This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • The calendar was approaching the middle of April, and BYU's baseball team was flying high.
Fresh off a 2-1 series win over longtime nemesis San Diego, the No. 16-ranked Cougars walloped rival Utah 14-3 on April 12 to improve to 26-5, and the hype over the team in coach Mike Littlewood's fourth season was in bloom.
Sure, the team that won 18 of its first 19 games of the season had cooled off a bit from that torrid start, but it appeared BYU would be a sure-fire NCAA Tournament contender and perhaps win its first league title since joining the West Coast Conference in 2012.
Offensively, BYU ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in batting, No. 3 in both scoring and slugging percentage, No. 4 in doubles and No. 6 in runs scored. On the mound, the Cougars had an ace in Gonzaga transfer Mike Rucker and solid No. 2 and No. 3 starters in Maverik Buffo and Hayden Rogers.
Then, injuries and the "law of averages," as Littlewood puts it, began to take their toll.
The Cougars dropped a weekend series for the first time in 2016, 2-1 at Saint Mary's, and followed that with a 2-1 series loss at home to then-No. 25 Creighton, losing the last two games by a combined 18-7.
Since that win over Utah (21-25), BYU is a so-so 8-10.
Having lost 8-1 to the Pac-12-leading Utes on Tuesday night, BYU (34-15, 15-9) heads into this weekend's home series finale against Santa Clara needing at least one win (or one loss by San Diego in its three-game series vs. league-leading Gonzaga) to clinch a berth in next week's four-team WCC tournament in Stockton, Calif.
What happened?
"I still think we are playing great," Littlewood said. "We've had four starting pitchers get hurt since the start of the season, so our pitchers have just been banged up. We are light in the pen. Our relievers have had to start for us, and that's not what you want. … It has been a war of attrition on the pitching staff."
Also, Littlewood reminds, the WCC is a pretty good league and Gonzaga, Saint Mary's and Pepperdine all have at least one outstanding starting pitcher.
"When we get to league play, we face some really good competition," Littlewood said. "I just think running into league play and facing some really good pitching, you are not going to win every game. But I feel like we are playing just as well as we have all year."
Since beating Creighton 13-4 on April 22, BYU is 6-8. The bats came alive last weekend at San Francisco in 12-6 and 9-3 wins, but they could manage just one run against a string of seldom-used Utah pitchers at Smith's Ballpark.
The Cougars still have a decent RPI that might still get them into the NCAAs if they don't win the league tournament next week, but they are unranked and not scaring anybody, especially when Rucker (15-1, 2.78 earned run average) is not on the mound.
"We are not playing our best baseball right now," allows senior shortstop Hayden Nielsen, who was brought in to pitch against the Utes, his first time on the mound since his high school days at Spanish Fork, to save arms.
"We have lost a couple of key guys," Nielsen continued. "Maverik Buffo was a huge loss for us. And we've got a couple of guys banged up. That's baseball. You fail more than you succeed. I think that just caught up to us a little bit, but we keep battling and we keep putting up wins."
Another big loss was that of highly touted freshman Kyle Dean, who is out with a back injury and won't return this season, although fellow freshman Keaton Kringlen, from Cedar City, has filled in for Dean nicely.
Littlewood said BYU will seek a medical hardship to get Dean's season back. He hit four home runs and batted .286 in 16 games.
"For sure, I still feel good about this team," Littlewood said. "We've got a chance to win the league championship, and are fairly locked into the [WCC] tournament. Clearly, we would take where we are at right now if you asked me before the season started. We feel good about where we are at."
Twitter: @drewjay —
About BYU's season
Current record • 34-15
WCC record • 15-9
First 19 games • 18-1
Last 30 games • 16-14
Last 14 games • 6-8
Against Utah • 2-1
Against Utah Valley • 2-1
Highest ranking • No. 16 (April 11)