BYU baseball lost three of its four games over the week to the Oklahoma Sooners in Las Vegas.
The Cougars’ first lost came on Thursday, when Oklahoma scored six runs to win 7-6. Kolton Mahoney struck out nine Sooners and gave BYU a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth.
“Winning baseball is about quality pitching, playing defense and getting timely hitting, and we are having a tough time doing all three in the same game,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.
The two teams met again in a doubleheader on Friday, in which BYU took the first game 4-3, giving the Cougars their second victory of the season. A two-run double by Dillon Robinson put BYU ahead, and Michael Rucker stayed cool under pressure, striking out two Sooners in the seventh after Oklahoma hit a one-out triple.
The Sooners came back later that evening to take a close 3-2 victory over BYU. The Cougars took the lead early on when Brennon Lund hit a single, stole second and then scored, but the Sooners came back to tie it in the second inning and scored the go–ahead run in the eighth to take the game.
Oklahoma then beat BYU 7-1 Saturday thanks to two home runs in the first inning that put the team off to a solid start.
“(Oklahoma pitcher Adam) Choplick was just too good today,” Littlewood said. “He was effectively wild at 90-92 and did a nice job working out of jams inning after inning. Once in a while you have to tip your hat to the other guys, and this was one of those days.”
The Cougars will have their first home game of the season March 5 against Hartford at Miller Park in Provo.
“It’s been a grueling three weeks as we’ve played one of the toughest schedules in the country. But we are a better, more seasoned team, and that will carry us in the long run,” Littlewood said.
