BEAUMONT, Texas (Interstat) — A trio of BYU pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout, and Easton Jones drove in two early runs as the Cougars blanked Lamar 4-0 in nonconference baseball action Monday night at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

The win pushed BYU to 19-16 overall, while Lamar fell to 19-18.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning, which proved to be Lamar’s only legitimate scoring threat. Trailing 2-0, the Cardinals had put together back-to-back singles from Chase Durbin and Easton Kummer with no outs against BYU starter Austin Park. After a mound visit and a fielder’s choice that cut down the lead runner at third, BYU manager pulled Park in favor of reliever Luke Sterner.

Sterner needed just one pitch to induce an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play from Lamar’s Sam Taylor, snuffing out the rally and preserving the two-run lead. The Cardinals never advanced another runner past second base.

Park, named the top star for BYU, earned the win with 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits, walked one and struck out five. Sterner provided three perfect innings of relief, and Ethan Zufall closed out the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Cougars provided all the offense Park and the bullpen would need in the third inning. Luke Goff led off with a double and Luke Anderson followed with a single. After two outs, Jones delivered the key hit, a two-run double to deep center field that scored both runners.

BYU added two unearned insurance runs in the seventh. Anderson led off with a double, and after a walk, Cooper Robinson reached on a bunt single that resulted in a throwing error, allowing Anderson to score. Jones then grounded into a double play, but another run crossed the plate on the play.

Anderson led BYU’s nine-hit attack, going 3 for 5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Jones finished 2 for 5 with his two RBIs.

Lamar starter A.J. Kostic took the loss, allowing two earned runs on five hits over four innings. The Cardinals used six relievers, with Max Hartmann, Tanner Carlisle and Fabian Ramirez combining for 3 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

The result defied the pregame projections from Interstat, whose ELO system gave Lamar a 55% probability to win and whose simulator predicted a 6-4 BYU victory.

BYU, riding a four-game winning streak after sweeping a series at Houston last weekend, returns home to open a three-game series with Arizona State on Thursday. Lamar will host Northwestern State for a three-game Southland Conference series starting Friday.