PROVO, Utah – The University of the Pacific dropped the series opener to Brigham Young University on Thursday night, 3-1.

The Tigers fall to 20-29 overall and 9-16 in the conference, while the Cougars improve to 22-26 on the season and 11-14 in conference play.

After two scoreless innings, BYU took a quick 1-0 lead on a solo home run over the left field fence by Mitch McIntyre.

From there, the Cougars went on to score one run in the sixth and one in the seventh to take a 3-0 lead and go for the shut out.

However, Pacific ended the shut out in the top of the eighth with Hayes hitting a leadoff single to right field followed by Bryce Kirk singling to deep right field to push Hayes to third. Keaton Glover stepped up and reached on a fielder's choice and a Cougar error allowed Hayes to score to end the shut out, 3-1.

"It was a tough loss but tonight was all about the effort Cooper Casad gave us in his final game in a Pacific uniform," said head coach Ryan Garko. "He left everything he had out on that field and should be very proud of himself and the way he represented Pacific this year."

The Tigers tallied six hits on the night with Kevin Sandri going 2-for-4 from the plate. Glover, Lucas Halstead, and Hayes all tallied one hit on the night, while Glover notched one RBI.

On the mound, Cooper Casad pitched his second complete game in his career, tying his career-high eight innings pitched. Casad struck out two batters through eight innings and gave up just two earned runs. Jordan Wood picked up the win for the Cougars after pitching 8.2 innings with three strikeouts, while Drew Zimmerman earned his fourth save.

The Tigers return to action on Friday, May 18 for game two of the series against BYU. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. MDT.