PROVO, Utah – Seven runs in the fifth inning put BYU baseball ahead for good as it beat UC Santa Barbara in the finale of a four-game series on Saturday at Miller Park.

"This team has a lot of character, there's no doubt about that," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "When we got down four, the feel in the dugout wasn't like we were down four. We were relaxed and knew we had nine chances to score some runs. The way we came out and swung the bats proved that."

With the win, the Cougars (7-7) took the overall series against the Gauchos (5-10) 3-1 and took their record to .500 for the first time since their opening weekend.

Three walks, two hits and a wild pitch gave way to four runs in the top of the first inning for the Gauchos.

UCSB manufactured a run in the second inning with an error, a single and a fielder’s choice to lead 5-0. Bo Burrup took over for starter Kendall Motes with no outs and a runner on.

Bronson Larsen launched his second home run of the series in the bottom of the second to plate himself and Keaton Kringlen, who had reached on an error.

The Gauchos went up 6-2 on Tommy Jew’s solo home run in the top of the third inning.

BYU got two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with back-to-back doubles from Daniel Schneemann and Brock Hale, and a Larsen single to cut the deficit to 6-4. A double play ended the inning when Colton Shaver was nabbed at second and called for interference on the throw to first. Hale's double extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Cougars’ seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning came on seven hits, bookended by David Clawson’s double and Nate Favero’s two-run single. BYU batted around to lead 11-6.

UCSB got one across on Burrup to trail 11-7 in the top of the sixth inning, but the big lefty was able to finish the inning without any more damage. He threw five innings in relief, allowing five hits and two earned runs.

Aaron Cross took the mound for BYU in the seventh inning and set the Gauchos down in order.

In the bottom of the seventh, Anderson notched his 12th hit of the series to plate two more Cougars for a 13-7 lead. An inning later, Shaver’s sacrifice fly brought home BYU’s final run.

Dempsey Grover provided UCSB's last blow with a solo shot over the scoreboard in left field. Left fielder Kringlen laid out for diving catch in foul territory for the final out of the game. Cross finished with three innings pitched and just one run allowed on one hit to pick up BYU's first save of the season.

The Cougars play again at Miller Park on Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. MDT against New Mexico State. They’ll follow that with a weekend home series against Connecticut.

After 10 road games, BYU baseball begins its home season this Thursday against UC Santa Barbara to start a four-game series.

“It's been three long weeks of tough travel and tough ball games,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “To say we are happy to be back at Miller Park would be an understatement. We are playing very solid baseball and once we get our entire offense rolling we will be a very tough team to beat.”

Both he Cougars and the Gauchos have gotten off to slow starts, having won four games apiece. BYU is 4-6, while UC Santa Barbara is 4-7. UCSB leads BYU in the series 7-1.

Thursday’s game at 5 p.m. MDT at Larry H. Miller Field will be broadcast live on ESPN 960 AM along with its audio stream paired with BYU Radio and video stream via theW.tv. Friday’s doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.  MDT will also be carried via the same media outlets as will Saturday’s noon finale. BYUtv will televise Saturday’s game live.

Maverik Buffo (1-2, 4.50 ERA) will start the four-game series on the mound for the Cougars. Brady Corless (2-0, 1.89) will start on the mound for BYU in the first game on Friday which has been shortened to seven innings. In Friday's nightcap, lefty Hayden Rogers (0-0, 2.38) will start the nine-inning game for the Cougars.  Kendall Motes (0-1, 5.14) will be BYU's starting pitcher in Saturday's game.

The Cougars have shown glimpses of their preseason projections. Seven BYU sluggers have hit home runs thus far, led by Bronson Larsen with three and Brock Hale with two. Hale leads the team with an 11-game hitting streak and a .385 batting average, aided by a grand slam in BYU’s 10-2 victory last week. However, the Cougars lost a pair of games by one and two runs last week at CSU Bakersfield in California.

“We were a little snake bitten offensively in the Bakersfield series, but I saw glimpses of the offense I know we are capable of becoming,” Littlewood said.“We just need to concentrate on the here and now and play every game like it's our last.”

The Gauchos were picked in a tie for second place in the preseason coaches’ poll in the Big West Conference.

UCSB finished No. 6 and was one of the eight teams to advance to last year’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The Gauchos tallied a 43-20-1 record and went 1-2 their historic first appearance in the World Series. They had bookend losses to Oklahoma State and Arizona in the CWS and eliminated Miami. UCSB defeated the No. 2 and No. 3 national seeds during its postseason run.

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