PROVO, Utah—Colton Shaver's homer in the seven-run second inning and his five RBI of the night led BYU baseball past San Francisco in a 14-4 victory Thursday night at Miller Park.

The Cougar victory stopped a nine-game conference win streak for the first-place Dons (22-21, 14-5 West Coast Conference). The win also brought BYU (19-19, 9-7 WWC) back to .500 for the second time this season.

"I love the way our guys came out offensively," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "I like the way that Kolton (Mahoney) battled through some jams to give us a chance to widen the gaps. Our hitters did an incredible job making San Francisco work at every at bat. Our theme today was take the fight to those guys, and I think we really did that today."

Shaver led the way for the Cougars with his home run and three hits while Brennon Lund added four RBI and a home run, both batting 3-for-5 on the evening. Kolton Mahoney evened his record at 4-4, throwing 114 pitches in six innings. Lund extended his hitting streak to 18 games while Bronson Larsen's was extended to 11.

Lund started things off for BYU in the bottom of the first with his first collegiate home run to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead. Shaver then picked up an RBI single, allowing Dillon Robinson to score, before getting out at second base to end the inning.

Larsen and Cole Wilstead each singled to get on base in the bottom of the second before Derrick Whitney singled to load the bases. An error from the Dons' Nico Giarratano allowed Lund to reach base with two BYU players scoring. A two-out triple by Robinson allowed a third Cougar to score and extend their lead to 5-0. A second error from the Dons allowed Chauncey to get a fielder's choice to bring two more BYU players back home and up the advantage to seven. Shaver followed at bat with his ninth home run of the season, bringing the score to 9-0 at the end of the second. The Cougars batted through their order in the inning.

After a scoreless third inning, San Francisco singled in a run with the bases loaded for its first run of the game. The Dons' Connor Hofmann followed by knocking a two-run single to left field to make the score 9-3.

A single from Lund started the bottom of the fourth for BYU. Hayden Nielsen collected the teams' ninth run of the game before a sacrifice bunt put two Cougars into scoring position. Robinson followed with an RBI single to score a run. Shaver matched that with a pair of RBI of his own as the next at bat, making the score 12-3.

Whitney led things off for BYU in the fifth with a triple driven down the middle all the way to the fence. Another Lund single scored Whitney to give the Cougars a double-digit lead at 13-3.

Following another scoreless inning in the sixth, San Francisco's Brendan Hendrik homered to right field in the seventh for the Dons' eighth hit of the game. The score remained 13-4 by the seventh-inning stretch.

With the bases loaded for BYU in the eighth, Eric Urry flied a ball out to right field, allowing a run to score. Three quick outs ensued in the top of the ninth, ending the game 14-4.

The Cougars return to Miller Park Friday at 6 p.m. MDT for the second of the three-game series against the Dons. The game will be broadcast live on BYUtv as well as KOVO 960 AM.

After a week off for finals, BYU’s baseball team returns to action in a big way this week when it hosts Utah on Tuesday and a three-game series with San Francisco.

“This week off for finals gives our guys a chance to heal some minor injuries and mentally prepare for the final month of conference play and our push for the conference tournament,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We have a chance on Tuesday to even up the series against Utah, and it's no secret how big that game is to all of us.”

The Cougars, 17-19 overall and 8-7 in the West Coast Conference, host Utah (13-22) on Tuesday at 6 p.m., in a game televised live by BYUtv. Starting on the mound for BYU will be Brady Corless (1-4, 5.59) as the Cougars hope to rebound from last month’s 9-3 loss to the Utes in a rain-shortened six-inning game in Salt Lake City.

Tuesday’s contest is pivotal in the three-game Deseret Duel series which BYU baseball has won six of seven times since its inception.

On Thursday and Friday the Cougars return to league play against league-leading USF (22-19, 14-4) with Kolton Mahoney (3-4, 4.53) and Brandon Kinser (4-2, 3.55) scheduled to be their starting pitchers in games starting at 6 p.m. BYUtv will also televise both of those games live. Saturday’s contest has been changed from 1 p.m. to now start at noon between the Cougars and Dons will be streamed live on theW.tv.

“Every game from here on out is a big game for us and none are bigger than the weekend series with San Francisco,” Littlewood said. “USF has played very well in conference and if we want to make the conference tournament we need to win the series against them.”

Brennon Lund leads BYU with a current 16-game hitting streak. Teammates Eric Urry has a 10-game streak, Bronson Larsen has a nine-game streak and Tanner Chauncey has an eight-game streak.

Following the USF series, BYU plays the next week at Utah Valley University and University of the Pacific.

For more detailed information, see multi-page PDF below