Lund has huge night for an 8-2 win by No. 24 BYU at Portland

PORTLAND, Oregon (March 31, 2016)—Brennon Lund belted three doubles and a leadoff home run Thursday night to pace No. 24 BYU baseball in an 8-2 victory over Portland.

Lund went 4-for-5 on the evening, just a double shy of tying the school record, as he scored three runs to lead the Cougars to a 21-3 overall record and 5-2 record in the West Coast Conference. That WCC mark gives BYU a half-game lead over Saint Mary's for first place in league standings.

“Brennon (Lund) set the tone for us in his first at bat and carried it throughout the game,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.

“It was a gutty performance by Mike (Rucker) tonight. He wasn’t sharp early, but he made a few adjustments and finished with a strong outing.”

With Lund’s homer and subsequent doubles, BYU took a commanding 5-0 lead through three innings to give Michael Rucker that needed cushion. Rucker improves to 6-0, striking out five and surrendering as many hits in six complete innings from 90 pitches.

Close behind on the offensive end were Keaton Kringlen and Colton Shaver who added home run clouts in the second and fifth innings.

Shaver leads the team with seven homers, with Thursday’s bomb being a two-run shot that plated Jackson Cluff in the fifth for an 8-1 lead. Shaver also doubled in the third to score Cluff as part of his five RBI for the evening.

While not a save situation, lefty Bo Burrup relieved fellow freshman Easton Walker in the eighth frame with the bases loaded and one out to help the Cougars out of a jam.

“We had a great offensive approach tonight against Jordan Wilcox and need to continue that into Friday and Saturday,” Littlewood said. Lund extended his team-leading hitting streak to seven games, while Kringlen improved to a six-game streak.

Portland is now even at 13-13 overall and 1-3 in the WCC. The three-game series continues Friday at 6 p.m. PDT, with a game streamed live on TheW.tv, and on Saturday morning. Both games will be broadcast live by ESPNRadio960 AM, but only Friday’s will be streamed live on BYU Radio—Sirius Satellite 143.