Stockton, Calif. - Behind a strong pitching performance out of their staff and timely hitting out of their bats, the Tigers captured game one of their weekend series with BYU, 4-3, on Thursday night at Klein Family Field. The win for Pacific (10-32, 7-12 WCC) was their second-straight weekend opening win in WCC play while snapping a five-game winning streak for the Cougars (22-20, 11-8 WCC).

Continuing his reemergence as the ace of the Tigers' staff, junior Jake Jenkins (3-6) came up with another high-quality outing on the mound for Pacific as he settled in for a seven-inning outing en route to picking up his second win in his last three starts. After a rough first inning that saw the junior throw 38 pitches and give up a pair of runs, Jenkins found his groove on the mound as he scattered five hits and gave up an unearned run over his next six innings of work for the Tigers.

Finding the stuff that made him a pitcher of the year candidate in 2014, Jenkins held the Cougar bats in check throughout the night as he struck out four while walking two. Even when the going got tough for the junior late in the game, Jenkins was able to come up with the pitches he needed to hold off the Cougars with no bigger showing of fight than in the seventh when he stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh. With the Cougars threatening a rally after back-to-back singles to lead off the top half of the inning, Jenkins was able to induce a ground ball to third and a weak fly ball to center to get out of the jam and get back to the dugout with the lead.

Up one run with six outs to get for the win, the Tigers went to the bullpen in setup man Michael Hager and closer Vince Arobio (7). Hager was able to pick up the first out of the eighth but allowed a pair of singles before giving way to Arobio for the five-out save. Called upon to finish off the game and get the Tigers' out of the jam in the eighth, Arobio was nothing short of brilliant as he got the first two batters he faced swinging to end the inning. In the ninth, Arobio bookended the finale with two more swinging strike outs as he pulled the string on the Cougars, ending their comeback hopes and saving the win for Jenkins. In all, Arobio struck out four of the five Cougar hitters he faced to earn his seventh save of the year.

With the pitching staff running on all cylinders, the Tigers' offense came up with the runs they needed to come away with the victory. After falling behind in the first thanks to a Dillon Robinson two-run home run, Pacific turned to the Sullivan brothers for support as Tyler and Brett came up with the hits to get the Tigers' back into the game. In the third, T. Sullivan found the gap in left center with a ball to the wall for an RBI double that brought home J.J. Wagner from second. Wagner had traded places with Dallas Correa on a missed sacrifice in the inning after the senior catcher led the frame off by getting hit by a pitch for Pacific's first runner of the day.

Down one, B. Sullivan changed the game on one swing of the bat an inning later as the younger Sullivan turned on a 3-1 pitch by Kolton Mahoney (4-5) and sent it over the fence down the right field line. The home run for Sullivan was his team-best seventh of the year as he tied the game up with his fourth leadoff round-tripper of 2015.

After giving up a cheap run in the fifth with the help of their lone error of the game, the Tigers regained their focus and took the lead for good in their half of the sixth with two runs on three hits. Leading off the inning once again, B. Sullivan came up with a double down the left field line to start the scoring rally as he would come home two batters later on a single up the middle by Nate Verlin. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Verlin dented the plate for the final run of the game when he and Correa executed a perfect hit-and-run, scoring from second on a ball to right.

The final run of the night for the Tigers came against Mahoney as the Cougars' starter went all eight innings for BYU in the loss. Mahoney was charged with four runs on eight hits while striking out seven and walking a pair. Offensively, his catcher, Bronson Larsen had a perfect day at the plate with four hits in four at bats, but none resulted in any runs for BYU. 

The Tigers will attempt to take the series on Friday night when Pacific and BYU meet as the WCC's Friday Night Game of the Week on theW.tv. The game is scheduled for 6:00 pm under the lights at Klein Family Field.