BYU vs. Omaha Game Three Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Drew Zimmerman earned his first win, leading BYU's baseball team to a 6-4 victory over Omaha in the final game of the series Saturday afternoon.

"Sweeping anybody is tough to do," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. "Today, they had four or five chances to take the lead and we had four or five chances to expand the lead and didn’t get it done, but we will take the win. We just had a team meeting after the game, even though we swept, it didn’t feel right, something was missing. So, I said 'let’s do it by committee, come together and get it done.' "

The Cougars improved to 8-6 on the season and the Mavericks dropped to 4-11.

After a scoreless first inning, Brock Hale stepped up to the plate and homered out to left field to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

In the third, Jarrett Perns and Brennon Anderson led off with singles. With runners on second and third, Daniel Schneemann singled to center field for an RBI. Keaton Kringlen hit a sacrifice fly to center field, sending Anderson home for the third BYU run. With one out and the bases loaded, another sacrifice fly by Brian Hsu allowed Schneemann to cross for a 4-0 BYU advantage.

With runners on first and second in the top of the fourth, Omaha got on the board after a single up the middle by Ben Palensky. A sacrifice fly by Cole Thibodeau put the Mavericks within two, 4-2.

The Cougars answered with two quick runs of their own when Schneemann singled up the middle for a two RBI, extending the BYU lead to 6-2 after four.

In the top of the fifth and freshman Zimmerman (1-1) on the mound for the first time at Miller Field, a double and a pair of walks loaded the bases for UNO. Zimmerman threw a 91 MPH fastball as he caught a batter swinging for the first out. The next two batters popped up to end the inning.

A single to right field and a double to center field gave the Mavericks two runs in the eighth off of closer Jake Suddreth, cutting into the BYU margin, 6-4. Suddreth hung on in the ninth and picked up his third save, as the Cougars secured the third win in the series.

In the three-game series, Saturday's attendance was the highest with 1,731 at Larry H. Miller Field.

BYU hosts Utah Valley in the UCCU Crosstown Clash this Tuesday at 6 p.m. MDT at Miller Field. The game will be televised on BYUtv and audio streaming will be dependent on NCAA basketball pairings.

BYU vs. Omaha Game Notes

The official debut of BYU baseball’s new state-of-the-art field is Thursday against Nebraska Omaha to start a three-game series.

This week for the first time, the Cougars will play an NCAA game on the new field at Miller Park. In the history of BYU baseball it has always played on natural grass, including the past 48 years at the present site at Larry H. Miller Field.

The synthetic turf field looks stunning. The most valuable upgrade is the heating and drainage system that was installed underneath.

The new system can melt three to four inches of snow and drain 19 inches of water per hour, allowing a lot more field time during the winter months. Bullpens and batting cages were also expanded and a new bunting station was added since last season.

On this new surface, BYU looks to better its current 5-6 record in hosting the Mavericks. Omaha took a 4-7 record into a Tuesday night game at Minnesota. For three weeks the Cougars have been on the road. The series against Omaha starts an 11-game home stand for BYU.

On Thursday at 5 p.m., junior right-hander Jordan Wood (0-1, 3.71) will be BYU’s starting pitcher. Freshman right-hander Ryan Brady (0-0, 9.45) is scheduled to start in Friday’s game at 5 p.m. Senior lefthander Hayden Rogers (2-1, 4.05) will start in Saturday’s series finale at 11 a.m.

Both the Cougars and Mavericks landed player of the week honors this past week for their respective leagues.

Omaha pitcher Kinney Payton threw 140 pitches last Sunday in a no-hitter against Ohio for Summit League honors and National Pitcher of the Week honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. His team is ranked No. 2 in the nation in sacrifice bunts.

BYU slugger Brock Hale was the West Coast Conference Player of the week in raising his batting average 103 percentage points.

Admission will be free to Thursday’s game for those showing “A Pass of All Passes,” and to Saturday’s dollar hot dog game for Rex Lee Runners.

All of the BYU vs. Omaha games will be streamed live over the Internet and broadcast live over BYU Radio—Sirius XM 143. Saturday’s game will be televised live by BYUtv and broadcast live by ESPN Radio 960 AM.

Pending the outcome of Utah Valley basketball games in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, Thursday and Friday’s BYU baseball games may also have coverage on ESPN 960 AM.