BYU pounds Zags

J.C. Snyder and Hayden Nielsen each drove in a pair of runs during a seven-run fifth inning and the Brigham Young Cougars stormed past the Gonzaga Bulldogs 11-4 in West Coast Conference baseball action on Thursday at Miller Park in Provo, Utah.

The Bulldogs (18-25, 13-9 WCC) built a 3-1 lead before disaster struck in the fifth.

Gonzaga starter Taylor Jones exited after allowing back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the fifth.

GU reliever Kenny Smith (1-5) entered the game and retired just one of the next seven batters. He allowed five runs on three hits before Ben Brown came in and got the final two outs.

BYU (18-25, 8-11) added three more runs in the seventh off of GU lefty Derek Callahan. Sean-Luke Brija threw a scoreless sixth inning and Wyatt Mills blanked the Cougars in the eighth as GU used six pitchers to get through the game.

All three Gonzaga runs came in the fifth inning.

Brock Slavin and Beau Bozett drew back-to-back walks and advanced a base on Mitchell Gunsolus’ sacrifice bunt. Caleb Wood drilled a two-run single and later scored on a wild pitch.

Awards

A pair of Eastern Washington Eagles tennis players earned All-Big Sky honors, the conference announced.

Freshman Robert Dula was named to the men’s first team after finishing the season with a 13-9 record in No. 1 singles play, including a 7-3 mark in Big Sky play.

Dula also posted an 8-10 record in No. 1 doubles play.

Junior Moira Hedberg was named to the first team for the second straight season. Hedberg was 10-11 in singles play, including a 6-4 mark in the Big Sky. Hedberg also had a 9-10 record in No. 1 doubles.