BYU blanks Utah 7-0 on a combined one-hitter

Photos by Nate Edwards | BYU Photo

PROVO, Utah — BYU defeated rival Utah 7-0 Tuesday night as the Cougar pitching staff held the Utes to just one hit in the shutout victory at Miller Park.

On a night dominated by the Cougar pitching staff, the BYU offense scored seven runs on nine hits, including multi-hit performances by third baseman Austin Deming, who had two RBI and first baseman Jacob Wilk who had a solo home run in the sixth inning. 

"We finally put it all together tonight and played well in all areas of the game," said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. "Everyone on our pitching staff came ready to play today and did their job. Hopefully this will be good momentum as we head into conference play."

Game Summary
  •  Lefty starter Mason Olson (1-1) earned the win with a four-inning hitless performance
  •  Carter Smith, Cutter Clawson, Ben Hansen, Boston Mabeus and Jacob Porter, combined for five innings of one-hit baseball
  •  BYU scored runs in the first, third, sixth and eighth innings

Player Highlights
  •  Austin Deming: 1-3, 2 RBI
  •  Cole Gambill: 2-4, RBI, Run, 2B
  •  Jacob Wilk: 2-4, RBI, Run, HR

BYU (5-10) took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an Ozzie Pratt double to left center, a Utah wild pitch and a Deming fly ball to deep left center to score Pratt. 

The Cougars picked up three more runs in the third to push the score to 4-0. Bryant Ball singled up the middle and advanced to second on a Utah error. Deming then singled to score Ball and move Pratt to second, where he scored on a Cole Gambill double to right field. A sacrifice fly to right field by Ryan Sepede scored Deming from third. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Wilk homered over the right-field fence for his second home run of the season, giving the Cougars a 5-0 lead. 

BYU picked up two insurance runs in the eighth on back-to-back-to-back singles by Gambill, Safea Mauai and Wilk, followed by a double off the leftfield wall by Cooper Vest for a final score of 7-0. 

Utah’s (7-9) lone single of the night came from starting pitcher TJ Clarkson, who legged out an infield hit in the sixth inning to spoil the Cougars’ combined no-hitter. Olson (1-1) got the win for BYU, while Clarkson (1-1) took the loss for the Utes. 

"It was a great team win," said Olson. "We got a lot of run support from the offense like they have all year and the defense played awesome. They made a lot of plays today."

BYU will travel to Los Angeles on Wednesday to take on LMU in the Cougars’ final year of West Coast Conference play before joining the Big 12 in 2024. The weekend series with the Lions (7-7) is scheduled for March 16-18 at George C. Page Stadium.