PORTLAND, Oregon (March 31, 2016)—Brennon Lund belted three doubles and a leadoff home run Thursday night to pace No. 24 BYU baseball in an 8-2 victory over Portland.

Lund went 4-for-5 on the evening, just a double shy of tying the school record, as he scored three runs to lead the Cougars to a 21-3 overall record and 5-2 record in the West Coast Conference. That WCC mark gives BYU a half-game lead over Saint Mary's for first place in league standings.

“Brennon (Lund) set the tone for us in his first at bat and carried it throughout the game,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.

“It was a gutty performance by Mike (Rucker) tonight. He wasn’t sharp early, but he made a few adjustments and finished with a strong outing.”

With Lund’s homer and subsequent doubles, BYU took a commanding 5-0 lead through three innings to give Michael Rucker that needed cushion. Rucker improves to 6-0, striking out five and surrendering as many hits in six complete innings from 90 pitches.

Close behind on the offensive end were Keaton Kringlen and Colton Shaver who added home run clouts in the second and fifth innings.

Shaver leads the team with seven homers, with Thursday’s bomb being a two-run shot that plated Jackson Cluff in the fifth for an 8-1 lead. Shaver also doubled in the third to score Cluff as part of his five RBI for the evening.

While not a save situation, lefty Bo Burrup relieved fellow freshman Easton Walker in the eighth frame with the bases loaded and one out to help the Cougars out of a jam.

“We had a great offensive approach tonight against Jordan Wilcox and need to continue that into Friday and Saturday,” Littlewood said. Lund extended his team-leading hitting streak to seven games, while Kringlen improved to a six-game streak.

Portland is now even at 13-13 overall and 1-3 in the WCC. The three-game series continues Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, with a game streamed live on TheW.tv, and on Saturday morning. Both games will be broadcast live by ESPNRadio960 AM, but only Friday’s will be streamed live on BYU Radio—Sirius Satellite 143.
 

Week three of West Coast Conference action finds No. 24 BYU baseball still in a first-place tie and moving up the rankings as it has its first league road test at Portland.

The Cougars (20-3 and 4-2 WCC) have a three-game series at Portland (13-11, 1-2) on a new synthetic field Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. PDT and Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT.

“They (Portland) have a new coach and they have beaten a lot of good teams,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “They like to run. We're going to see a solid pitcher on Thursday go against (Mike) Rucker. It's league play on the road and it takes a special effort to win.”

Mike Rucker (5-0, 2.29) will start on the mound for BYU on Thursday. Maverik Buffo (4-1, 4.02) starts for BYU on Friday and Connor Williams (1-0, 3.68) is scheduled to start on Saturday.

“We need to have good quality starts every time from our pitching,” Littlewood said. “We have to win the series if we want to take first in this league. It will put us in a corner if we don't go up there and win the series.”

Not making the trip to Portland is touted freshman outfielder Kyle Dean. Dean has not played in the last seven games and will miss at least six weeks due to a stress reaction in his back, according to Littlewood. No surgery will be required.

“This is devastating news to us,” Littlewood said. “He (Dean) is a guy we need in our lineup. Fortunately, we have had a couple guys step up.”

BYU is tied with Saint Mary’s College in the WCC. The Portland series comes after BYU finished a 12-game home stand with a 10-2 record.

The Cougars are ranked No. 24 in both the USA Today/Coaches and Collegiate Baseball polls and moved up a spot to No. 26 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association poll.

This week’s games at Portland will be broadcast live on ESPN960 AM Radio and also carried live over BYU Radio and Sirius Satellite 143 on Thursday and Friday.

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