BYU in Bay Area for three-game series with Santa Clara

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball heads to the Bay Area Wednesday for a weekend series with West Coast Conference foe Santa Clara at Stephen Schott Stadium on April 1-3. 

Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. PT, with the Saturday matchup at 1:00 p.m. PT. All three games will be streamed live on the WCC Network as well as the BYU Sports Network—BYU Radio FM 107.9, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

BYU (8-13, 4-2) is coming off its first home series of the year having played the first 17 games of the 2021 season on the road at Texas State (4), No. 10 Texas (4), No. 23 Oregon State (3), Utah (2), Dixie State (1) and LMU (3).

The Cougars defeated Utah Valley in the UCCU Crosstown Clash on Tuesday, 11-7. BYU then opened its three-game weekend series with an 8-7 win in 10 innings over WCC foe San Francisco (7-15, 3-3) on Thursday, before falling to the Dons 10-6 on Friday and 3-1 on Saturday.

BYU now turns its attention to Santa Clara (9-14, 2-4) who is coming off a 2-1 series victory over Portland. At 2-4 in WCC play, the Broncos are currently in the three-way tie for seventh place with St. Mary’s and LMU. BYU comes into the series at 4-2, tied for second with Gonzaga, Pepperdine and Portland. San Diego is leading the league at 5-1 and 17-4 overall on the year.
 
BYU VS SCU
BYU and Santa Clara have met 31 times, with the Cougars holding a 21-10 advantage in the series. Due to the 2020 pandemic, the conference foes last met during the 2019 regular season in Santa Clara on May 16-18. The Broncos took game one (4-2) of that series, but BYU responded by winning games two (7-5) and three (3-1). The Cougars would go on to finish the season 36-17 and win the WCC regular-season title with 18-9 conference record. 

Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California and has remained in its original location since it was founded.

SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
After a road trip to Portland last week, Santa Clara returns home to host BYU. The Broncos are currently 3-6 at home this season having played Stanford (1-1), Sacramento State (2-2) and Gonzaga (0-3) at Stephen Schott Stadium.

Tony Boetto leads SCU in hitting (.321) and on base percentage (.379), while Jake MacNichols leads the team in RBIs (19), runs scored (18) and total bases (43). MacNichols’ eight home runs is tops in the WCC and is tied for 14th in the country.

Cole Kitchen is leading the Broncos with 28.0 innings pitched and 31 strikeouts. His 2.25 ERA over 8.0 innings in WCC action is the seventh best in conference play. Tied with Kitchen in the WCC ERA rankings is Freddie Erlandson who has also thrown 8.0 innings in conference play with seven strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA.
 
BYU ON OFFENSE
Centerfielder Mitch McIntyre leads the Cougars in several statistical categories, including hits (26), doubles (6), triples (2), total bases (36) and steals (3). The senior from Stansbury Park, Utah is also second in batting average (.321) and slugging percentage (.444). 

Peyton Cole is leading the Cougars with a .333 average and has a slugging percentage of .528. Cole led BYU with a .462 batting average in the four home games last week. The sophomore third baseman from Las Vegas had six hits in 13 at bats, with a home run, three RBI and three walks. His HR in game one vs. USF was instrumental in the Cougars' 8-7 victory. 

COUGARS ON THE HILL
Starting game one for BYU Thursday is senior right hander Easton Walker, who has appeared in six games and started five. Walker, from Pleasant Grove, Utah has an ERA of 1.15 with 28 strikeouts, while holding opposing hitters to a .185 average over 31.1 innings this season.

BYU’s game-two starter Carter Smith is leading the WCC with an ERA of 1.04 in two conference starts. The sophomore right hander from Lehi, Utah, has appeared in five games on the year with three starts and 20 strikeouts over 15.1 innings.

Joining Walker and Smith among the top 10 in the conference in ERA is righty reliever Bryce Robison, whose 2.08 conference ERA over 8.2 innings is sixth best in league play. Robison appeared in all four games for the Cougars last week. The sophomore from Las Vegas picked up a save in the 11-7 win over Utah Valley on Tuesday. He then appeared in game one versus USF and got the win in a 8-7 BYU 10th inning victory. Over four games last week, Robison threw 6.1 innings, giving up just 1 earned run while striking out eight.

Walker will start game one, Smith game two and Jack Sterner game three for the Cougars this weekend at Santa Clara. Sterner has started five games for BYU with a 4.58 era over 19.2 innings pitched.