Cougars fall to No. 19 Gonzaga 6-3

PROVO, Utah — BYU dropped game two of its WCC series with No. 19 Gonzaga, 6-3, at Miller Park on Friday. 

Gonzaga (15-6, 4-1) got off to a hot start with back-to-back singles in the top of first inning and scored on a BYU passed ball for a 1-0 lead. 

The Cougars responded with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning when Hayden Leatham reached on an error and advanced to third on a Mitch McIntyre single through the right side. Ryan Sepede took a 2-1 offering up the middle for an RBI single that scored Leathem to knot the game at 1-1. 

The Bulldogs got two more runs in the third and tacked on three more in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. 

BYU got a run back in the sixth when Alex Sardina lead-off the inning with a double to left field. With one out, Deming doubled up the middle to score Sardina for the second run of the day, cutting the lead to 6-2. 

The Cougars had runners in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but were only able score one run in the ninth when McIntyre singled and stolen second base to set top a Brock Watkins single up the middle for the final run of the game. 

Gonzaga scored six runs on 11 hits, while BYU scored three run on 10 hits, while stranding 12 runners on base. 

The Cougars take on the Bulldogs in the rubber match of the series on Saturday at Miller Park at 12 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv and the BYUtv App. BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio 107.9 FM, BYU Cougars App and BYUcougars.com—will also carry the game live.