Gaels Ruin Inaugural Game in WCC

MORAGA, Calif. (February 23, 2012)—Host St. Mary’s College defeated BYU 7-2 Thursday in the Cougars’ inaugural West Coast Conference baseball game.

BYU, now 2-2, fell to the undefeated Gaels, 5-0, in the league debut after taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Alex Wolfe was driven in by Wes Guenther.  SMC rallied back using a three-run triple by No. 9 batter Donald Collins to take a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of that frame.

Collins’ triple was one of a four two-out productions in the third, sixth and seventh innings that doomed the Cougars, as did SMC double plays in the sixth and seventh frames to stop BYU rallies.

“One of our mantras is when we score, we try to hold them in the next half,” said BYU coach Vance Law.  “We need to bear down and not lose our concentration. We didn’t do a good job once we got two outs.

Gael junior Martin Agosta scattered seven hits, walked none and struck out six Cougars to impress the several pro scouts on hand.

“He (Agosta) made a couple quality pitches in tough situations and got us to ground into double plays, ending potential rallies,” said Law.  “He scattered those hits and didn’t allow us to get them in bunches.  We battled hard at the plate, but sometimes we swung early in the count without our best swing.”

BYU senior Austin Hall got BYU’s only extra-base hit, a double in the ninth that set him to score BYU’s final run.  Hall, Guenther and Dillon Robinson extended their hitting streaks to three games, while Jaycob Brugman leads the Cougars with a four-game streak.

The two teams resume the three-game series on Friday at 2 p.m., PST, in a game  broadcast, live on AM Radio 960 locally and on the Internet.