The BYU Cougars took the early lead in the first game and took control of the second game in the middle innings, sweeping the Seattle University Redhawks in a collegiate baseball doubleheader Thursday, 6-3 and 9-3, at Bannerwood Stadium.
With two outs in the first inning of the first game, BYU put together five consecutive singles, including RBI singles by Alex Wolfe, Austin Hall, and Kelton Caldwell that gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first inning, Trent Oleszczuk (Beaverton, Ore.) led off with a single, followed by a single by Ryan Somers (Sammamish, Wash.). Riley Tompkins (Lynnwood, Wash.) drove in Oleszczuk with a double to left field, and Somers scored on a groundout by Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.). Tompkins advanced to third on the Olson groundout, but was stranded there, keeping the score 3-2 in favor of BYU.
BYU (16-12) continued to hit Seattle U starter Brandon Kizer (Marysville, Wash.) hard in the second inning, as Stephen Wells led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on a single by Wes Guenther. Jaycob Brugman drove in Guenther with a double to left field, increasing the Cougars' lead to 5-2 and chasing Kizer from the game.
Evan Ewing (Spokane, Wash.) kept Seattle U in the game, allowing just two hits, two walks, and one run in 5 2/3 innings of relief, striking out two Cougar batters. Kyle Doyle (Covington, Wash.) also pitched well, giving up just one hit in 1 2/3 innings of work and striking out three opposing batters.
Unfortunately, the Redhawks could not close their deficit despite putting runners on base in every inning. In the second inning, Seattle U had runners on first and third with just one out, but Marcelino Morales (Pasco, Wash.) was caught stealing second base and, after Oleszczuk walked, Somers ended the inning with a groundout.
Seattle U had two runners on base in both the fifth and sixth innings, but Cougar starter Chris Capper was able to pitch out of both jams on the way to his third victory of the season. In the ninth inning, Somers singled and Tompkins walked, but Olson hit into a 5-4-3 double play to lessen the potential of the rally. Josh Kutz (Seattle, Wash.) drove in Somers with a single, but BYU reliever Chris Howard forced a flyout to end the game in the Cougars' favor.
BYU scored first in the second game when Caldwell led off the third inning with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single to left field by Wells. Meanwhile, Cougar starter Marc Oslund faced the minimum nine Redhawk batters in the first three innings, as Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) was caught stealing after reaching base on an error.
Oleszczuk walked to lead off the fourth inning, Tompkins drew a one-out walk, and Somers singled to right-center field to load the bases. After Oleszczuk was cut down on a fielder's choice grounder hit by Newton, Jace Sloan (Puyallup, Wash.) laced a single to left field, scoring both Tompkins and Somers to give the Redhawks a 2-1 lead.
BYU responded in the fifth inning, as Wells and Tanner Chauncey drew back-to-back walks. Guenther sent a single into left field, scoring Wells with the tying run. Seattle U starter Bryan Dalton (Vancouver, Wash.) threw the third wild pitch of his outing, scoring Chauncey to give the Cougars a 3-2 advantage.
In the sixth inning, Redhawk reliever Grant Gunning (Snohomish, Wash.) gave up back-to-back doubles to Caldwell and Dillon Robinson, and Wells followed with a single up the middle that scored Robinson. After a single by Chauncey, Guenther doubled to right-center field, scoring Chauncey to increase BYU's lead to 6-2.
Michael Tevlin (Billings, Mont.) led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a triple and scored on a single by Tompkins, but that would be the final hit of the game for Seattle U, as Oslund and Cougar relievers David Parry and Adam Miller combined to give up only two walks in the final four innings while forcing the Redhawks to hit into two double plays. Meanwhile, BYU scored three more times in the eighth inning to solidify the doubleheader sweep.
BYU collected 27 hits during the day, led by Hall with five hits and four hits apiece from Guenther, Brugman, and Caldwell. After earning 11 hits in the first game, Seattle U was held to five hits in the nightcap.
Seattle University (15-14) will look to get back on the winning track in the third game of the weekend series against BYU Friday, April 13, at 6 p.m. at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. Dan Giuliani will provide the broadcast on GoSeattleU.com, and live stats will also be available on the Redhawks athletics website.