BYU at San Francisco game 3 box score

SAN FRANCISCO (May 12, 2018)—Starter Landen Bourassa handcuffed BYU baseball for eight shutout innings on Saturday as San Francisco went on to win 6-2.

Bourassa improved his record to 7-4 as the Dons finished their West Coast Conference season with a 10-14 record and take 26-26 overall record into four non-league games next week. BYU drops to 21-25 and 10-14, with a Tuesday afternoon game at No. 1 Stanford before finishing the season with a three-game home stand against Pacific.

The Dons’ right-hander held his shutout until David Clawson’s one-out double plated Brock Hale and Nate Favero in the ninth, causing the Canadian junior to vacate the mound. Hale and Favero were the only two Cougars to get a pair of hits on the afternoon.

Favero’s sixth-inning double was one of a couple two-out opportunities the Cougars couldn’t cash in as USF avoided a sweep in the three-game series. Another two-out chance came earlier in the fifth inning when Cougar freshman Koby Kelton tripled.

USF jumped off to a great start from a three-run homer in the first inning by cleanup batter Riley Helland.

BYU at USF, Stanford Game Notes

BYU at Utah, USF Game Notes

Survival in the league race and the final outcome in the Deseret First Duel are at stake for BYU baseball this week.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Cougars play at Utah in Salt Lake City in the fourth contest this season against the Utes. 

Utah, now 12-32, has a 2-1 advantage over BYU this year and lead in the tie-breaking run differential 18-14.  That means BYU needs to win by five runs over the Utes to secure a ninth Deseret Duel trophy.

Left-hand junior Kenny Saenz (1-2, 6.95) will be the Cougars’ starting pitcher at Utah.

BYU, now 19-23 overall and 8-13 in the West Coast Conference, is still in the hunt for a berth in the WCC Tournament.  The Cougars need to sweep this week at San Francisco, starting the three-game series with the Dons on Thursday afternoon.