MORE COUGARS: After facing the Cougars of Washington State last weekend, Seattle University welcomes the Cougars of BYU to the Puget Sound area for a four-game weekend series. Thursday's doubleheader and Saturday's series finale will take place at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, while Friday's game will be held at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. Seattle U will play 13 of its next 15 games at home, giving the Redhawks a chance to maintain the positive momentum they have enjoyed throughout most of the season.
PROBABLE STARTERS
- Thursday, April 12 (Game 1): RHP Brandon Kizer (3-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Capper (2-4, 2.72 ERA)
- Thursday, April 12 (Game 2): RHP Bryan Dalton (1-1, 4.13 ERA) vs. RHP Marc Oslund (2-0, 3.05 ERA)
- Friday, April 13: TBA vs. RHP Desmond Poulson (0-2, 5.17 ERA)
- Saturday, April 14: TBA vs. TBA
THE WASHINGTON STATE SERIES: Seattle U started last weekend's series against Washington State on a good note, taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning of Thursday's game. However, the Cougars scored one run in the eighth and one run in the ninth to pull out a 2-1 victory. The loss overshadowed another great start by senior Brandon Kizer, who gave up seven hits, two walks, and one run in eight innings of work. Friday, Washington State controlled the game from the start, scoring in seven of its eight offensive innings in a 19-1 blowout. The Redhawks fed off the embarassment Saturday afternoon, scoring in the top of the first and hanging with Washington State all afternoon. Down 4-3 with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Riley Tompkins hit a two-run double to pull Seattle U ahead. Garrett Anderson gave up only a solo home run in 3 2/3 innings of relief, and Eric Yardley struck out the last two Cougar batters to pick up the save in the 5-4 Redhawk victory.
WHERE TO CATCH THE ACTION: Live stats will be offered for all four games on GoSeattleU.com, as will live audio with Dan Giuliani. Depending on weather conditions and other factors, live video is a possibility, visit GoSeattleU.com for the latest information.
SCHEDULE CHANGES: With Seattle U losing two games so far this season to the weather, the Redhawks have added a game to this weekend's series against BYU, making Thursday a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Also, Seattle U will now travel south Wednesday, April 25, to face Portland in a single game starting at 3 p.m. Changes have also been made to the season-ending series against the Pilots due to the KingCo playoffs being held at Bannerwood Park. The start time Friday, May 25, has been moved up to 1 p.m., while the games May 26 and 27 are now at Bellevue College.
SCOUTING BYU: The Cougars come into the weekend series with a 14-12 overall record after winning two of three games over Loyola Marymount last weekend. BYU is now 6-3 in West Coast Conference play, tied for second in the league standings. As a team, the Cougars have compiled a .257 batting average, a .969 fielding percentage, and a 3.81 earned run average. At the plate, Tanner Chauncey leads the team with a .349 batting average, driving in 15 runs so far this season. Jaycob Brugman is batting .296 and leads the team with 18 RBI and four triples. For the second straight weekend, Seattle U will face a reigning conference player of the week, as Alex Wolfe received the weekly honor from the WCC after hitting .500 (7-for-14) against LMU with four runs scored and four RBI. On the mound, Mason Marshall is the player to watch coming out of the bullpen. He has made a team-high 13 appearances, going 1-0 with seven saves and a 0.44 earned run average, striking out 19 batters in 20 2/3 innings of work.
SEATTLE U VS. BYU: BYU leads the all-time series, 5-3. BYU defeated Seattle U March 30, 1979, 9-4, in Riverside, Calif. After the rebirth of the Seattle U baseball program in 2008, BYU came to Bannerwood Stadium for a two-game series April 29-30, 2010. In the first game, the score was 2-2 from the seventh inning through the 16th inning, when a single by Mike Malland drove in Nate Roberts with the winning run for the Redhawks. The next day, BYU held a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning, but Seattle U came back, as a two-run single by Phil Parrish tied the game and an RBI single from Doug Buser drove in Steve Kirbach with the winning run. Last season, BYU hosted a three-game series at Miller Park May 5-7. In the first game, Seattle U held a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but the Cougars scored once to tie the game, and Stephen Wells hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th to give BYU a 4-3 victory. The Cougars used the momentum from that game the rest of the weekend, sweeping the series with a 13-3 victory and a 10-3 win. Earlier this season, the teams played a doubleheader in Provo, Utah. Game one was a pitcher's duel between starters Brandon Kizer and Chris Capper. Riley Tompkins scored the game-tying run in the seventh inning and drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning to give the Redhawks a 2-1 victory. The Cougars dominated the second game of the twinbill, scoring three runs in the third inning and five runs in the eighth inning on their way to a 9-2 victory.