Fourth place in the Mountain West Conference was the best BYU's baseball team could muster with its 28-30 overall record and an 18-12 league mark for 2004.
Against one of the toughest schedules, including NCAA Tourney teams UNLV, Long Beach State, and Pepperdine, BYU played its first 26 games on the road.
"I was disappointed with how quick and abrupt our season ended," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We had started to finally play very good baseball by mid-season. It I tough to see our seniors leave."
A couple of times the ball got rolling before stopping short of goals. BYU won 6 straight games at the Fresno Tournament only to hit the skids in the final inning against the host Bulldogs in the championship.
After a slow start in the MWC, BYU swept Utah on the road and later at home, making it 13 consecutive victories over the Utes. BYU logged a key victory at UNLV and San Diego State. The Cougars won the series over SDSU in Provo, winning the first and third games. In the final week of the regular season BYU reached the .500 mark in wins-losses.
A key in this run was pitcher Paul Jacinto, who joined Brandon Taylor and Ryan Chambers as All-MWC performers. Jacinto, a repeat selection to the team, was the only pitcher on the 2004 staff that had recorded any collegiate victories last season. Jacinto got off to an 0-8 record, including a 1-0 complete game loss at New Mexico. He was moved to the bullpen and got back on track with 3-1 record with three saves as BYU won 14 of 19 games during this period.
Taylor, who led the team with 14 homers, started off slow, but earned the respect of many opponents as he gathered steam through his sophomore season at shortstop. Taylor also led the team in total bases, hits, doubles and RBI.
Chambers led the team with six triples, which ranked him among the national leaders. Fellow outfielder Kory Knell was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball magazine for his torrid performance in the final six games of the home season.
Chambers, Taylor, Jacinto and pitcher Patrick Wells were selected for weekly honors by the MWC. Chambers earned league honors for his performance at the tournament in Fresno, Calif. Taylor was selected to a similar honor for his performance against New Mexico. Jacinto earned MWC Pitcher of the Week against San Diego State in Provo. Wells, a southpaw who earned the honor for his victory over the University of Nevada, was usually BYU's lead-off pitcher.
Coach Law, whose career record is now 156-136-1 in six seasons, liked the hustle of senior second baseman Wade Vest, who tied Ranger Wiens for team high honors of 16 of 17 stolen bases. Wiens was hampered during the season, recovering from shoulder surgery and ended up playing third base instead of short.
The Cougars won 13 of 18 games at home, including three road makeup games against the Air Force Academy, drawing the highest average of fans at Miller Park since it was built in 2001 at 1,630. BYU is just 223 spectators shy of the 100,000-fan mark in the four years at Miller Park. The Cougars were 9-6 in one-run games, including a 17-inning victory at Utah and an 11-inning victory over SDSU in Provo.
Ben Saylor brings a 15-game hitting streak into next season.
Once again, Cougar connections were taken in the pro draft, with junior pitcher Nick Lemon being taken in the eighth round by the Chicago White Sox.