California round two has begun poorly for the Cougars, who lost last night to the WCC undefeated leader Saint Mary’s 10-3.
BYU’s starting pitcher Desmond Poulson, who played the first six innings, threw 112 pitches. Though he struck out one of the Gaels in the sixth, it wasn’t enough to match the Gaels’ skilled bats. Each of the starting batters had at least one of the team’s 16 hits.
“It could have gotten ugly, but he (Poulson) really battled,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “But you can’t live on the edge.”
The Gaels scored two runs in the first frame, and held a 2-0 lead until the fourth, when BYU’s Brennon Lund scored off of Dillon Robinson’s one-out single. Lund’s and Robinson’s singles were two of seven BYU hits in the game.
Saint Mary’s pulled further ahead in the sixth inning, scoring three more runs. In the eighth, CJ Latham began the frame with a double, and then scored on Lund’s one-out single. Lund stole second and scored on Robinson’s single, bringing the final score to 7-3.
What kept BYU from securing more hits was Saint Mary’s pitcher Ryan Brockett.
“He (Brockett) did a great job, we knew what he was going to do,” Littlewood said. “He was throwing strikes with all three pitches, but we didn’t make the adjustments.”
The Cougars will end their series with the Gaels today beginning at noon in a doubleheader, where they hope to improve their conference record.
“We are losing concentration and attention to detail defensively,” Littlewood said. “We need to keep plugging away. Every game we play now is a must-win.”
