PORTLAND, Oregon (April 1, 2016)—Pitchers Maverik Buffo, Keaton Cenatiempo and Mason Marshall were spot on helping No. 24 BYU baseball to a 4-1 victory Friday over the Portland Pilots.

Their efforts spearheaded the Cougars to a 22-3 overall record and 6-2 mark for first place in the West Coast Conference.

Buffo tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts, recording two strikeouts per inning through the first three frames, along with another pair in the sixth. The sophomore picked up a strikeout in the fourth and fifth innings.

“What a great bounce back start by Maverik,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “That was as sharp as I've seen him and he showed great tenacity and resiliency.”

“I wanted to bounce back and help my team and be ‘me’,” Maverik Buffo said. Buffo, a sophomore from Salem, Utah, improved to 5-1 as the winning pitcher and didn’t allow any walks.

Cenatiempo relieved him in the seventh and the junior right-hander struck out three Pilots in the eighth. Then the “Mantis” Marshall recorded career save No. 13, his third of the season, with a strikeout, backed by a game-ending double play in the ninth.

“Keaton and Mason stepped up big for us out of the pen and our defense was sharp tonight,” Littlewood said. “It was just a great team win.”

While 14 Pilots struck out, the BYU pitchers received offensive and defensive help from their teammates in the form of three double plays and taking advantage of hits when needed.

“(Davis) Tominaga and (Kevin) Baker did a great job changing speeds and keeping the ball out of the middle of the plate but we did a nice job grinding out at bats until we got something to hit,” Littlewood said.

Foremost among the BYU hitters were freshman Brock Hale who replaced sophomore Colton Shaver as the designated hitter in the lineup and Shaver. Shaver played first base due to an injury Thursday to Tanner Chauncey.

“Colton had a big two-out RBI for us and Brock came up big with his two-out RBI in the ninth to put some separation between us,” Littlewood said.

Hale hit a two-out double in the second inning and was driven home by Shaver’s single for the initial 1-0 lead. That margin expanded to 3-0 in the fourth.

For good measure Nielsen scored BYU’s fourth run in the ninth after his two-out double.

Portland falls to 13-14 overall and 1-4 in the WCC. The series concludes Saturday at 11 a.m. PDT and will be broadcast live by ESPNRadio960 AM and streamed on its site.
 

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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