Fourth-ranked Hogs Blank BYU Baseball

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.—A three-run second inning Tuesday afternoon propelled No. 4 Arkansas to a 5-0 victory over BYU baseball.

The Razorbacks (8-1) jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings.  The main damage came when Arkansas loaded the bases in the second inning, which caused Cougar starter Tyler Westensee to be replaced by Marc Oslund on the mound. A walk and two sacrifice flies helped three Razorbacks cross the plate in the second.

“We dug ourselves a hole and got off to a poor start when we walked too many batters,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “We can’t give a team like Arkansas free passes because they take advantage of that.

“Parry (David), Welch (Daniel) and Oslund (Marc) did good jobs in relief.  We’ve got to believe in ourselves because we are a good team, too.”

Senior Austin Hall got the Cougars off to a good start in the first inning when he beat out an infield single, then stole second and third.  However, BYU stranded Hall and later  in the third inning also left Wes Guenther on third.

Cougar designated hitter Alex Wolfe was denied a hit in the sixth inning because his fly was scored an error on a shoestring drop by the right fielder and that advanced Jaycob Brugman to third.  However, BYU again stranded a runner at third.

Hall, Stephen Wells and Adam Law collected the three hits for the Cougars, who now fall to 4-3 heading into Wednesday’s rematch at Arkansas when sophomore Desmond Poulson takes the mound for BYU.

The shutout was the first against BYU since splitting a pair at No. 6 Arizona State last May.