WSU baseball (25-14, 7-10) defeated Utah Valley Wednesday with a decisive 16-5 victory. 

The Cougs earned their 16 runs on 16 hits with one error. They held Utah Valley to five runs for their seven hits. 

Besides the second inning, the Cougs scored at least one run in each inning they played. The game was only played for seven innings due to a 10-run rule agreed upon by both teams prior to the game. 

Sam Brown, Cam Magee, Jacob McKeon and Kyle Russell had three RBIs in the game to lead the Cougs. Elijah Hainline and Nate Swarts both had two RBIs in the game as well. 

Duke Brotherton picked up his second win on the season as he started the game for the Cougs and pitched three innings. In those three innings, he allowed one earned run on two hits and struck out four batters. 

“Great start from Duke, huge going into the weekend,” head coach Brian Green said postgame. 

Connor Barison allowed three without recording an out in the game as he struggled to find the zone. He faced three batters and walked two of them. 

With the three RBIs from Brown, he puts his total to 44 on the season, fifth-best in the Pac-12. The Cougs also now have five batters with 30 or more RBIs on the season. 

“Great offensive performance by a lot of guys, a lot of quality at-bats,” Green said. 

Scoring Plays:

First Inning: Two WSU Runs, one Utah Valley Run 

After Jonah Advincula reached base to start the game, McKeon took a ball deep to right field for his fifth homer of the season to give the Cougs the early 2-0 lead after one. 

Utah Valley would cut the lead to one after a solo shot from Luke Iverson in the leadoff spot put the score at 2-1. 

Third Inning: Three WSU Runs

The Cougs extended their lead in the top of the third after scoring three runs in the inning. Advincula scored on an RBI single from Russell, then Magee picked up the two-RBI single, scoring both Russell and McKeon.

Fourth Inning: Three WSU Runs

Another three runs were scored in the top of the fourth inning from the Cougs to extend their lead to 8-1. McKeon singled, which scored Advincula, his third run scored of the game. Brown picked up his first RBI of the game as he doubled to right-center field, scoring McKeon. The last run of the inning was scored by Brown as Russell knocked him in with a hard-hit single. 

Fifth Inning: Five WSU Runs

After the 8-1 lead from WSU four innings in, the fifth inning saw the Cougs jump to a 13-1 lead. Swarts hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot scoring Will Cresswell to extend the lead to 10-1. 

Later in the inning Brown would pick up a two-RBI double as he scored both McKeon and Advincula. Russell ended the scoring for the Cougs in the inning as he singled, scoring Brown. 

Sixth Inning: One WSU Run, Three Utah Valley Runs

The Cougs tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth as Hainline hit a solo homer to extend the Cougs’ lead to 14-1. 

Utah Valley would get three runs back as they had a two-RBI single and an RBI sac fly to cut the lead to 14-4. 

Seventh Inning: Two WSU Runs, one Utah Valley Run

The last two runs for the Cougs were scored in the top of the seventh inning as Magee and Hainline picked up RBI doubles. 

Utah Valley would get a run back from a solo homer, but that was all they could score. The final score was 16-5. 

WSU took advantage of a game where they earned 16 hits and runs to get themselves back on track as they push for a spot in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament. 

The next time the Cougs take the field will be Friday as they head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes for a three-game series.