BYU loses 8-3 in second game against San Diego

PROVO, Utah – BYU dropped the second of a three-game series with San Diego, 8-3, on Friday night at Miller Park.

"They had a big inning early and we had some chances to come back and even things up, but we just couldn't get the big hit tonight," said BYU interim head coach Trent Pratt. "We were one hit away from tying it up a few times, but all you can do is tip you hat to them and come back ready two win the series tomorrow."

Despite strong play by third baseman Austin Deming and second baseman Ozzie Pratt, the Cougars were not able to pull through after failing to capitalize on loading the bases in both the second and sixth innings. For the second consecutive game, Deming, a junior, had two doubles on the night while Pratt, a freshman, scored two runs and hit the first home run of his career.

For the first time in eight games, BYU scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. A double to left field by Pratt started the inning for the Cougars. Following the hit by Pratt, Jacob Wilk knocked an RBI single up the middle to bring Pratt home for a 1-0 lead. 

San Diego batted around in the top of the second inning for five runs on six hits to go up 5-1 on the Cougars. Despite loading the bases in the bottom of the second, BYU was unable to bring any runners home, keeping the score 5-1 for San Diego. 

After holding San Diego to no runs in the top of the fourth, Pratt delivered his first career home run over the right-field wall in the bottom of the fourth to bring the score to 5-2. 

In the top of the seventh, the Toreros cleared the bases they had loaded to widen their lead to 8-2. The Cougars were not able to capitalize on a Deming double in the bottom half of the inning. 

After three quick outs in the top of the eighth, the Cougars went to work with a double by Collin Reuter followed by an RBI single by Hayden Leatham to bring the score to 8-3 in the bottom of the eighth. 

With a scoreless ninth inning, the Toreros took home the win 8-3 over the Cougars with eight runs on 11 hits. BYU had nine hits but left 11 runners on base. Kyle Carr picked up the win for San Diego with his first victory of the year. BYU's Ryan Brady suffered the loss on the night (2-3).