LONG BEACH, Calif. (Interstat) — The Long Beach State Dirtbags erupted for a seven-run fourth inning Wednesday to overcome an early deficit and defeat the BYU Cougars 10-7 in a nonconference baseball game at Blair Field.

The Dirtbags, who improved to 3-5, sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive fourth, capitalizing on BYU defensive miscues and key hits to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 9-3 lead. The rally negated a strong offensive start for the Cougars, who fell to .500 at 4-4.

BYU had taken a 3-1 lead in the top of the third without a hit. Parker Goff was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a double play and scored on a wild pitch. They extended the lead to 7-3 in the fourth when Matt Hansen delivered a two-run single to center field off reliever Hogan Shelby, scoring Ezra McNaughton and Ryder Robinson.

The bottom of the fourth, however, unraveled quickly for BYU. After a walk and a single, Dylan Lina launched a three-run homer to deep left field off Nate Wochner to tie the game at 7. The Dirtbags continued to pour it on, adding four more runs on an RBI single by Aaron Perez, a bases-loaded walk by Trevor Goldenetz and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded by Smith Chandler. The inning featured five hits, three walks, two hit batters and two BYU errors.

Lina’s home run was the pivotal blow, finishing 1 for 3 with three RBIs. Trotter Enright added two hits, including a double, and two RBIs for Long Beach State.

BYU chipped away late against the Long Beach State bullpen. McNaughton hit a solo home run in the fifth, and the Cougars scored three times in the eighth. Luke Anderson hit an RBI double and later scored on an RBI single by McNaughton, who finished 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Hansen also had two hits and two RBIs for BYU.

The Dirtbags’ bullpen combination of Alex Ramos and Ka’imi Kahalekai shut the door over the final two innings. Ramos struck out the side in a scoreless sixth, and Kahalekai worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to seal the win. Jason Gerfers earned the win in relief with three innings of one-run ball.

BYU reliever Dan Brousseau provided stability with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out three, but the damage from the fourth inning proved insurmountable.

The result defied the pregame projection from Interstat, which gave BYU a 53.2% probability to win and projected a 5-2 Cougars victory.

BYU next faces Washington State on Thursday in a neutral-site game at Blair Field, while Long Beach State hosts Washington State on Friday. The two teams will meet again at Blair Field on Saturday.