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Provo • The BYU baseball team rebounded from two consecutive losses and defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs 11-2 on Thursday night at Miller Park.
BYU was led by catcher Bronson Larsen, who hit a homer and finished with two RBIs; junior Tanner Chauncey, who contributed a home run and one RBI; and freshman Keaton Kringlen, who had three RBIs and three hits.
Larsen's home run was his sixth of the season.
Hayden Nielsen, Eric Urry and Brennon Lund each had two hits and two runs.
BYU improves to 29-9 on the season and 11-5 in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars haven't lost more than two consecutive games this season.
Gonzaga (24-14, 12-7 WCC) currently leads the conference by a half-game over BYU.
Cougar righthander Michael Rucker, a transfer from Gonzaga, struck out six batters and gave up six hits in seven innings. He improved to a nation-best 9-0 for the season.
Jace VanDeBrake and Jeff Bohling each had one hit with one RBI for Gonzaga.
Bohling gave Gonzaga a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a double that sent home Sam Brown. Urry hit a single in the first to score Lund and Nielson and BYU took a 2-1 lead. Colton Shaver scored a third run to finish the first inning.
Sophomore Brennon Anderson hit a single in the bottom of the fourth and scored a run off a single from Nielsen to bring the score to 4-1.
In the fifth inning, the Cougars extended their lead with a RBI single from Kringlen after Urry doubled and took third on an error.
Chauncey hit his second career home run — and first of the season — and made the score 6-1 for the Cougars.
Urry scored a run in the seventh and Lund hit a triple and BYU led 9-1.
VanDeBrake scored the Bulldogs' second run in the top of the ninth.
BYU and Gonzaga play again on Friday at 6 p.m. and then Saturday at 1 p.m.