BYU Evens Series with West Virginia

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (8-7, 1-1) dropped the first game of the doubleheader to the BYU Cougars (7-6, 1-1) Friday afternoon 4-1 to even the series. 

West Virginia redshirt sophomore starting pitcher David Hagaman struck out four Cougars in the first two inning before giving up a walk in the third. BYU sophomore Bryker Hurdsman registered the first hit off Hagaman in the fourth with a leadoff single to left centerfield but batters interference on an attempted steal at second registered the second out of the inning. 

BYU junior Cooper Vest doubled into the gap in right centerfield, then proceeded to steal third, and an errant throw to third scored Vest for a 1-0 Cougars lead. 

The Cougars added a run in the fifth when Brock Watkins worked a leadoff walk before redshirt freshman Keoni Painter delivered an RBI single to extend the BYU lead 2-0. 

West Virginia freshman Spencer Barnett put the Mountaineers on the board with a leadoff in the sixth to cut the BYU lead in half 2-1. 

In the eighth, West Virginia sophomore reliever Carson Estridge struck out two before beaning redshirt sophomore Collin Reuter and a wild pitch moved Reuter to second. Then, sophomore Parker Goff dropped an RBI single into leftfield for the 3-1 advantage. 

The Cougars added a run in the ninth after singles from Painter and sophomore Luke Anderson and redshirt sophomore reliever Tommy Beam hit Hurdsman to load the bases before Reuter delivered an RBI single to rightfield for the 4-1 BYU lead.

West Virginia brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom, but senior reliever Mason Olson registered his sixth strikeout in two and two thirds innings of work as the Cougars held on for the 4-1 decision.