Rucker, No. 30 Cougars 'all business' in opening WCC Tourney


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PROVO — BYU right-hander Michael Rucker has been as good as any pitcher in the nation — one of just four pitchers in NCAA Division I baseball to have at least 10 wins with no losses.

But a pitcher is only as good as the bats behind him, something Rucker knows all too well.

Rucker (11-0) is scheduled to take the hill Thursday when second-seeded BYU opens the West Coast Conference Tournament against No. 3-seed Gonzaga at 8 p.m. MT in Stockton, California.

“I haven’t had as much run support as a starting pitcher in any year as I’ve had this year,” said Rucker, who boasts a 2.58 ERA and has allowed two hits or fewer nine times in 2016. “Guys know when I come out on the mound, we’re going to have a good chance to win. They know I can bounce back and give ourselves the best chance to win a ballgame. For me, if I do give up a couple of runs, there’s still a ballgame to play catch up. If I can just hold them and do my job, our offense will take care of it.”

A projected third-to-fifth round MLB draft pick this summer, Rucker would love to finish the season on a winning streak — starting Thursday against former team, Gonzaga.

The junior right-hander knows a half-dozen players on the Bulldogs’ roster since transferring from Gonzaga after his freshman year in 2013. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound hurler remembered with fondness former grayshirt outfielder Jeff Bohling, who has turned into one of the Zags’ more consistent hitters with a .301 average, a .532 slugging percentage and a team-high seven home runs en route to WCC Player of the Year honors.

Photo: Chris Samuels, Deseret News
Photo: Chris Samuels, Deseret News

But Rucker, himself a first-team all-conference selection, will hope to do a little more than look back on his freshman days in the dorms at St. Catherine/St. Monica Hall on Cincinatti Road in Spokane, Washington, on Thursday.

“It’s definitely fun,” Rucker said while recalling his friendships with Gonzaga players. “But once we step inside the lines, it’s all business.”

Business is what the Cougars like to hear from Rucker, with the confidence he gives them every time he steps on the mound.

“Having Mike on the mound for our first game of any series, it’s a good feeling,” said freshman Keaton Kringlen, one of BYU’s top hitters with a .368 average and a .549 slugging percentage. “You know he’s going to show and throw strikes, to pound the zone. It’s a comfortable feeling. You go out on the field, and you know he’s going to get the job done.”

Kringlen, who was named WCC freshman of the year Tuesday, has been a major force in the Cougars’ offensive execution that has led to their first conference title since 2001. That’s not the only streak BYU hopes to put to bed this week, though — the Cougars haven’t been to an NCAA Regional since 2002.

“It hasn’t happened for a long time at BYU, and it’s just a good feeling to get it back in our hands,” Kringlen said of the conference title, which BYU shared with Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga. “We had a good team this year, and I think we have a young team, too. It’s uphill from here, and that’s what we want. We’re happy we got it done this year so we can build on years going forward.”


We had a good team this year, and I think we have a young team, too. It’s uphill from here, and that’s what we want. We’re happy we got it done this year so we can build on years going forward.

–BYU baseball's Keaton Kringlen


At No. 48 nationally in RPI, BYU may be able to garner an at-large bid to the tournament, as well. But the Cougars can boost their resume significantly with a win over Gonzaga (No. 30 RPI) on Thursday, and can take it out of the committee’s hands with a tournament championship Friday.

“I think it’s just going along with the goals we set out at the beginning of the season,” Ruck said. “We wanted to give ourselves the best chance to make it into the tournament, and as we played, we’ve averaged going 2-1 against every team. That was our goal, to win each series at home and get a few series away.

“We’re just going down the pecking order of goals we’ve had this year, and now we just have to keep winning. It starts Thursday against Gonzaga.”

BYU only lost two series in WCC play — but both of those teams made the tournament in top-seeded Saint Mary’s and fourth-seeded Pepperdine, who face off in the first tourney game Thursday at 4 p.m. MT. All games will be streamed online at TheW.tv.

Neither of those teams have the same attention as the Bulldogs, though, who will surely hope they can double their season win total of BYU this week.

“The competition between us and them is always great,” Kringlen said. “It’ll probably be the same with this matchup; we’re going to compete hard against each other for the whole game. We just have to stay focused, and compete hard mentally and physically through the whole game. I think we’ll be fine.”

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Thursday’s appearance in the WCC Tournament is a big step in the four-year process of BYU coach Mike Littlewood, who moved up from Dixie State to take the job at his alma mater and built a program that has grown in camaraderie and chemistry over the past four seasons.

“It’s shown over the past three years since I’ve been here: every year, we’ve gotten a little bit better, had a little more talent,” Rucker said, “and then just had a little more self awareness and self identity of who we are as a baseball team and what we need to do every day to win.”

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