Kringlen's unlikely homer helps BYU baseball hand Saint Mary's 1st loss in WCC play

PROVO — Keaton Kringlen saw the missed flyball in right field, and immediately began rounding first base for second.

When he got to second, he made his way toward third. And there, BYU head baseball coach Mike Littlewood waved him toward home.

Why not?

The 5-foot-10, 210-pound outfielder rumbled home on a two-run, inside-the-park homer to give BYU a 7-6 lead, and closer Keaton Cenatiempo did the rest to help the Cougars hand league-leading Saint Mary’s its first in West Coast Conference play Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.

“As soon as I saw it go under his feet, I just ran as hard as I could. Coach Littlewood sent me home on a bad throw, and it worked out,” Kringlen said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the conference, and giving them a loss gets other teams scared. It’s a huge momentum builder, and gives us confidence going through the West Coast Conference.”

Kyle Dean was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead BYU (12-11, 2-2 WCC), and Tanner Chauncey went 2-for-5 with a double.

Kringlen’s first hit of the game came in the seventh inning, but his rip to the left-field wall drove in himself and Brock Hale in the bottom of the seventh.

After the slugger from Cedar City showed off his wheels in rounding third base, the game was delayed by thunderstorms that hammered Utah County across Thursday afternoon. BYU players put a tarp over the field and headed to the dugout for nearly an hour-long break.

After losing swagger by going down for good after two innings, the Cougars had all the momentum as they stared at the rain and watched a more-dejected Saint Mary’s team in the opposite dugout waiting out the storm.

“We knew the weather was coming in, and we had to just stay mentally strong and stay patient,” Littlewood said. “We just sat in the dugout — didn’t even go into the clubhouse — but watched the rain; we knew it was going to stop with these wonderful apps we have now.

“We probably would’ve stayed here until 10 or 11 to get this game in.”

Kringlen’s homer was BYU’s first-inside-the-park home run since Stetson Banks speedily rounded the bases against Utah Valley in 2009. It was just the third such-homer since 2000 for BYU’s baseball program.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“Momentum is huge, and we struggled with momentum through the whole game,” said Kringlen, a .333 hitter who drilled his second home run of the year Thursday. “But that got us going; we had a little life in the dugout. Then Keaton Cenatiempo did a great job to wrap us up.”

After a delay of nearly an hour, Cenatiempo did the rest. The closer picked up his third save of the season, pitching two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, no hits and no walks.

Cenatiempo also played defense, turning a quick 1-3 put-out in the eighth inning while holding the Gaels hitless in coming on for winning pitcher Riley Gates.

“I thought Riley did a great job, chewing up a couple of innings and then showing a great look from the left side,” Littlewood said.

“Keaton’s been our guy lately. He has that closer mentality, and we are going to ride that as long as we can. Hopefully, that is until about June 15.”

Edward Haus drove in three runs to lead Saint Mary’s, including breaking a tie in the fifth inning by smashing a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield that scored Zach Kirtley from third with runners on the corners. The Gaels took the 6-5 advantage into the seventh inning before Hale wheeled around to second base prior to Kringlen’s magic.

After Loyola Marymount pitcher Cory Abbott tossed a perfect game against BYU in Los Angeles, the Cougars rallied to pick up back-to-back wins after Tuesday’s rivalry victory at Utah.

BYU will finish off the three-game series with Saint Mary’s Friday and Saturday before a Monday afternoon game against Oregon at Miller Park.

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