What could have been a momentum building victory against a team in an upper echelon conference ended up in yet another heartbreaking loss for the Cougar baseball team.

BYU led late in the game against the Washington St. Cougars Tuesday, but costly errors and shaky pitching eventually decided the outcome as WSU won the contest 13-7.

Having struggled with inconsistent play all season, BYU held a slim one run lead at the end of the eighth inning, but absolutely fell apart in the top of the ninth allowing eight hits and seven runs while committing two errors.

"We let one slip away from us," coach Vance Law said after the game. "We just can't seem to put together a complete nine innings. We played a pretty good eight innings, but unfortunately, the game went nine."

With the loss, BYU fell to 19-30 while WSU improved to 25-20, but still remains in last place in the Pac-10.

The game was a back and forth battle through the first eight innings. Neither team seemed to be able to take control until the decisive ninth.

The game was scoreless through the first two innings, and then early in the third WSU struck first. The inning started with the leadoff batter for WSU, leftfielder Simi Reynolds, being hit by a pitch. Reynolds went on to score the first of three runs for Washington St.

BYU answered quickly in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs off three hits to keep the game close, and managed to take the lead in the fifth inning, and again in the seventh after WSU came back.

The offensive attack for BYU was lead by strong play from sophomore Sean McNaughton who led the Cougars with three hits and four RBIs, bringing his season total to a team leading 46.

Entering the top of the ninth with a one run lead, all that stood between BYU and victory was three outs. Unfortunately for the Cougars, those three outs did not come soon enough.

The ninth inning started as BYU pitcher Jared Miller allowed back-to-back homeruns. Those two solo shots seemed to unleash a WSU hitting frenzy, and Miller allowed eight hits on the first nine at-bats of the inning.

Seven runs later, a deflated BYU team could only muster a single hit in the bottom of the ninth to close out a game which can almost be the story of the Cougars' season.

Throughout the game, the BYU pitchers hit three WSU players, and the team committed five errors.

"We didn't defend well; we had way too many errors and a couple balls that we didn't come up and get," Law said. "We just have to try again tomorrow. It is very frustrating and disappointing to everyone on the team."