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With the game tied, bases loaded, two outs, and full count to pinch-hitter Dan Vargas, the Cougar freshman hit a single between third and short to score Ben Saylor.
“It was sure nice for him to come through,†said BYU Coach Vance Law. “We did what was necessary for us to be successful. We continue to play for 27 outs. This was a very sweet victory.â€
The victory gives BYU a 32-26 record and keeps it undefeated in the tourney to face either TCU or New Mexico.
With the loss, the Utes are 28-27, playing on Thursday against the survivor of San Diego State-UNLV.
BYU’s improbable ninth-inning heroics started with the Utes in command on an 8-4 lead. The first five of the needed Cougar runs came when Blake Crosby led off with a double to left field. Vargas replaced Crosby and narrowly made it to third on Casey Nelson’s single. Stetson Banks then scored Vargas on a single through the right side.
With Austin Carter representing the tying run at bat, he hit a single to right center to score Nelson to make the score 8-6. Banks scored off a sac-fly by Marcos Villezcas. Saylor then singled in Carter with a single to right field.
Saylor then stole second on the first pitch by new reliever Brian Lane. That set up an consecutive intentional walks to Jeff Hiestand and Kent Walton. Between those walks, substitute Seth Johnson grounded out, moving Saylor to third and Hiestand to second.
“This doesn’t happen very often to score five runs in the ninth, especially against our rivals,†said Law. “Our guys deserve all the credit. We feel like they are never out of it, but it wasn’t looking too good for us for seven innings.â€
For the first seven innings, Ute pitcher Lucas Trinnaman had BYU’s number to the tune of five hits and a shutout through five innings. Trinnaman got healthy support from his teammates who built a 7-0 lead.
Jay Brossman hit his 10th home run of the season over the left-center fence, a three-run blast in the first inning.
After Cougar freshman Jordan Muir picked up his team-best eight strikeouts in the fourth, averaging two an inning to that point against the Utes, he gave up back-to-back doubles which brought in three runs. With the score, 6-0, Muir got his ninth strikeout, finally stopping Brossman who had homered and doubled in the first and third.
Muir was touched for a seventh run before being replaced in the fifth by lefty Jake Wortham.
Conversely, Trinnaman had thrown a one-hitter until the fifth when Kasey Ko hit a lead-off single. Ko was thrown out at second on a fielder’s choice by Crosby, making Walton the only Cougar to reach second base, off his single in the second.
Villezcas broke the drought for BYU in the sixth when he stroked a home run, his second of the season, over the rightfield fence to escape a shutout, 7-1. It was only the third hit given up by Trinnaman.
When Hiestand got BYU’s fourth hit to lead off the seventh, he was only the fifth Cougar to run the bases. Ko collected his second hit of the game, right behind Hiestand, prompting the first activity in the Ute bullpen. Hiestand made it to third on Walton’s fielder’s choice and scored on Crosby’s sac-fly to reflect the score 7-2.
Utah escaped a blow in the seventh when Banks’ poke to second was bobbled, but Walton was caught wide on the turn to third and got out in a rundown to end the seventh.
Hiestand hit a two-run single with one out in the eighth, closing the margin to 7-4 with Trinnaman off the mound. Hiestand’s hit was the third hit surrendered by Brad Devore in the eighth and he advanced to second on Ko’s follow-up single. Utah turned a fortuitous double play to close the eighth when Walton’s attempt to advance the two men went for naught.
Ute caught another break when Cougar reliever Anthony Bingham’s first toss on a called intentional walk to MWC Player of the Year Ryan Khoury was wild in the ninth, allowing an eighth run. With two out and men on the corners, reliever Josh Barrett picked off Khoury on first rather than finish off sub Tyler Kmetko.
Barrett, who had barely gotten in the game, picked up his fourth victory against no losses by cheering for his teammates’ comeback from the dugout.
It was the fourth consecutive come-from-behind victory for BYU over Utah in less than a week.
