LAS VEGAS – Mike Rucker struck out eight Billiken batters Friday and got home runs from three teammates to lead BYU baseball to a 21-7 victory over Saint Louis University.

BYU, 1-0, got 93 pitches in six innings of five-hit work from the 6-foot-1 Rucker, who was impressive for the 16 pro scouts watching the Cougars host the season opener for both teams at AAA Cashman Field.

“That kind of outing is exactly why Mike (Rucker) is our opening day starter, and will anchor our staff,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “I'm really proud of our approach today. It's only one game but I couldn't be more proud of our guys today. We came out relaxed, ready to play today, and Mike set a great tone for us.”

Rucker, a junior right-hander from Washington, struck out pairs of SLU batters in the third, fourth and fifth innings as his teammates tallied a 6-2 lead before he left the game as the eventual winning pitcher.

The Cougars took a 4-0 lead in the third when freshman Kyle Dean lead off with his first collegiate hit. Dean scored BYU’s initial run when senior Hayden Nielsen hit a bases-loaded single.

The next three Cougars scored that inning, keyed by junior centerfielder Brennon Lund beating out a bunt to load the bases. Nielsen ended up scoring the fourth run with no two outs when Colton Shaver laced a single to left field.

Rucker surrendered his no-hit bid in the fourth with three consecutive SLU pokes, capped by Josh Bunselmeyer’s two-out, two-run triple. Dean recaptured those pair of runs with a two-run homerun in the fourth, pounding a knee-high inside fastball sailing over the 20-foot-high leftfield fence 364 feet away.

“I've talked for a while about Kyle's (Dean) advanced approach at the plate and I believe today he showed why I've been saying that,” Littlewood said of the Dean, the high school All-American who batted in the No. 8 slot. Dean ended up batting 4-for-5 and Lund was 4-for-6 in the lead-off position.

The Cougars loaded the bases for naught following Dean’s smash in the fourth and loaded them again with in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Senior Eric Urry ended up with the game-winning RBI in the sixth from a single up the middle to plate Nielsen for the eighth run.

“I was extremely happy with our hitters, especially the bottom half of the order,” Littlewood said. “It's great to see that kind of production from 7, 8, and 9.”

Sophomore Colton Shaver, batting as the designated hitter, belted a three-run homer in the seventh, the 14th of his young Cougar career. Two batters later fellow sophomore Brennon Anderson, batting seventh, drove a pitch also over the leftfield fence for a two-run homer, giving BYU a 17-6 margin.

All the Cougar starters either had a hit or batted in a run in the first of a four-game series. The two teams have a noon doubleheader on Saturday, followed by a single game on Monday in the weather-friendly clime.

Admission is free to all four games

Saint Louis University and host BYU open the 2016 baseball season with a four-game series at Las Vegas starting Friday.

Although the Cougars have been picked as high as third and as low as fifth in the West Coast Conference, hopes are high prior to 17 non-conference games scheduled before the league opener in March because there is more depth.

Friday’s season opener between BYU and SLU starts at 1 p.m. PST, with the Cougars as the home team.  Saturday’s doubleheader has the Billikens as the “home” team at noon, with BYU home in the nightcap.  SLU will be the home team in Monday’s noon tilt.

The 2016 season marks the fourth year for BYU coach Mike Littlewood, who has guided the Cougars to WCC tournament berths in his first and third years.

“Saint Louis is going to be a tough test as we open the season,” Littlewood said. “They've won the Atlantic-10 Conference the last four years and are picked to win it again this year. They've won 30 games for three or four years in a row now so they're used to winning and used to being successful. We know they are well coached, have great personnel, and they're going to play hard for nine innings.”

Probable pitchers for BYU in the SLU series are righthanders Michael Rucker (5-1, 3.22 in 2015), a junior; sophomore Maverik Buffo (0-1, 8.77); redshirt sophomore lefty Hayden Rogers (0-1, 9.00); and Connor Williams (0-0, 0.00) for Monday.

“As good as Saint Louis is, we feel like we are as ready to play as we have ever been.  We have great veteran leadership at key positions, and some talented young guys that are bringing a great energy to the park every day.  I think we are all more than ready to play.”

The Cougars have worked out mainly at the Indoor Practice Facility, but have had outdoor scrimmages in St. George and Salt Lake City the past two weekends. An outdoor practice is scheduled for Thursday in St. George en route to the games in Las Vegas.

The four-game series will be hosted by BYU at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, home to the New York Mets’ AAA 51s. Saint Louis University has been picked to finish first by several polls for the Atlantic 10 Conference.  Last season, BYU played Oklahoma in a four-game series at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, instead of at Norman, Okla., due to weather concerns last season.  OU won three of the four games.

Following the series at Las Vegas, BYU baseball returns to Provo, then travels to Birmingham, Alabama, to finish the month in a four-game series against Samford University, Feb. 25-27.

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