College roundup: James Brooks' bat powers Utes baseball against Washington State

PULLMAN, Wash. — Despite dropping a late lead, the Utah baseball team rallied for a 4-3 victory in extra innings over Washington State on Saturday evening.

James Brooks hit the game-winning home run to lead off the 10th inning as part of a solid day that saw the senior shortstop go 3-for-5 with three RBIs. He also hit a two-RBI double in the seventh inning that gave Utah a 3-2 lead.

Utah starter Brock Duke pitched seven solid innings, allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts. Tyler Wagner entered in the eighth inning, allowing one run on two hits. Wagner picked up the win to go to 2-5 on the year.

Also strong at the plate for the Utes was Tyler Relf, who went 2-for-4 on the day.

BYU BASEBALL: At Seattle, the Redhawks ended BYU's four-game winning streak Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 victory.

The Redhawks (16-15) handcuffed BYU (17-13), limiting the Cougars to four hits, singles in the second, fourth and ninth innings. SU lefty Garrett Anderson and reliever Jake Chutney combined for eight shutout innings.

BYU mustered a pair of unearned runs in the ninth, but could not establish momentum throughout the game despite several jumpstarts.

In the second inning, Cougar third baseman Dillon Robinson hit a two-out single to advance Alex Wolfe, who singled earlier that frame, but the rally ended with a pop-up. Meanwhile, the Redhawks countered with two-runs in the bottom of the second off the first of two BYU errors.

When Cougar lefty Daniel Welch replaced starter Cameron Keysor in the fourth, BYU escaped a bases-loaded situation when two Redhawks flied out to end the threat.

BYU first baseman Brock Whitney minimized the damage in the fifth when he went across the diamond to third to throw out the leadoff batter for the first out.

Wes Guenther got the first out in the sixth when he threw out a Redhawk at second with the swipe tag by shortstop Austin Hall. That sparked the only one-two-three put-down of the afternoon.

When freshman reliever James Lengal took the mound with the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, he fanned the Redhawk batter, then was called for a balk leading to SU's fifth run.

The Cougars took the series with SU, winning three of four games in the road trip in Seattle and split with the Redhawks last month in Provo.

BYU continues non-league play this Tuesday when it hosts Utah in the finale of the Deseret Duel at 6 p.m.

UVU BASEBALL: At Chicago, Jordy Hart's bases-clearing double broke a 7-7 tie and helped the Wolverines to their 15th straight win in a doubleheader sweep, 13-2 and 15-8, over Chicago State. The 15 victories matches a school-record for consecutive wins.

Hart foul tipped a ball into his nose earlier in the game and, after receiving treatment, came back and singled in the same at bat before the go-ahead hit spurred a late rally. His double in the seventh drove home three runs, gave the Wolverines (22-11, 8-0 in GWC) a 10-7 lead and helped UVU sweep four games from the Cougars in Great West Conference action.

The Wolverines pounded out 24 hits in the finale after a 17-hit effort in opening game, a seven-inning contest that ended via the 10-run rule.

In the first game of the twin bill, the Wolverines got a home run in the first inning for the third straight game when Billy Burgess' three-run homer to center got things started.

UVU scored six times in the first and added three in the second to lead 9-0 after two innings. Kai Hatch's triple in the fifth brought home two more runs and extended the lead to 12-0. A Sean Moysh double in the sixth gave UVU a 13-0 lead before Chicago State added two runs in the seventh for the final 13-2 tally.