BYU at Pepperdine game 3 box score

MALIBU, Calif. (March 31, 2018)—Opportunity knocked 16 times Saturday for BYU baseball, but it could only cash in twice in a 5-2 loss at Pepperdine Saturday.

It was a frustrating day for the Cougars, whose record is now 14-12 and 3-6 in the West Coast Conference. Pepperdine improved to 12-14 overall and 4-5 in the WCC.

Back-to-back singles by Nate Favero and Mitch McIntyre set up BYU’s first run to tie the game in the second inning.  With two outs, Brennon Anderson also singled to center to plate Favero. Favero ended up going 3-for-4 and scoring a pair of runs to lead all Cougars.

BYU couldn’t generate the clutch hit when needed. A couple things went right for the Cougars who retired the Waves in order in the second and seventh innings.  Daniel Schneemann threw out the lead runner at the hot corner in the third for out number two which ended up costing the Waves a run. Also, the Waves lined out to Favero at third in the sixth with the bases loaded.

Pepperdine regained the lead, 3-1, with a two-run homer down the right field line in the fourth.

In the sixth inning BYU loaded the bases with one out and a Pepperdine pitching change, but only scored another run from Favero when Jarrett Perns was hit by a pitch to close the gap to 4-2.

Again in the seventh frame, bases were loaded for the Cougars, but all of the runners were stranded. The Cougars landed on first and second bases in the first four innings leading to no further runs.

BYU now readies for a rematch against Utah on Tuesday in a contest to be played at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City at 6 p.m. MDT.

Game notes for UVU, Pepperdine

As the month of March concludes, BYU baseball finishes its series with Utah Valley and plays its first league road games with three games at Pepperdine.

Tuesday’s 6 p.m. MDT game at UVU will likely be an all-staff day for the pitching rotation for both teams in the UCCU Crosstown Clash. UVU has a 9-12 record, BYU is 12-9 and Pepperdine is 10-13. The Cougars and the Waves each have 2-4 records in the West Coast Conference.

“Utah Valley is always a big game for us,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “Traditionally, we haven’t played well at Pepperdine. It will be a challenge at Pepperdine because we have put ourselves in a situation where we need to beat good teams on the road.

“I was proud of the way our guys played last week. We are resilient and saw some good things. We came out of our corner fighting, and that’s all I can ask of our team,” Littlewood said after an 11-game home stand.

BYU will likely continue its pitching rotation at Pepperdine of having Jordan Wood (2-1, 3.43), Hayden Rogers (3-2, 5.14) and Blake Inouye (1-2, 6.04) as starters in games Thursday and Friday at 3 p.m. PDT and on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Cougars posted a 3-4 record since beating UVU 9-3 earlier this month, while the Wolverines have won four of their last six games.