SURPRISE, Ariz. – BYU baseball lost two close contests to New Mexico on Saturday with the Lobos winning game one, 2-0, before taking game two by a score of 5-4.

“It was a tough day all around,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “It seemed very difficult to score runs, to execute and to string many good at bats together. Overall, pitching was solid again but our inability to make plays when it counted hurt us.”

Game 1 Box Score and Game 2 Box Score

Game 1 Summary

• BYU had at least one man on base in five of nine innings
• New Mexico scored twice in the fourth off a single and an error and then a double
• Three freshmen pitchers saw their first playing time as Cougars, including starter Cy Nielson

Game 1 Player Highlights

• Abraham Valdez: 1-3
• Drew Zimmerman: 2.0 IP, 2 K, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
• Bryce Robison: 2.2 IP, 2 K, 3 H, BB, 0 ER

A two-run fourth inning and 12 Cougar strikeouts led to a win for New Mexico in the morning game.

With a man on second, the Lobos brought him home on a BYU throwing error. One batter later with a runner on first, a double scored run number two before the Cougars could get the final two outs of the inning.

Brock Watkins reached as far as third with no outs for the Cougars in the sixth, but a strikeout and pop out ended any threat.

Starting his first game, freshman Cy Nielson went 3.2 innings with six strikeouts, four hits and a walk in the loss. Freshmen Bryce Robison and Cooper McKeehan also made their BYU debuts in relief, combining with junior Drew Zimmerman to shut out the Lobos over the final five innings.

Game 2 Summary

• Down 3-0, New Mexico scored five runs over two innings to take a permanent lead
• Three more freshmen pitchers made their BYU debuts – Carter Smith, Tyson Heaton and Mikade Johnson
• Hayden Leatham hit a home run in the ninth with two outs to bring the Cougars within one

Game 2 Player Highlights

• Hayden Leatham: 2-5, 2B, HR, R, RBI
• Austin Deming: 1-3, R, BB
• Tyson Heaton: 3.0 IP, 2 H, BB, 0 ER

Four singles and two sacrifice flies put three up on the board for BYU in the top of the second inning to give the Cougars the initial lead. Freshman Joshua Cowden hit a deep fly to left to bring in Mitch McIntyre before freshman Brock Watkins hit a single up the middle with the bases loaded to score sophomore Austin Deming. Freshman Hunter Swapp hit another fly to left to score sophomore Ryan Sepede and put BYU up, 3-0.

New Mexico tied the game in the bottom of the third with a triple, sac fly and double, chasing BYU junior righthander Easton Walker out of the game.

One inning later, a Lobo baserunner scored off an RBI-single after reaching on a Cougar error. The second run of the inning came off a wild pitch, giving New Mexico a 5-3 advantage.

BYU loaded the bases in the fifth but couldn’t scratch one across. Finally in the ninth with two out, Leatham roped a solo shot for his second home run in as many days, but a final out kept the Cougars a run down.

Freshman Carter Smith took the loss in his debut despite not allowing an earned run and just one hit in 1.1 innings of relief. Freshman Tyston Heaton held the Lobos scoreless over three innings while freshman Mikade Johnson closed the game without allowing a run.

The Cougars will play their final game in Arizona against No. 25 Oregon State on Monday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m. MT at Surprise Stadium.

PROVO, Utah – BYU baseball will begin its 2020 season at the Sanderson Ford College Baseball Classic this week in Surprise, Arizona.

The Cougars will play four games in four days, starting with a contest on Friday, Feb. 14, at 5 p.m. MT against West Coast Conference rival Gonzaga in a non-conference affair. The Bulldogs were BYU’s final opponent last season, with the Zags winning 3-1 in the WCC Tournament. The two teams have split their last 10 games in a back-and-forth rivalry of two of the conference’s top teams.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, BYU will play two games against New Mexico with game one starting at 10 a.m. MT and game two at 3 p.m. MT. A former Western Athletic Conference and Mountain West Conference foe, New Mexico faced BYU every year but one from 1987 to 2011 until the Cougars joined the WCC. These will be the first games between the two schools since that time. The Lobos have won seven of the last 10 in the series.

Finally, the Cougars will go up against No. 25 Oregon State on Monday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m. MT. Ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll after reaching the NCAA Tournament last season, the Beavers are on an eight-game winning streak against BYU dating back to the Cougars’ last victory in 1991. This is the first meeting between the two teams since 2009.

Games one, two and four will stream live on FloSports (subscription required) and over the air on the BYU Cougars app and ESPN 960. Game three will stream for free on BYU baseball's Facebook page and the BYU Cougars app. See the BYU baseball schedule page for complete details and links.

BYU is led by head coach Mike Littlewood, the 2019 WCC Coach of the Year who is now in his eighth season with a record of 215-160 (.573). Littlewood led BYU to a 36-17 record last season and the Cougars' third WCC title in the last four seasons.

The Cougars return a core of a pitching staff and have added talented newcomers to a group that finished 22nd in the nation last year with a 3.65 ERA, the program's lowest mark since 1982. Starting game one for BYU will be junior right hander Justin Sterner (8-4 record, 2.95 ERA in 2019) with game two going to freshman left hander Cy Nielson out of Spanish Fork, Utah. Junior right hander Easton Walker (8-3, 2.59) will start game three and senior right hander Jarod Lessar (3-2, 4.44) will start game four.

In the field, All-WCC junior Mitch McIntyre returns to the outfield after hitting .291 with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 30 walks in 2019. Fellow junior outfielder Danny Gelalich returns after batting .328 last year. In the infield, senior Abraham Valdez is set to start at catcher while a combination of underclassmen will play around the bases.