By W Kolditz
If the mercy rule had been in effect, the BYU baseball team would have only needed four innings to take care of Southern Utah University (7-12) in an 18-1 win on Monday April 7.
BYU (14-16) took a 10-0 lead on 12 hits through the first four innings. By the end of the fourth, only three of BYU''s starters remained in the game.
The Cougars used 18 players in its largest victory against SUU since 1998 when they won 22-1.
'If I had written a script, it would have been just like this,' BYU coach Vance Law said.
The Cougars handed the Thunderbirds their eighth straight loss, a streak that started when BYU beat SUU in two games of a doubleheader on March 25.
In his first collegiate start, true freshman Clayton Barnes (1-0) pitched four innings of no-hit baseball for the Cougars before being pulled in the top of the fifth.
'I was a little disappointed, but I new I couldn''t pick up a ball and go nine innings,' Barnes said.
With only four innings of previous work in three appearances, Law limited Barnes to 64 pitches.
'I didn''t want to rush him back,' Law said. 'If he had been more conditioned, I would have let him stay. He''s feeling stronger now. It''s nice to have him out there showing what he can do.'
Barnes, who is also a decent hitter, spent the early part of the season as a pinch hitter due to tendonitis in his pitching arm. He hit .154 with three RBIs in 13 at-bats.
Earlier in the season against UNLV in his first appearance, Barnes gave up six runs without recording an out. Barnes looked like a different pitcher on Monday striking out five Thunderbirds in his first win.
'I was kind of nervous in the UNLV game,' Barnes said. 'I had a lot more confidence coming into today''s game.'
Filling in for junior shortstop Ranger Wiens, freshman shortstop Clayton Carson led the Cougars with six RBIs in a four-for-six night. He was a double short of the cycle.
Two of Carson''s RBIs came when he hit a fastball for a two-run home run to center field, his fourth home run of the year.
Sophomore Curtis Rodriguez (0-0) pitched three innings of scoreless relief. Rodriguez scattered four hits and struck out three.
The appearance was the second for Rodriguez in the season. His first came at SUU earlier in the year and was his first appearance in three years.
The Cougars had their biggest inning in the eighth, scoring six runs in the inning. Junior third baseman Blair Lucas led off the eighth inning with the first of five-straight hits. Twelve Cougars came to the plate in the inning.
The 18 runs scored by the Cougars came on 22 hits, with no less than one hit in every inning. Only one BYU player with an official at-bat failed to obtain at least one hit in the game.
The only inning the Cougars didn''t score a run was in the fifth inning.
The Thunderbirds scored their first run in the ninth inning off an RBI double hit by senior shortstop Kelcey Kemp. He finished the game two-for-four.
Junior starting pitcher Matt Shepherd (1-5) took the loss for the Thunderbirds, allowing 10 runs on 12 hits.
The Cougars continue their seven-game home stand on Thursday against Air Force (10-20, 0-11). The Falcons have yet to win a conference game this season.