SAN FRANCISCO (May 14, 2016)—A 9-3 victory over the University of San Francisco on Saturday afternoon put BYU baseball back in first place contention in the West Coast Conference.

The Cougars, now 34-14 overall and 15-9 in the WCC, took the series and eliminated the Dons from qualifying for the conference tournament.

San Francisco concludes its league play with a 14-13 record and takes a 20-33 into the final week of the regular season.

“Today our guys showed everyone what they're made of,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “Hayden (Rogers) went down with an injury early and every guy picked him up.”

Rogers left in the first inning with back spasms and was replaced by Connor Williams, the first of three BYU relievers.

“Connor's ability to get us out of that first inning jam was huge and the team fed off that energy,” Littlewood said.

Williams struck out his first two batters to end the first inning before being replaced by freshman Bo Burrup in the fourth frame.  Keaton Cenatiempo (2-1) threw the final five innings to earn the victory.

The Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the second inning thanks to four walks, but San Francisco chipped away with a run in the third, fourth and fifth innings to tie the game.

The stalemate continued until the six-run eighth inning when BYU batted around, spraying six singles to take its 9-3 lead. All BYU starters either scored a run or recorded a hit in the game, with Brennon Lund and Bronson Larsen each accounting for a pair of the nine Cougar RBI.

“This was a total team win, and I couldn't be more proud of our effort this weekend,” Littlewood said.

The BYU defense was highlighted in the sixth inning when Larsen pegged USF’s leading base-stealer at second for out No. 1 and second baseman Brennon Anderson fielded a gem to close that frame.

The Cougars return to WCC play when they host Santa Clara next week after a non-conference game Tuesday at Utah in Salt Lake City.

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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