5th inning rally lifts BYU baseball past Utah for series-opening win

BYU outfielder Tu'alau Wolfgramm (22) celebrates with outfielder Crew McChesney (3) after a two-RBI single by catcher Ridge Erickson (29), not pictured, during the fifth inning of a baseball game against Utah at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo on Thursday, April 30, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News For the first four innings Thursday night against Utah, BYU couldn’t muster any offensive momentum.

The Cougars weren’t without opportunities, having put seven men on base, but they only managed to get one run out of the early traffic, repeatedly fading with runners in scoring position. Anything that could have become a spark was quickly extinguished. In the bottom of the fifth, BYU trailed by two runs and had runners at the corners.

The Cougars had already stranded two men on three separate occasions, so when Bryker Hurdsman had two strikes against him in a two-out at bat, there was fair reason to believe a fourth such disappointment was imminent. But Hurdsman wouldn’t be the one to make that third out — it took the Utes another five batters after him to finally escape the frame, at which point BYU had scored five runs to pull ahead with a comfortable cushion. The Cougars never looked back following their fifth inning breakthrough, as they held on to capture a 6-4 victory in Provo to open the 3-game rivalry series.

BYU pitcher Dan Brousseau (32) reacts after the final out of the eighth inning of a baseball game against Utah at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo on Thursday, April 30, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News BYU infielder Easton Jones (17) throws to first after fielding a ground ball during the second inning of a baseball game against Utah at Larry H.