SAN FRANCISCO – Host San Francisco scored on a sacrifice-fly to centerfield for a 6-5 victory over BYU baseball in the ninth inning on Thursday.

The Cougars, now 32-14 overall and 13-9 in the West Coast Conference, had leads of 5-4 and 2-1 which vanished in the first of three games against USF, now 20-31 and 14-11 in the WCC.

“We shot ourselves in the foot all game long,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We let scoring opportunities escape us early in the game and walked too many guys late.”

Among those opportunities to expand or take leads came in the first, second, eighth and ninth innings. The Cougars stranded pairs of runners in the first and second frames, hitting into double plays in the first, eighth and ninth innings and failing to execute bunts.

The Dons took advantage of their chances. Bay breezes helped home runs helped USF in the third and fifth innings with solo and three-run blasts, respectively.  BYU’s Brennon Anderson knocked a two-run, 400-foot homer in the fifth inning. The Cougars took a 5-4 lead in the fifth when Hayden Nielsen singled in Brennon Lund.

While starter Michael Rucker left the game after seven innings, throwing 128 pitches and striking out eight, he remains undefeated at 10-0 because reliever Mason Marshall (1-3) was tagged with the loss.

“Mike (Rucker) made a couple mistakes today and they put good swings on those mistakes,” Littlewood said. “We need to show some resiliency and come out Friday and play for our lives.”

In addition to Anderson, BYU got back-to-back doubles to lead off the two-run fourth from Colton Shaver and Keaton Kringlen. Kringlen was 3-for-3, scoring a pair of runs in the loss.

Friday’s game between the two teams starts at 3 p.m. PDT and will be broadcast live by ESPNSports 960 AM, BYU Radio and Sirius Satellite 143.

PROVO, Utah (May 9, 2016)—With the nation’s winningest pitcher on the mound, BYU baseball is undefeated.  Without him, the Cougars are 21-13.

While Michael Rucker (10-0, 2.58) is not scheduled to pitch until Thursday when BYU opens a three-game series at San Francisco, the Cougars play a make-up game on Tuesday at Utah Valley University. Game time is 6 p.m. MDT.

Sophomore lefthander Hayden Rogers (4-3, 3.51) is scheduled to start for BYU as it seeks to improve its 31-13 overall record.  For the first time in eight weeks, the Cougars are not ranked in a national poll.

“We have to come and play every single day,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We need to finish the most important 10 percent of the games we play.

“Utah Valley is scrappy, they have confidence and they are playing really well. It’s a game we need to win just like Utah—it’s a must win."

The Wolverines won last week’s game, 7-6 in 11 innings at BYU.

After the UVU game, the Cougars look to improve their 13-8 record in the West Coast Conference at San Francisco en route to a possible berth in the four-team WCC tourney.

“Mentally, we should be at peak performance—holding the conference bid in the palm of our hand,” Littlewood said.  “We have given ourselves a chance to control our own destiny, we don’t have to scoreboard watch. We have to keep plugging away, its imperative we get one.  The goal is to win the series.  If we sweep the series, I think that gets us in the tournament.”

Rucker will start for the Cougars at USF on Thursday at 3 p.m. PDT.  Sophomore lefty Riley Gates (2-1, 4.50) will start for BYU on Friday at 3 p.m., and Rogers is the likely starter for Saturday’s game at 1 p.m.

Tuesday’s game was postponed from two weeks ago at Utah Valley. The BYU-UVU game will be broadcast live on the Internet by BYU Radio and Sirius Satellite 143. The USF series will also be carried on BYU Radio through broadcasts from ESPNSports 960 AM.

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