PROVO -- Ryan Chambers did it all for BYU, leading the Cougars to a 7-5 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo Tuesday, at Larry H. Miller Field.
The win marked the eighth consecutive victory for BYU, upping its overall record to 11-4-1 on the season. CSU-Pueblo dropped to 11-15 with the loss.
The Cougars were led by Chambers, who hit a two-run home run and also came in to pitch in relief to earn his first save of the season.
BYU drew first blood in the game, stringing together four consecutive singles by Brandon Taylor, Ben Saylor, Kory Knell and Chambers to put a three-spot on the board in the second inning. The Thunderwolves responded the next half inning when catcher Danny Cummins hit his first of two homers on the day, a solo blast to deep center.
The Cougars responded in their side of the third. Jeff Hiestand led the inning off with a single and was driven in by a Knell double. Then Chambers came up with a deep, two-run blast down the right field line, his first homer of the season, and it looked like BYU would run away with another game.
CSU-Pueblo wasn't done yet, though. The pesky Division II school would not go away. BYU head coach Vance Law was impressed with the Thunderwolves' perseverance.
"They are a scrappy team, they came ready to play," he said. "I'm glad we got the win, but I'm not happy with the way we finished."
Law was unhappy because after the Cougars grabbed a 7-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, CSU-Pueblo came storming back. The Thunderwolves scored four unanswered runs, highlighted by a fifth-inning Cummins three-run round-tripper.
In the eighth, CSU-Pueblo scored another run and loaded the bases. That's when Law turned to Chambers. Chambers came in and struck out Pueblo second baseman Eric Newby to end the threat. Chambers got some help from Cougars' first baseman Hiestand in the ninth, who turned a nifty unassisted double play with nobody out and a runner on first. Chambers held on and got the save, the first of his collegiate career.
BYU will ride its eight-game winning streak into Albuquerque, N.M., to begin Mountain West Conference play later this week. The Cougars will take on New Mexico in a three-game series Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Game times are 6, 6 and 1 p.m. (MST), respectively. Games will be broadcast on the radio and can be heard on AM 960 (KOVO) on a delayed basis at 7 p.m., on Thursday and Friday and live on Saturday.
Colorado St.-Pueblo at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 15, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Colorado St.-Pueblo 5 (11-15)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Mike Massaro cf.......... 4 1 2 0 1 0 5 0 0
Danny Cummins c.......... 5 2 2 4 0 1 4 0 1
Austin LeSage 1b......... 3 0 0 0 2 1 9 1 0
Will Frownfelter dh...... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Chris Runyon ph......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Drew Hirshon pr......... 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Ryan Priddy ss........... 4 0 0 0 0 3 1 4 0
Nick Wagner lf........... 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0
Cody Wood rf............. 3 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 1
Shawn Evenhus ph........ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bobby Frawley pr/rf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Geordon Hainlen 3b....... 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 1
Nick Bird ph/3b......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Eric Newby 2b............ 4 1 1 0 0 3 2 3 3
Brice Bisel p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Cody Walden p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Duvall p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 35 5 9 5 5 15 24 10 8
Brigham Young Univ. 7 (11-4-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b...... 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss..... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh....... 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 2
MOLINA, Adrian cf....... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........ 4 1 2 0 0 0 6 0 1
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b....... 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 0
SAYLOR, Ben rf........... 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
KNELL, Kory lf........... 4 2 3 2 0 0 3 0 0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf/p...... 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 0
CLOWARD, Casey c......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 15 0 0
JENSEN, Matthew p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
SU'A, Justin p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BERGERON, Michel p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BINGHAM, Anthony p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 35 7 13 4 3 5 27 3 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Colorado St.-Pueblo. 001 030 010 - 5 9 0
Brigham Young Univ.. 033 100 00X - 7 13 2
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E - VILLEZCAS; KNELL. DP - T-Wolves 2; BYU Cougars 2. LOB - T-Wolves 8; BYU
Cougars 8. 2B - M. Massaro; NAKAYAMA; HIESTAND; KNELL. HR - D. Cummins 2(4);
CHAMBERS(1). SH - VILLEZCAS. SB - M. Massaro; D. Hirshon; C. Wood; TAYLOR;
KNELL.
Colorado St.-Pueblo IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Brice Bisel......... 2.2 8 5 5 2 1 13 16
Cody Walden......... 0.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1
Mike Duvall......... 5.1 4 1 0 1 4 21 22
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JENSEN, Matthew..... 5.0 6 4 4 1 10 21 22
SU'A, Justin........ 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 7 7
BERGERON, Michel.... 0.2 1 1 1 1 1 3 4
BINGHAM, Anthony.... 0.0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2
CHAMBERS, Ryan...... 1.1 0 0 0 2 1 3 5
Win - JENSEN (3-0). Loss - B. Bisel (3-1). Save - CHAMBERS (1).
WP - B. Bisel; M. Duvall. BK - M. Duvall. PB - D. Cummins.
Umpires - HP: Al White 1B: Jeff Richardson 3B: Randy Upton
Start: 4:04 pm Time: 2:38 Attendance: 880
C. Walden faced 1 batter in the 3rd.
BINGHAM faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Colorado St.-Pueblo at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Mar 15, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Colorado St.-Pueblo. 001 030 010 - 5 9 0
Brigham Young Univ.. 033 100 00X - 7 13 2
-------------------------------------------
Colorado St.-Pueblo starters: 23/cf M. Massaro; 4/c D. Cummins; 14/1b A. LeSage;
26/dh Frownfelter; 2/ss R. Priddy; 19/lf N. Wagner; 9/rf C. Wood; 24/3b G. Hainlen;
13/2b E. Newby; 35/p B. Bisel;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/rf SAYLOR; 12/lf KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 9/c CLOWARD;
21/p JENSEN;
Colorado St.-Pueblo 1st - M. Massaro reached on a throwing error by ss. M.
Massaro stole second. D. Cummins struck out swinging. A. LeSage walked. Frownfelter
grounded into double play 3b to 1b; M. Massaro out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON walked. VILLEZCAS grounded out to p,
SAC, bunt; McNAUGHTON advanced to second. NAKAYAMA flied out to cf. HIESTAND
grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 2nd - R. Priddy struck out swinging. N. Wagner grounded
out to p. C. Wood singled to pitcher. C. Wood stole second. G. Hainlen struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - TAYLOR singled through the left side. SAYLOR
singled to right field; TAYLOR advanced to third. KNELL singled to third base, RBI;
SAYLOR advanced to second; TAYLOR scored. CHAMBERS singled to third base, bunt;
KNELL advanced to second; SAYLOR advanced to third. CLOWARD grounded into double
play ss to 2b to 1b; CHAMBERS out on the play; KNELL advanced to third; SAYLOR
scored. KNELL scored on a wild pitch. McNAUGHTON walked. VILLEZCAS singled to right
field; McNAUGHTON advanced to third. NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. 3 runs, 5
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 3rd - E. Newby struck out swinging. M. Massaro flied out
to lf. D. Cummins homered to left center, RBI. A. LeSage struck out swinging. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HIESTAND singled to right field. TAYLOR singled
through the left side; HIESTAND advanced to second. SAYLOR grounded into double play
1b to ss to 1b; TAYLOR out on the play; HIESTAND advanced to third. KNELL doubled to
right field, RBI; HIESTAND scored. C. Walden to p for B. Bisel. KNELL stole third.
CHAMBERS homered to right field, 2 RBI; KNELL scored. M. Duvall to p for C. Walden.
CLOWARD flied out to lf. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 4th - Frownfelter singled through the right side. R.
Priddy struck out swinging. N. Wagner struck out swinging. C. Wood struck out
looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. VILLEZCAS grounded
out to 2b. NAKAYAMA singled up the middle. HIESTAND doubled to center field;
NAKAYAMA advanced to third. TAYLOR struck out, reached first on a passed ball;
HIESTAND advanced to third; NAKAYAMA scored, unearned. TAYLOR stole second. SAYLOR
struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 5th - G. Hainlen struck out swinging. E. Newby singled to
right center. M. Massaro doubled to center field; E. Newby advanced to third. D.
Cummins homered to center field, 3 RBI; M. Massaro scored; E. Newby scored. A.
LeSage fouled out to 3b. Frownfelter struck out swinging. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - KNELL singled to third base. CHAMBERS flied out to
cf. KNELL advanced to second on a balk. KNELL advanced to third on a wild pitch.
CLOWARD walked. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 6th - SU'A to p for JENSEN. R. Priddy flied out to cf. N.
Wagner grounded out to 2b. C. Wood struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - NAKAYAMA doubled to right field. HIESTAND grounded
out to 2b; NAKAYAMA advanced to third. TAYLOR popped up to 2b. SAYLOR flied out to
rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 7th - G. Hainlen struck out swinging. E. Newby struck out
swinging. M. Massaro singled to right field. D. Cummins flied out to lf. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - KNELL grounded out to 3b. CHAMBERS grounded out to
p unassisted. CLOWARD flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 8th - BERGERON to p for SU'A. A. LeSage grounded out to
1b unassisted. C. Runyon pinch hit for Frownfelter. C. Runyon walked. D. Hirshon
pinch ran for C. Runyon. D. Hirshon stole second. R. Priddy struck out, grounded out
to c unassisted. N. Wagner singled to left field, advanced to second on a throwing
error by lf, RBI; D. Hirshon scored. S. Evenhus pinch hit for C. Wood. BINGHAM to p
for BERGERON. S. Evenhus singled to pitcher; N. Wagner advanced to third. B. Frawley
pinch ran for S. Evenhus. N. Bird pinch hit for G. Hainlen. N. Bird walked; B.
Frawley advanced to second. MOLINA to cf for NAKAYAMA. CHAMBERS to p. / for
BINGHAM. E. Newby struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - B. Frawley to rf. N. Bird to 3b. McNAUGHTON
grounded out to ss. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. MOLINA struck out swinging. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Colorado St.-Pueblo 9th - M. Massaro walked. D. Cummins grounded into double
play 1b unassisted; M. Massaro out on the play. A. LeSage walked. D. Hirshon flied
out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.