BYU baseball lost its home opener to Cal Baptist, 13-11, at Miller Park on Thursday. The game featured a high-scoring fifth inning for BYU, which saw the team hit three home runs and score nine runs to briefly take the lead.
Cal Baptist, now with a 12-3 record, collected 20 hits and left 11 runners on base. BYU matched them in runners stranded but finished with 16 hits and an even season record of 6-6.
The Lancers took an early lead in the first inning after a double and single brought in a run. In the third inning, Cal Baptist added five more runs, including a three-run homer over the left field scoreboard.
Easton Jones put BYU on the board in the fourth with a solo home run to center field. Cal Baptist responded in the fifth with two solo homers to increase their lead to 8-1.
BYU’s offense surged in the bottom of the fifth. Crew McChesney started with a double, followed by Matt Hansen’s RBI single. Bryker Hurdsman then hit a two-run homer. Ridge Erickson singled before Easton Jones hit his second home run of the game. Additional singles from Luke Anderson and Ezra McNaughton set up another RBI from Robinson. McChesney capped off the inning with a three-run homer, giving BYU its largest single-inning output this season and putting them ahead 10-8.
In the sixth inning, Cooper Jones doubled and Anderson singled him home to extend BYU’s lead to 11-8.
Cal Baptist narrowed the gap in the seventh after three singles and a walk made it 11-9. The Lancers regained control in the eighth inning by scoring four runs on five hits for what would be the final margin.
Luke Anderson went 3-for-6 with an RBI and one run scored. Crew McChesney had three hits, including a home run, along with three RBIs and two runs scored. Easton Jones recorded two homers among his two hits for three RBIs and two runs scored. Bryker Hurdsman also contributed two hits, including a home run.
Justis Reiser pitched 1.2 innings for BYU without allowing any runs.
BYU will face Cal Baptist again on Friday at Miller Park at 3:00 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ as well as BYUradio.org and through the BYU Radio app.
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