Cougar baseball took down conference-leading Loyola Marymount University over the weekend with a come-from behind victory Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars fought hard to win the three-game series against LMU with a 7-2 victory Thursday, a 3-2 loss on Friday and an exciting 8-6 victory Saturday afternoon. LMU came into the three-game series undefeated in the WCC, which made these games huge for the Cougars.
'This was a big game for us,' said Austin Hall, a BYU senior from Danville, Calif. 'We started off slow and needed to get something going. We knew this was a conference game and we felt that this was a team we should beat and we were able to get something going.'
LMU dominated the first few innings in Saturday's game, leaving the Cougars down 5-0 in the fifth inning. The Cougars battled back in the fifth, scoring three of their four runs with two outs.
'We’re a two-out team, we’ve been doing it all year,” Hall said. “Even though we are down, we find a way to score runs with two outs.'
Hall came up big with a two-out double to bring the score to 5-3. Hall later scored on a single by outfielder Jaycob Brugman, which brought the score to 5-4. Despite the Lions' two home runs for the day, the Cougars continued to swing the bat when needed and played smart defensively.
The Cougars again scored four runs in the seventh inning while having two outs on the board. Alex Wolfe, a senior from Orem, scored a two-out double, giving the Cougars their first lead of the game.
“Wolfe battled and we can depend on him being ready to play,” coach Vance Law said. “Every series is a big one. For us to take two of three against LMU was huge.'
The seventh-inning rally gave pitcher David Parry the victory and improved his record to 2-o.
Thursday's opener also proved to be victorious for the Cougars. Chris Capper, right-handed pitcher from Glendale, Ariz., pitched the entire game for a combined total of 102 pitches.
'The win felt great,' Capper said. 'The team was really excited and played really well. I could definitely feel that the defense was behind me and it is easy to pitch when you are up by five runs.'
The Cougars are playing well and have gained momentum coming off wins against both the University of Utah and now LMU.
'We continue to work hard,' Law said. 'We are starting to figure things out and learn as much as we can.'
BYU continues to improve despite the fact the team has played 32 of its last 37 games on the road and will continue traveling as the Cougars take on Seattle starting Thursday.