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STOCKTON, Calif. — After 15 years, the drought is over for BYU baseball.
Next stop: the NCAA Tournament.
David Clawson went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI, and Brock Hale, Daniel Schneemann and Nate Favero each added three hits to help the Cougars pull away from Gonzaga 16-3 in the second game of the championship Saturday, booking the Cougars’ first West Coast Conference tournament title.
By earning the league's automatic NCAA bid with the win, BYU (37-19) clinched its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2002, when the then-31-31-1 Cougars played in the Southern California regional following a second-straight Mountain West Conference tournament title.
Gonzaga opened the scoring by scratching across a run in the bottom of the first inning before BYU turned a double play to end the frame.
But Clawson evened the score with an RBI double in the next inning. Clawson pulled a ball into the right corner of the outfield to push runners to second and third, and Colton Shaver notched his first hit of the tournament with a two-run single up the middle to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead during a run of five-straight hits.
In a game where both teams were short on arms to close the three-day tournament, BYU’s defense also turned out, holding the Zags scoreless in six frames.
Your @WCCsports tournament champs, the BYU Cougars. They are going to a regional for the first time since 2002! pic.twitter.com/4GxSQKP11d
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSprD1) May 28, 2017
Shaver started and ended a 3-6-3 double play to keep the Zags off the board in the second, and Bronson Larsen notched his fourth home run of the tournament to give BYU a 4-1 lead in the fourth.
BYU increased the lead to 10-1 on a triplet of RBI singles by Tanner Chauncey, Keaton Kringlen and Hale during the Cougars’ six-run fifth.
The Zags pulled back two in the bottom of the fifth, but BYU scratched across three more in the top of the seventh and pulled away for good.
BYU starter Kendall Motes, who entered the game with a 7.66 ERA, held the Zags to three runs through the first 4 ⅓ innings. Bo Burrup gave up three hits with five strikeouts in just over four innings of relief for the Cougars.
The NCAA will unveil the championship bracket Monday at 10 a.m. MDT on ESPN2.
Game 1: BYU 10, Gonzaga 3
At Stockton, Calif., Larsen went 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run home run, and BYU baseball blasted three homers for a 10-3 win over Gonzaga in the first game of the day.
BYU sophomore Jordan Wood scattered four hits with five strikes in seven innings, giving up just two earned runs to collect the win before senior Mason Marshall finished the job.
“I just tried to do my own thing,” Wood told TheW.tv. “Low strikes, and let them get over the plate.”
BYU (36-19) struck first when Tanner Chauncey swung big for a three-run home run over the left-field fence at Banner Island Ballpark. Schneemann and Brennon Anderson helped give the Cougars a 3-0 advantage with no outs in the bottom of the first inning of the championship series that BYU had to win twice.
More magic from @bigwizard14!
— TheW.tv (@TheWtv) May 27, 2017
His 3-run 💣 gives @BYUBaseball an 8-2 lead in the 3rd inning! #WCCchampspic.twitter.com/23MNOzL0YH
Larsen added a three-run homer to center field in the bottom of the third, giving BYU an 8-2 lead after the Cougars put the lead runner on base in the first three innings.
After losing its first game of the WCC championships Thursday, BYU eliminated Saint Mary’s and Loyola Marymount in one-loss bracket play Friday to set up Saturday’s championship.