PROVO, Utah – Brady Corless pitched effectively into the eighth inning and struck out 10 as No. 18 BYU baseball beat Portland 11-3 to clinch the series on Friday night at Larry H. Miller Field.

"I can't say enough about Brady and the job he did," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "He saved our bullpen. Aaron (Cross) came in and got six key outs for us. Just a great night for our team."

Brock Hale and Nate Favero knocked in three runs apiece for the West Coast Conference-leading and league tourney-bound Cougars (31-15 overall, 19-4 WCC). Corless got the win to become the 14th pitcher in BYU history to begin a season with a 6-0 record as the Pilots fell to 10-36-1, 5-18 WCC.

BYU had three hits and was helped by a Portland error for two runs in the first. Tanner Chauncey’s single scored Daniel Schneemann and Brennon Anderson.

A drive off the bat of Hale in the third inning sent the Pilot centerfielder crashing into the fence. He wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, and it resulted in a long RBI single. Later, Favero took an 0-2 pitch up the middle to plate two more Cougars before Brian Hsu singled home another run. Favero stole third base and an errant throw sent him sprinting home for a 7-0 lead.

Hale belted a two-run double in the left-center gap for a 9-0 BYU advantage through four frames.

Portland scored three in the fifth inning thanks in part to a two-run double. The Cougars came back with a run on Favero’s RBI triple in the bottom half.

In the seventh, BYU tacked on with Schneemann’s bloop single to left field that plated Bronson Larsen. The Cougars led 11-3 heading into the eighth inning.

Aaron Cross relieved Corless after 7.1 innings. Corless struck out 10 and gave up three runs on five hits. Cross got the final five outs for the Cougars and allowed just one hit.

"Everything felt good," Corless said. "When I get in a groove and I'm throwing all three pitches for strikes, I feel like I can compete against anybody."

The series finale starts on Saturday at 1 p.m. MDT.

Securing the Deseret Duel Trophy and a spot in the West Coast Conference Tournament are two achievable goals for No. 18 BYU baseball this week.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Cougars (29-14) host Utah (21-20) in a game televised live by KBYU-TV locally. If BYU wins that game it wins the Deseret Duel Trophy’s baseball portion for the ninth time in 10 years. Should Utah win, the Duel could be determined by run differential because BYU won 11-6 at Utah in March and last month’s game was canceled due to rain in Salt Lake City.

On Thursday at 6 p.m., BYU hosts Portland (9-34 overall and 5-16 in WCC) to begin a three-game series. The Cougars remain in first place with a 17-4 league record and have senior day on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Five seniors will be honored prior to Saturday’s game: Keaton Cenatiempo, Tanner Chauncey, Brady Corless, Bronson Larsen and Mason Marshall. Chauncey remains as the toughest to strike out in the nation for the second week in a row.

A single BYU wins against Portland would solidify one of four spots in the WCC Tournament later this month. The Cougars moved up in the national rankings from No. 22 to No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Jordan Wood (4-0, 5.06) gets the start against Utah, Maverik Buffo (6-5, 4.67) starts the opening game against Portland, Corless  (5-0, 5.05) is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Pilots at 6 p.m. and Hayden Rogers (6-1, 3.39) will start in Saturday’s finale.

Following this week’s games, BYU hosts Utah Valley next Tuesday in the final game of the home season prior to closing the regular season at Gonzaga next weekend.

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