PROVO, Utah – The Dons took an early lead but had to chip away little by little over the rest of the contest as BYU scored six runs in the third inning and four runs in the seventh to highlight their scoring in an 11-5 USF loss on Saturday afternoon in the series finale from Miller Park.
 
Allen Smoot went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, while Riley Helland tripled and recorded two hits of his own and Brady Bate turned in a 2-for-3 day with a double and a run scored.
 
Despite taking a 1-0 lead in the first after Matt Sinatro led off the game with a single and Smoot drove him in with an RBI base hit, USF (22-23, 7-14 WCC) couldn't contain the BYU offense as the Cougars clubbed three home runs on the day to complete the series sweep.
 
"Obviously, it's an offensive ballpark," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "It was a case of the big innings. We couldn't eliminate their barrage of scoring. When you can't do that, you're going to get beat."
 
USF starter Daniel Slominski (3-4) lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits while walking three and striking out three.
 
The Cougars (25-14, 14-4 WCC) used a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third to kick start their six-run inning, which was highlighted by a three-run home run by Brock Hale and a solo shot from Bronson Larsen.
 
BYU plated another run in the fourth by taking advantage of Matt Sinatro's fielding error in left field that led to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Daniel Schneemann.
 
USF started to climb back when Michael Perri and Brady Bate led off the fifth inning with back-to-back hits, which setup an Aaron Ping sacrifice fly and an RBI groundout by Sinatro that trimmed the BYU lead to 7-3.
 
Helland's one-out triple to right center in the next inning brought home Smoot, who had led off the inning with a single.
 
But that would be as close as USF would get as BYU put the game out of reach with a four-run seventh that started with Tanner Chauncey's leadoff home run off USF reliever Scott Parker. Joey Carney came on in relief of Parker and retired the first batter he faced before giving up five straight hits that resulted in three more BYU runs coming across.
 
An error on BYU third baseman Nate Favero allowed Perri to reach second base with nobody out in the top of the ninth. Perri came around two batters later on Harrison Bruce's RBI single. A Manny Ramirez, Jr. pinch-hit double and a walk from Smoot loaded the bases, but Dominic Miroglio grounded out to shortstop to end the game.
 
"It was a rough weekend," added Giarratano. "We had a chance last night to take the momentum but couldn't do it. We've got to find a way to bridge the gap between our starters and the back end of our bullpen. Offensively, we have to score more runs and come up with those big hits in those situations. Defensively I think we're right where we want to be."
 
USF heads across the Bay on Tuesday evening to take on Cal at Evans Diamond with first pitch slated for 7 p.m. Then the Dons return home to host Pepperdine in a three-game WCC series beginning on Friday, May 5.