The rain came in a sheet of thick droplets, threatening to cut the UW baseball team’s game against BYU short at six innings, when the Huskies were leading 7-3.

The Dawgs’ 9-3 win over the Cougars almost didn’t materialize when a heavy rain delayed the game for about two hours, pushing the start time of the game back from 6:30 to 8:40 p.m.

“If we had gotten beat today, to qualify or even be considered [for the postseason], we would have had to sweep one of the two schools we play,” said UW baseball head coach Ken Knutson, adding that a canceled game would put the Dawgs in a similar situation. “That’s why we worked hard to get the game in.”

The win keeps the Huskies’ playoff hopes alive, as they improve to a record of 24-25, with a Pac-10 record of 12-9.

“Now, we’ve just got to go win two series, and we would be eligible for postseason. So it’s huge,” Knutson said.

UW starting pitcher Forrest Snow (1-0) fell into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning, giving up two runs on a home run by BYU shortstop Brandon Relf, allowing the Cougars to come close at 5-2.

“I was just trying to work fast and keep the tempo up just because of the weather,” Snow said.

Despite giving up the two runs in the fourth, Snow came out to a hot start, striking out seven Cougars in his first three innings of work.

“He hadn’t pitched that long in a while,” Knutson said, adding that he pulled Snow early because he wanted to keep him at about 60 to 70 pitches.

Snow finished with a line of three hits, two runs, two walks and eight strikeouts. This was his second start of the season.

Designated hitter Jake Rife set the tone for the Husky offense early, belting out a home run in his first at-bat in the first inning, giving the Dawgs a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies’ batting exploded in the bottom of the third, courtesy of a three-run homer by first baseman Troy Scott that put the Dawgs on top 5-0.

“I didn’t think it was going to go out after barely getting it to the warning track,” Scott said of his home run.

Right fielder Kyle Conley added another run in the third by forcing the BYU third baseman into an error with a grounder down the third-base line. That play forced in a run and resulted with Conley on second base.

The Huskies added two more runs in the fifth inning, sending up eight batters and keeping the Cougar pitchers busy.

Washington added an exclamation in the bottom of the eighth, adding two runs to push the game to the final margin of 9-3.

Reach reporter Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.