PROVO, Utah –Kolton Mahoney tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts and a five-run fourth inning gave BYU a 6-0 win over Hartford in the home opener-opener Thursday afternoon.

“Kolton wasn’t totally sharp today,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “He just did an outstanding job of pitching. He did today what a lot of teams have done against us, getting out of jams and he did a nice job getting out of those.”

The Cougars improved to 3-10 on the season and 1-0 at Larry H. Miller Field. With the loss in the first-ever matchup between the two squads, Hartford dropped to 3-4. BYU recorded 11 hits, including going 4-of-9 with runners in scoring position and smacking four extra-base hits.

After BYU second baseman Tanner Chauncey earned a walk to start the fourth, senior infielder Dillon Robinson roped an RBI double to center field that scored Chauncey from first to put the Cougars up 1-0 with no outs in the fourth.

Back-to-back singles by Jarrett Jarvis and Eric Urry scored Robinson and Colton Shaver to give BYU the 3-0 lead with only one out in the fourth and runners on second and third.

An RBI groundout from sophomore Cole Wilstead scored Jarvis and Brennon Lund followed it with an RBI single to give BYU five runs in the inning and a 5-0 lead to end the fourth.

“We talk about quality at-bats and being productive and if you’re going to get out, be productive,” Littlewood said. “We did that today, we were disciplined at the plate and the results showed on the scoreboard.”

Mahoney improved to 1-1 on the season and started hot on the mound striking out the first two batters. After a walk, Mahoney fielded a grounder right back at him and flipped the ball over to first to get the Cougars out of the first inning.

The Cougar offense threatened in the bottom half of the first when sophomore outfielder Lund led off with a single. Two batters later, Chauncey blooped a single on a hit-and-run to give the Cougars two runners on with only one out. BYU couldn’t take advantage and the first inning ended tied 0-0.

After giving up a leadoff single in the third, Mahoney struck out a batter and walked two straight Hawks to load the bases with only one out. The junior pitcher got out of the jam, striking out two more batters to strike out the side and keep the score 0-0 through three innings.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Jarvis smacked his first home run of the season over the 345 sign in left field to give BYU a 6-0 lead through six innings and the score would hold the rest of the way, giving the Cougars a 6-0 win.

The Cougars and Hawks will be back in action Friday for a doubleheader with the first game starting at 2:00 p.m. MST and the second tentatively slated to start at 5:30 p.m. MST, game two will only be seven innings. Both games will be streamed live on TheW.tv and broadcast on BYU Radio, with game number one also broadcasted on KOVO 960 AM.

Home field advantage could favor BYU baseball this week in its four-game series starting Thursday against Hartford.

After playing away against a ranked team and facing two other highly touted opponents on neutral fields at Arizona and Las Vegas , the Cougars (2-10) welcome the home opener at Larry H. Miller Field.

“As a team we are excited to be finally playing at home in front of friendly crowd, and in an atmosphere where we are comfortable,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.

Hartford (3-3), like BYU, had its games moved because of weather from Virginia.  No. 1 Virginia defeated the Hawks in South Carolina.

The Cougars will keep the same pitching rotation with Kolton Mahoney (0-1, 4.41) starting on Thursday at 3 p.m., Jeff Barker (1-1, 3.18) leading off in Friday’s doubleheader at  2 p.m., followed by Brandon Kinser (0-1, 1.53) and on Saturday with Maverik Buffo (0-1, 5.91) at 11 a.m.

All of the games will be streamed live on theW.tv, and the first two games of the series will be broadcast live over Radio 960 AM with veteran announcer Brent Norton.  Robbie Bullough will call the action in the last two games of the Hartford series.

Freshman Colton Shaver continues to lead BYU with an eight-game hitting streak.

“We really like where we are as a team right now,” Littlewood said. “Despite our  record, we haven't lost confidence in the type of team we are or in our potential.  We understand the strength of schedule we've played. In five or six of those losses we were a hit away from winning.”

Following the home stand against Hartford, the Cougars begin league play next week against Pepperdine in Provo after a non-conference game at Utah Valley.

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