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Stockton, Calif. — Two down, two to go.

That's the story for the BYU baseball team, which won both its games on Friday at the West Coast Conference tournament and now must beat Gonzaga twice on Saturday to claim its first WCC tournament title.

After rolling past Saint Mary's 8-4 Friday afternoon, the Cougars met Loyola Marymount in the last elimination game to make it to the final for the first time.

The Cougars pulled out a 5-4 win, but only after LMU scored three runs in the ninth inning and had the tying run on third base.

Reliever Riley Gates got LMU's Dylan Hirsch to look at a called strike three to end the game.

But the story Friday night was starter Maverik Buffo, who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and a 5-1 lead into the ninth. Buffo finished with eight strikeouts and gave up just seven hits and four earned runs.

And he did it after getting bypassed in favor of Brady Corless to be the series-opening starter, a role he held the entire season.

Buffo gave up four hits in the ninth, including a two-run double to Steven Chavez that was just a few feet away from being a grand slam and tying the game.

The Cougars avenged a 3-2 loss on Thursday to the Lions, who were edged 3-1 by Gonzaga in the winners' bracket final earlier Friday.

Offensively, Daniel Schneeman and Brock Hale both went 3 for 4 against LMU and David Clawson hit a solo home run in the second inning to give BYU a 4-0 lead. Tanner Chauncey's RBI single in the seventh plated Schneeman and turned out to be the game-winning hit.

Saturday's championship game begins at 4 p.m. MDT at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. The if-necessary game is scheduled for 8 p.m. MDT.

BYU coach Mike Littlewood will likely go with pitcher Jordan Wood, who was the Cougars' midweek starter most of the year.