MORAGA, Calif. (February 23, 2012)—Host St. Mary’s College defeated BYU 7-2 Thursday in the Cougars’ inaugural West Coast Conference baseball game.

BYU, now 2-2, fell to the undefeated Gaels, 5-0, in the league debut after taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Alex Wolfe was driven in by Wes Guenther.  SMC rallied back using a three-run triple by No. 9 batter Donald Collins to take a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of that frame.

Collins’ triple was one of a four two-out productions in the third, sixth and seventh innings that doomed the Cougars, as did SMC double plays in the sixth and seventh frames to stop BYU rallies.

“One of our mantras is when we score, we try to hold them in the next half,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “We need to bear down and not lose our concentration. We didn’t do a good job once we got two outs.

Gael junior Martin Agosta scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out six Cougars to impress the several pro scouts on hand.

“He (Agosta) made a couple quality pitches in tough situations and got us to ground into double plays, ending potential rallies,” said Law.  “He scattered those hits and didn’t allow us to get them in bunches.  We battled hard at the plate, but sometimes we swung early in the count without our best swing.”

BYU senior Austin Hall got BYU’s only extra-base hit, a double in the ninth that set him to score BYU’s final run.  Hall, Guenther and Dillon Robinson extended their hitting streaks to three games, while Jaycob Brugman leads the Cougars with a four-game streak.

The two teams resume the three-game series on Friday at 2 p.m., PST, in a game  broadcast, live on AM Radio 960 locally and on the Internet.

Five California trips are on BYU’s baseball schedule, but perhaps none loom larger than this week’s three-game series at Saint Mary’s College.

Thursday afternoon marks the start of the Cougars’ first year of baseball play in the West Coast Conference.  SMC, now 4-0, is located in Moraga, Calif., was picked sixth in the WCC preseason poll and BYU was seventh. The Cougars have a 6-1 lead in the series with the Gaels.

The three games mark the start of live Cougar broadcasts over BYU Radio 960 AM, with Brent Norton calling the action for his 22nd year mike side.  Those games will also be audiocast live on www.byucougars.com.

BYU, 2-1, begins its second week of the season using the same pitching rotation that brought success at UC Riverside.  Junior Chris Capper (0-1, 5.40) is the starting pitcher for Thursday’s game beginning at 2 p.m., PST.  Junior southpaw Mark Anderson (1-0, 3.00) is on the mound for Friday’s game at the same time.  Sophomore Adam Miller (0-0, 0.00) takes the hill in Saturday’s contest starting at 1 p.m.

“Our pitches did a nice job keeping us in games last week,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “Our defense was outstanding, but we need to recognize how important that is to our success.  I am pleased with the way we performed and our offense will continue to get better.

“We are looking forward to the league opener which has come mighty early as a result of previous scheduling before we were conference members.  Both teams are at the same disadvantage.”

When the Cougars return from the SMC series, they will practice one day in Provo before flying to play at No. 4 Arkansas.  BYU travels to California the second week of March for a series at No. 27  UC Irvine, but doesn’t return to WCC play until the third full week of March at the University of Portland.