Comeback Falls Short at No. 7 Stanford

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Host No. 7 Stanford hung on for a 10-9 defeat Tuesday night over BYU baseball after a seven-run Cougar rally in the eighth inning.

Three times the game-tying run was at the plate for BYU, but none closer than in the ninth when Jaycob Brugman was thrown out at the plate after his no-out triple. That triple scored Brock Whitney, but Brugman was thrown out when Alex Wolfe got aboard at first on a fielder’s choice.

“It was disappointing because we had the tying run at third with no one out,” BYU coach Vance Law said. “My instructions (to Brugman) were to make sure the ball is past the pitcher, we’ll freeze on the corners and we could score on the sac fly. I thought it (Wolfe’s fielder’s choice) was going in the hole. If he (Brugman) goes on contact, he probably scores. It is unfortunate we made a base-running error there, but we had other opportunities.”

The Cardinal (26-10) built up a 9-1 margin through seven innings, after taking a 5-0 lead in the second inning.

Stanford increased that lead to 7-0 in the fourth inning from a solo laser home run over left field by right fielder Austin Wilson and a triple by catcher Wayne Taylor who scored on a sacrifice fly.

The seven-run eighth inning with was huge for the Cougars (17-15) sparked by doubles from Austin Hall and Adam Law and a two-run single by Stephen Wells among the six BYU hits. That rally closed the margin to 9-8.

“Hitting is contagious,” said Coach Law.  “We were a bit tight, then we relaxed and were a completely different ball club. I know we are capable of whacking the ball and we need to be more consistent I hope the guys see what they are capable of doing.

“I’m not too big on moral victories. To come here and steal one would have been awesome. The first six innings were yawners and they (Stanford) took advantage of our mistakes. (Adam) Miller struggled with his control and we were forced to take him out after he walked batters. We threw (Desmond) Poulson and (Marc) Oslund because they had a couple of scheduled bullpen innings.”

Wells scored the Cougars’ first run when he and Hall lead off with singles in sixth for BYU’s second and third hits of the night, making the score 9-1.

The Cougars return to league action on Thursday when they start a three-game series at the University of San Francisco.