Jacob Hannemann gets a single for BYU after the Pepperdine catcher's glove interferes with the play. (Photo by Universe Photographer)
BYU capitalized on a fifth-inning scoring streak to shut out UVU 8-0 on Tuesday night. The win evened the Cougars' win-loss record to 14-14.
Pitcher Mark Anderson threw eight and two-thirds scoreless innings before he was relieved, holding the Wolverines at bay.
“Mark Anderson came out and really set a tone for us tonight,” coach Mike Littlewood said. “I wanted him to finish the game, but he did a great job. He was tremendous. We were hoping to get five innings out of him, and he just kept cruising along. Our hitters finally came through, and we won a game by more than two runs, which is nice and gives us a little breathing room.”
Anderson never allowed more than one hit per inning or a runner past second base, and UVU only reached second base once in the fourth inning and again in the ninth.
“I got back to how I was pitching against LSU tonight, mixing up my pitches well,” Anderson said. “I was able to keep them off balance and give them as little of an opportunity as possible.”
The score was tied at zero until the fifth inning, when BYU broke out in a four-run scoring streak. Jacob Hannemann hit a two-run home run to cap off the inning. The next streak came in the seventh inning when the Cougars scored four more runs.
“You like to score and put the pressure on every inning, but we’ll take them in bunches if we can,” Littlewood said. “Sometimes hitting is contagious; if everybody in front of you gets a hit, it just kind of snowballs. Our hitters did a good job today being picky and being choosy and not swinging at too many bad pitches and really making them pay when they threw the ball into the zone.”
The Cougars are coming off of an important series win from last week against Pepperdine. Next they will travel west for a three-game series against Santa Clara beginning Thursday at 6 p.m. PDT. That game will be broadcast live locally on KOVO 960 AM and live audio stream on the Internet. Friday's game will also be held at 6 p.m. PDT, and Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. PDT.