St. George, Utah—Second baseman Trace Hansen’s bat and glove helped BYU to a 7-3 victory Thursday over Seattle University after a four-hour rain delay at Bruce Hurst Field.

BYU (2-8) got a lift from the sophomore from Avon, Utah, in a 3-for-3 effort at the plate, starting with a no-out RBI triple to left field in the second inning. That triple gave BYU a 3-0 lead, scoring catcher Jarrett Jarvis who had doubled prior to Hansen’s at bat. Jarvis’ double to right field extended his team-leading hitting streak to nine games.

“It was a great team win,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Moving Trace to the nine-hole was the difference in the game. He did a nice job.”

Hansen’s fielding helped in that difference, too. In the fifth frame he was on the receiving end of the inning-ending putout when Seattle’s Chase Field’s grounder glanced off the glove of third baseman Dillon Robinson and was scooped up by shortstop Hayden Nielsen for the tag at second base. The Robinson-Hansen duo got key-out number two when catcher Brian Olson grounded out to them.

Winning pitcher Desmond Poulson (2-0) contributed a lot towards the Cougar victory as well. Poulson got an inning-ending strikeout when he set the Redhawks down in order and recorded a key pickoff at first in the sixth, both against shortstop Cullen Hendrickson.

“When Desmond couldn’t find the zone, he found a way to get out of jams,” Littlewood said. “It was nice to have Hayden (Rogers) and BK (Brandon Kinser) finish it off for us on the mound.” The lefty Rogers struck out four Redhawks in two innings of relief, while Kinser enticed Seattle into three consecutive groundouts to Nielsen at shortstop to end the game.

“We left a lot of guys out there (14 left on base), but there was really a good vibe in the dugout,” Littlewood said. “The team kept their mindset that we were going to play in spite of the rain delays and did a great job of staying mentally focused.” That focus showed on plays like a catch on the warning track in the fourth inning by Dallen Reber of St. George when Seattle was again retired in order.

Seattle and BYU are scheduled to play a noon doubleheader on Friday, weather-permitting, to conclude the three-game series. Those games will be broadcast live on KOVO Radio 960 AM and on the Internet.

After nine games out of state, BYU’s baseball team hosts Seattle University in a three-game series starting Thursday in St. George.

Seattle (5-3) has not played a home game this season and neither have the Cougars (1-8).

“It will be nice to be back in Utah at our second home,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said of St. George. “Hopefully we can play better wearing the white uniforms.”

Sophomore outfielder Eric Urry was the only Cougar named to the all-tournament team at last week’s Kleberg Bank Classic in Texas. Urry batted .667, going 6-for-9 with three RBI in four games at the Classic.

“He (Urry) is playing well and could be in the lineup more when he learns how to handle left-handers,” Littlewood said. “We’ll see three left-handers against Seattle and more from San Diego next week, so we need to solve that problem in a hurry.”

Seattle will be starting lefties Connor Moore (1-0, 0.75 earned run average), Andrew Olson (0-2, 10.24) and Mac Acker (2-0, 3.86) in that order.

The Cougars will be starting three right-handers against the Redhawks, leading off with senior co-captain Desmond Poulson (1-0, 2.77) on Thursday at 1 p.m.  MST.  Sophomore Kolton Mahoney (0-2, 3.75)  and junior Jeff Barker (0-2, 6.14) will be BYU’s starters for Friday's noon doubleheader.

All three games will be broadcast live on the radio and Internet by play-by-play announcer Brent Norton on KOVO 960 AM and BYU Radio. Friday's radio broadcast will start at 2 p.m., joining the first game in progress and carrying the nightcap.

Starting pitching hasn’t been the challenge for BYU, rather relief pitching and timely hitting have been concerns.

“I’m not sure we’ve gotten more than a couple two-out hits all season,” Littlewood said.  “To get on base early in innings is important; otherwise our hands are pretty much tied.”

General admission is $5 for each game at Bruce Hurst Field on the Dixie State College campus, where Littlewood and his staff had several successful seasons before moving to BYU last season.

BYU has a 10-4 record against Seattle. The first meeting between the two schools was in 1979, a 9-4 Cougar victory at the Riverside Baseball Invitational when SU’s nickname was the Chieftains. BYU has a 5-3 record against Seattle in Washington and a 4-1 record against the Redhawks in Utah. 

Seattle isn’t the first team from Washington to play in St. George. BYU lost twice to the University of Washington in St. George in 1999.  In 1999 and 1998, BYU played in the Southern Utah Chiropractic and Ed Stangue tournaments against Southern Utah, Washington, Mesa State, Lewis-Clark State and San Francisco.

Last March BYU baseball moved its home opening games vs. Creighton to St. George because of weather and won two of the three games in bookend fashion. BYU’s record in St. George is 5-6.

Following the Seattle series, BYU opens its home season at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo on Tuesday in the first of four Deseret First Duel games with the University of Utah starting at 6 p.m. MST.

For more information, download the eight-page game notes below: