BYU’s West Coast Conference champion baseball team, ranked No. 24 in the country, ran into a hot pitcher on Thursday, and the results weren’t pretty for the Cougars.
Loyola Marymount ace Codie Paiva held the Cougars to five hits in a complete-game pitching performance and struck out 11 as the fourth-seeded Lions upset No. 1 seed BYU 4-1 in a conference tournament opener at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.
The Cougars will face the loser of the late Saint Mary’s-Gonzaga game in an elimination game Friday.
The Cougars scored their only run in the ninth inning when they put together a couple of hits.