BYU baseball end season with 5-1 WCC tournament loss to LMU

The wheels finally fell off for BYU baseball Wednesday night, losing 5-1 to LMU in the WCC tournament to bring the Cougars' season to an anticlimactic end at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, California.

BYU's bats went silent against the Lions, scoring just a single run after averaging more than six per contest in the regular season. BYU left 11 runners on base and piled up 13 strikeouts, both literally and figuratively whiffing at every opportunity to rally back into the ballgame.

BYU starter Jack Sterner was solid on the mound, throwing 4 2/3 innings of one run ball with seven strikeouts, but a serious lack of run support left his outing in vain. The Cougar bullpen buried BYU further by surrendering four runs to finish the night.

Catching fire to finish the regular season on an 11-2 run, fourth-seeded BYU's loss in its first postseason action would have been bitter no matter what, but losing to an LMU squad that finished the regular season a mediocre 19-32-1 — with two losses to the Cougars — just rubbed more salt on the wound.

BYU finishes the season 33-21, with interim head coach Trent Pratt posting a 16-9 mark in his unexpected managerial tenure. BYU will await a pending decision from the athletic department on whether or not the program will retain Pratt as a permanent hire or bring in a new coaching staff.