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Provo • The BYU Cougars erupted for 13 hits, drew seven walks and scored 11 runs in a college baseball nonconference romp over rival Utah in Salt Lake City three days after Loyola Marymount's Cory Abbott threw a perfect game against them in Los Angeles.

BYU's basketball team isn't the only squad around here that's tough to figure out.

"We went to sleep a little bit in the middle innings, but I thought we did a good job," coach Mike Littlewood said after the Cougars improved to 11-11 in the first of three scheduled games against the Utes (10-12) this season.

Expectations were high for BYU in 2017 after the Cougars went 37-17 overall and tied for the West Coast Conference regular-season championship last year. But the Cougars have been just so-so with the season approaching its midway point, mainly because of the same inconsistency they displayed offensively and defensively against the Utes.

Littlewood hopes Tuesday's win, in which the Cougars scored seven runs in the first two innings and four in the last and forced the Utes to use eight pitchers, jump-starts the season that began with them picked to finish fourth in the league by WCC coaches but first by Baseball America magazine.

He remains "cautiously optimistic" that the Cougars can play their way into the four-team WCC tournament to be held May 25-27 at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.

With Abbott blanking them 2-0 in the finale to give LMU a 2-1 series win, the Cougars have started league play in a hole, unlike last season when they opened 9-3 in the WCC.

The Cougars now turn their attention to league-leading Saint Mary's (3-0, 17-7), which almost knocked off No. 1 Oregon State before the Beavers (21-1) scored three runs in the ninth to get a 4-3 win Tuesday in Moraga, Calif.

Weather permitting, BYU meets the Gaels on Thursday (2 p.m.), Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (noon) before hosting Oregon on Monday at Miller Field.

"The next seven days are huge for us," Littlewood said before the Utah game. "Saint Mary's is having another great season and they are playing well [as] of late. This week provides a great opportunity for our guys to play high-level programs and prove what we're made of."

It's not like the Cougars haven't been close to replicating last year's fantastic start. Ten of their 11 losses have been by two runs or fewer, including two in extra innings. They are 4-4 in one-run games.

The staff's ace, right-hander Maverik Buffo (3-3, 5.24 ERA), hasn't quite been as sharp as he was last year before an injury cut short his sophomore season. He will get the ball Thursday against SMC, while Brady Corless (2-0, 4.35) and Hayden Rogers (1-1, 2.51) will take the mound Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Rogers threw a seven-hitter against LMU but took the loss because the Cougars couldn't solve Abbott, who seemingly found lightning in a bottle after going 5-5 with a 4.24 ERA in 2016.

Offensively, the Cougars haven't been as potent as expected, with a team batting average of .300. Sophomore outfielder Brock Hale is batting .417, but junior All-America candidate Colton Shaver is batting just .200 with three homers and nine RBIs.

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU baseball update

Overall record • 11-11

Home • 5-3

Away • 4-8

Neutral • 2-0

WCC record • 1-2

Up next • Three-game series with league-leading St. Mary's begins Thursday at Miller Park in Provo (2 p.m., BYUtv). Friday's game begins at 6 p.m. and Saturday's game begins at noon.