Seniors spark BYU win over San Francisco

PROVO, Utah — The seniors came up big for No. 25 BYU baseball on Senior Day to beat San Francisco 17-9 at Larry H. Miller Field on Saturday in the final home game of the season.

"Our entire team fought hard today, and it was great to see three seniors step up and and put the team on their shoulders," BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said.

BYU vs. San Francisco Box Score

Game Summary

• Seniors Bo Burrup, Riley Gates, Brock Hale, Noah Hill, Brian Hsu, Blake Inouye, Casey Jacobsen, Keaton Kringlen and Jordan Wood were honored prior to the game
• Hale and Jacobsen went on to hit two of the four BYU home runs on the day to spark the offense
• Inouye anchored the defense with five strikeouts in four innings to win the win
• BYU scored 16 of its 17 runs with two outs, hitting a season high eight extra base hits (four doubles, four home runs)

Player Highlights

• Brock Hale: 2-5, HR (Grand Slam), 2 R, BB, 4 RBI
• Jackson Cluff: 4-5, 2 2B, HR, 4 R, BB, SB, 6 RBI
• Blake Inouye: W (2-1), 4.1 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

The Dons opened the scoring with four runs in the second inning, chasing BYU starter Justin Sterner out early. The game took a 10-minute delay in the same inning when a pitch struck the home plate umpire, causing him to leave the game before the Cougars got their third out to end the inning. 

BYU answered in the bottom of the second when, with bases loaded and two outs, Brock Hale hit a bomb into the trees in left field to tie the game. It was Hale’s second grand slam of the series. Jackson Cluff and Ryan Sepede followed with back-to-back doubles to score Cluff and enter the third inning with a 5-4 lead.

USF came right back and tied the game in the following inning on an RBI single, then loaded the bases with just one out. A double deep to right field brought three Dons across home plate to put them up 8-5 in the top of the third. The Cougars then opted for another pitching change, bringing in Blake Inouye who retired the Dons with two quick outs.

A six-run third inning gave BYU the lead once again in the bottom of the third. Once again the Cougars loaded the bases with Cluff doubling to bring in all three runners and tie the game back up. Mitch McIntyre followed with the Cougars’ second home run of the day to score another three runs, giving BYU an 11-8 lead.

Casey Jacobsen extended the lead with his third home run of the year to leadoff the sixth inning. Inouye stayed strong in relief, going 4.1 innings in total with one earned run, no walks and five strikeouts.

After San Francisco scored a run to close the lead to 12-9, McIntyre came from the outfield to pitch. With the bases loaded and two outs, McIntyre got a huge strikeout to hold off the Dons’ comeback attempt.

The Cougars kept pouring it on in the seventh inning, with an RBI-single from Sepede and pinch runner Jaren Hall crossing home soon after on another single. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Cluff hit the fourth BYU homer of the game to score three more runs and extend the lead to 17-9.

Cluff finished 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored and six RBIs to go with a walk and a stolen base. Hale added the grand slam, going 2-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk. Sepede, Noah Hill, McIntyre, Jacobsen and Danny Gelalich had two hits apiece as well.

BYU stays local to take on the University of Utah on Tuesday, May 14, at 6 p.m. MDT before heading to Santa Clara for the final WCC series of the regular season next weekend.