on a passed ball, to third on a Gambill groundout and came home on a Reuter sacrifice fly, extending the BYU lead to 8-1. 

A leadoff walk in the seventh led to two Milwaukee runs, and a leadoff double in the eighth inning scored another, cutting the Cougar lead in half at 8-4. 

Reid McLaughlin came in to pitch the ninth, forcing three-straight groundouts to close out the game and series win. 

The Cougars will next host No. 4 Oklahoma State in a three-game series from Thursday-Saturday, March 10-12. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 3 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on the BYUtv App as well as the BYU Sports Network—BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.