Freshman Shines during Senior Day Victory

PROVO, Utah -- Highlighted by four no-hit innings from freshman starter Desmond Poulson, BYU completed a series sweep of Seattle University with a 10-3 Senior Day victory Saturday at Larry H. Miller Field.

The Cougars honored their seniors while fans enjoying a sun-drenched afternoon contest at Miller Park. Seniors Ryan Bernal, Alex Hancock, Andrew Law, Brock Luker, David McKnight, Jared Miller, Matthew Neil, Dane Nielsen, Justin Shutt and Blake Torgerson were recognized and seven of the 10 upperclassmen saw action in the Cougar victory.

“Our seniors played well today,” BYU coach Vance Law said. “We also got a nice outing from Desmond Poulson a freshman. He continues to improve and is really developing into a full-rounded pitcher who can throw his breaking ball for strikes.”

With Poulson shutting down the Redhawks in 1-2-3 fashion over the first four innings, BYU took advantage on the offensive end to establish an early lead that would never be eclipsed.

Junior center fielder Stephen Wells brought in the first three runs of the game with a sun-aided, bases-loaded double in the second inning. Seattle left fielder Doug Kincaid charged the high shot but lost it in the sun, allowing the ball to land safely over his head for Wells' team-leading 16th two-bagger of the season. Wells entered the game ranked 83rd nationally in doubles per game.

After knocking in Austin Hall, Hancock and Dillon Robinson, Wells enjoyed an extremely short stay on the base paths as Nielsen delivered a single to right in the next at-bat to bring Wells home for a 4-0 Cougar lead.

While the Cougars exploded for five runs in the eighth to create the comfortable final margin, the four second-inning runs were all the team would need for the win thanks to solid pitching and defense.

In only his sixth start of the season, Poulson didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning in a strong performance that included five strikeouts. The right-handed freshman from Taylorsville, Utah, gave up just two fifth-inning runs in his six-plus innings to improve his record to 4-0 on the year. Miller and Shutt both appeared in relief with Shutt recording his second save of the season while striking out four of the seven batters he faced.

The Cougars added a run in the sixth and the Redhawks crossed the plate for the final time in the seventh before BYU put any doubt about the outcome to rest with its three-hit, five-run eighth inning. Hall delivered the big blast of the frame with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left field wall.

Hall's heroics started in the top of the seventh when he helped snuff out a Seattle threat with runners on the corners and one out. Hall took catcher Alex Wolfe's perfectly delivered mid-count snap throw to pickoff Nick Latta napping at first base.

Wells enjoyed a two-hit, four-RBI outing to record game-high totals in both categories. Hall scored a game-best three runs while Robinson crossed the plate twice for the Cougars. No Redhawk batter was able to manufacture more than one hit as Seattle totaled six for the game. Redhawk starter Evan Ewing took the loss (2-1) as one of five Seattle pitchers to take the mound on the day.

BYU improves to 24-21 on the year while Seattle falls to 18-23. The Cougars play their final two home games of the season against future West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga on Monday (3 p.m. MT) and Tuesday (6 p.m. MT). Both games will be televised on BYUtv.

Seattle Univ. at Brigham Young Univ.
May 07, 2011 at Provo, Utah (Larry H Miller Field)
Seattle Univ. 3 (18-23)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Trent Oleszczuk 2b.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  2  3   2
Cullen Hendrickson 3b....  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  2   0
Doug Kincaid lf..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  4  0   0
Josh Kalalau rf..........  4  1  1  0   0  3  5  0   1
Jace Sloan 1b............  4  1  1  1   0  1  4  0   0
Riley Tompkins dh........  3  1  0  0   1  2  0  0   0
Nick Latta ss............  2  0  0  0   0  0  2  1   0
 Marcelino Morales ph....  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Ryan Somers c............  2  0  1  1   1  0  3  0   0
Bryndon Ecklund cf.......  3  0  1  1   0  0  3  0   1
Evan Ewing p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Conor Spink p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Blaine Jones p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Bryan Dalton p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Nick Sours p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  3  6  3   2  9 24  7   4
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (24-21)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  5  1  2  4   0  0  3  0   2
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  1  1  1   1  0  2  3   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  5  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   1
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  5  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   2
WOLFE, Alex c............  3  1  1  0   1  0  7  4   1
HALL, Austin 1b..........  3  3  1  2   1  0  9  1   0
HANCOCK, Alex lf.........  2  1  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
 LUKER, Brock ph/lf......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  1  2  1  1   3  0  0  1   0
LAW, Andrew ss...........  3  1  0  0   1  1  1  3   0
POULSON, Desmond p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 MILLER, Jared p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SHUTT, Justin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32 10  9  9   7  3 27 12   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Seattle Univ........ 000 020 100 -  3  6  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 040 001 05X - 10  9  0
-------------------------------------------
LOB - SU 4; BYU 6. 2B - J. Sloan(8); WELLS(16). 3B - R. Somers(1). HR -
HALL(1). HBP - N. Latta. SH - HANCOCK(3). SB - HALL(16). CS - D. Kincaid(2).
Seattle Univ.          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Evan Ewing..........  5.1  5  5  5  4  2 20 25
Conor Spink.........  2.0  2  3  3  2  0  8 10
Blaine Jones........  0.0  0  1  1  1  0  0  1
Bryan Dalton........  0.1  2  1  1  0  0  3  3
Nick Sours..........  0.1  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
POULSON, Desmond....  6.1  5  3  3  1  5 23 25
MILLER, Jared.......  0.1  1  0  0  1  0  1  2
SHUTT, Justin.......  2.1  0  0  0  0  4  7  7
Win - POULSON (4-0).  Loss - E. Ewing (2-1).  Save - SHUTT (2).
WP - B. Dalton(3); MILLER(4). HBP - by POULSON (N. Latta).
Umpires - HP: Brian Frisch  1B: Blake Jensen  3B: Francisco Flores
Start: 1:06 pm   Time: 2:23   Attendance: 1040
Weather: sunny, few clouds, 81 degrees
B. Jones faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Seattle Univ. starters: 12/2b T. Oleszczuk; 14/3b Hendrickson; 35/lf D.
Kincaid; 17/rf J. Kalalau; 9/1b J. Sloan; 13/dh R. Tompkins; 8/ss N. Latta;
24/c R. Somers; 10/cf B. Ecklund; 7/p E. Ewing;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 16/2b NIELSEN; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 10/dh
BERNAL; 18/c WOLFE; 26/1b HALL; 7/lf HANCOCK; 3/3b ROBINSON; 6/ss LAW; 19/p
POULSON;
Seattle Univ. 1st - T. Oleszczuk grounded out to ss. Hendrickson struck
out swinging. D. Kincaid flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS grounded out to 2b. NIELSEN walked.
BRUGMAN struck out swinging. BERNAL flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 2nd - J. Kalalau struck out swinging. J. Sloan flied out
to rf. R. Tompkins struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WOLFE singled to right center. HALL reached on
a fielder's choice; WOLFE out at second p to ss. HANCOCK singled to left field;
HALL advanced to second. ROBINSON walked; HANCOCK advanced to second; HALL
advanced to third. LAW struck out looking. WELLS doubled to left field, 3 RBI;
ROBINSON scored; HANCOCK scored; HALL scored. NIELSEN singled to left field,
advanced to second on the throw, RBI; WELLS scored. BRUGMAN fouled out to 3b.
4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 3rd - N. Latta flied out to cf. R. Somers grounded out to
2b. B. Ecklund grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - BERNAL flied out to lf. WOLFE popped up to ss.
HALL grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 4th - T. Oleszczuk grounded out to 3b. Hendrickson struck
out looking. D. Kincaid grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HANCOCK flied out to lf. ROBINSON walked. LAW
reached on a fielder's choice; ROBINSON out at second 3b to 2b. WELLS flied out
to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 5th - J. Kalalau singled to third base. J. Sloan doubled
down the lf line, RBI; J. Kalalau scored. R. Tompkins flied out to lf. N. Latta
out at first 1b to p; J. Sloan advanced to third. R. Somers tripled to right
field, RBI; J. Sloan scored. B. Ecklund flied out to rf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NIELSEN flied out to lf. BRUGMAN flied out to
cf. BERNAL singled up the middle. WOLFE flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 6th - T. Oleszczuk singled to left field. Hendrickson
flied out to lf. D. Kincaid singled to right field; T. Oleszczuk advanced to
third. D. Kincaid out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. J. Kalalau struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HALL walked. HALL stole second. HANCOCK
grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; HALL advanced to third. C. Spink to p for E.
Ewing. ROBINSON singled through the right side, RBI; HALL scored. LAW flied out
to rf. WELLS flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 7th - J. Sloan popped up to ss. R. Tompkins walked. N.
Latta hit by pitch; R. Tompkins advanced to second. MILLER to p for POULSON. N.
Latta out at first c to 1b. R. Tompkins advanced to third on a wild pitch. R.
Somers walked. B. Ecklund singled up the middle, RBI; R. Somers advanced to
second; R. Tompkins scored. SHUTT to p for MILLER. T. Oleszczuk reached on a
fielder's choice; B. Ecklund out at second ss to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - NIELSEN flied out to cf. BRUGMAN flied out to
rf. BERNAL grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 8th - Hendrickson grounded out to 2b. D. Kincaid flied out
to cf. J. Kalalau struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - WOLFE walked. HALL homered to left field, 2
RBI; WOLFE scored. LUKER pinch hit for HANCOCK. LUKER flied out to rf. ROBINSON
walked. B. Jones to p for C. Spink. LAW walked; ROBINSON advanced to second. B.
Dalton to p for B. Jones. WELLS singled through the right side, RBI; LAW
advanced to second; ROBINSON scored. NIELSEN reached on a fielder's choice;
WELLS out at second ss to 2b; LAW advanced to third. NIELSEN advanced to
second; LAW scored on a wild pitch. BRUGMAN singled to right field, RBI;
NIELSEN scored. N. Sours to p for B. Dalton. BERNAL struck out looking. 5
runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 9th - LUKER to lf. J. Sloan struck out looking. R.
Tompkins struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. M. Morales pinch hit for N.
Latta. M. Morales struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.