SALT LAKE CITY -- Brandon Taylor had an enormous day from the plate, hitting a grand slam and for the cycle to lead BYU to a 19-6 rout of Utah in Saturday's rubber match at Franklin Covey Field.
Taylor's cycle came in his first four plate appearances. He hit his grand slam in the first, a single in the third, a double in the fifth and a triple in the sixth. Taylor ended up tying a school record for hits in the game with six. He ended up going 6-for-6 with a walk and six RBI.
The win moves the Cougars to 28-11-1 and 14-4 in the Mountain West Conference. The 28 wins equal the Cougars' total win output from last season. Utah drops to 13-24 (6-12, MWC).
BYU got off to a hot start, getting four runs across the plate in the top of the first inning. Those four were after consecutive singles to start the inning off then Jeff Hiestand drew a walk to load the bases. That's when Taylor hit a first-pitch, opposite-field grand slam. It was Taylor's fourth slam of the season and third in eight days. The home run was Taylor's 14th on the year, tying his personal season best from last year.
Utah came back with two runs in the bottom of the second. With two runners on the Utes' Ryder Olsen hit a fly ball that the wind blew just out of Ben Saylor's diving attempt in right field to score the two runs.
The Cougars responded in the third inning. BYU added one run when Casey Cloward hit a hard liner to left field. The ball was hit deep enough to score Hiestand from third and give the Cougars a 5-2 lead. Utah bounced back in its side of the third frame on a two-run homer by Doug Beck.
BYU scored four more in the fifth, sending nine batters to the plate. Cloward hit a two-run single and was followed by a RBI double by Andrew Law. As the Cougars pulled away, BYU head coach Vance Law said he never really got comfortable until later in the game.
"Until the sixth inning, I was still pacing in the dugout," Law said. "Utah is a tough team and they came back from a 10-0 deficit on Thursday."
In the sixth, the Cougars blew the game wide open, dropping seven more runs on the board to extend their lead to 16-4. BYU got nine hits and sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning. The Cougars' first four hits of the inning were extra base knocks that included doubles by Hiestand, Saylor and Cloward. In the middle of the doubles, Taylor hit his triple which was a rocket into the right field corner. By the time the inning was over BYU had the game well in hand. Taylor said he ran through a stop sign on his way to third for his triple.
"When I hit it, I knew I had a chance [at a triple and cycle]," Taylor said.
Utah added a two meaningless runs in the bottom of the seventh. In the top of the eighth redshirt freshman Seth Iorg got his first hit of the season. Iorg blasted a deep home run to left field to push the Cougars' lead to 17-6. BYU added two runs in the ninth.
Brigham Young Univ. at University of Utah
Apr 23, 2005 at Salt Lake City, Utah (Franklin Covey Field)
Brigham Young Univ. 19 (28-11-1,14-4 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MOLINA, Adrian cf........ 5 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss..... 5 2 2 2 0 0 1 2 0
RELF, Brandon ph/ss..... 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh....... 6 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........ 1 4 1 0 2 0 6 1 0
IORG, Seth lf........... 2 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b....... 6 3 6 6 1 0 1 4 0
SAYLOR, Ben lf/rf........ 7 1 2 1 0 1 3 0 3
KNELL, Kory rf/lf........ 2 1 0 0 3 0 2 0 3
SLOAN, Kevin rf......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
CLOWARD, Casey c......... 4 2 2 4 0 2 0 1 0
AYOSO, Bryce c.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
LAW, Andrew 2b........... 6 2 4 2 0 0 6 5 4
TORGERSON, Blake p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
PLATT, James p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BERGERON, Michel p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 48 19 24 19 6 4 27 15 14
University of Utah 6 (13-24,6-12 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELSH, John cf........... 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
WISE, TJ ph............. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
KHOURY, Ryan ss.......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 2 0
KMETKO, Tyler ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BROSSMAN, Jay 3b......... 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
KAY, Tyler ph........... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BECK, Doug 2b............ 4 1 2 3 0 0 3 4 0
GARRETT, Clayne 1b....... 3 1 2 0 0 0 6 1 0
WALDRAM, Jake pr/1b..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
MOZELESKI, Joe rf........ 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 2
EASTMAN, Trevor c........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
FRANK, Adam c........... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
OLSEN, Ryder dh.......... 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 2
TARTLER, Seth lf......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 2
FREED, Bryce p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MADSEN, Josh p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CHRISTENSEN,Chase p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
LANE, Brian p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
BAILEY, Brandon p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HEDMAN, Brian p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 35 6 9 5 3 2 27 10 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 401 047 012 - 19 24 2
University of Utah.. 022 000 200 - 6 9 0
-------------------------------------------
E - VILLEZCAS; TAYLOR. DP - BYU Cougars 2; Utah Utes 1. LOB - BYU Cougars
14; Utah Utes 6. 2B - HIESTAND; TAYLOR 2; SAYLOR 2; CLOWARD; LAW; BECK;
OLSEN. 3B - TAYLOR. HR - IORG(1); TAYLOR(14); BECK(4). HBP - MOLINA 2;
HIESTAND 2; WELSH. SF - NAKAYAMA; CLOWARD. SB - KNELL. CS - WELSH.
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake.... 6.0 6 4 2 1 0 24 26
PLATT, James........ 2.0 3 2 2 2 1 8 10
BERGERON, Michel.... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
University of Utah IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FREED, Bryce........ 1.0 4 4 4 2 1 7 10
MADSEN, Josh........ 3.0 1 1 1 2 0 8 11
CHRISTENSEN,Chase... 0.1 3 4 4 1 0 4 6
LANE, Brian......... 1.0 5 5 5 0 0 8 9
BAILEY, Brandon..... 2.2 7 3 3 0 2 15 16
HEDMAN, Brian....... 1.0 4 2 2 1 1 6 8
Win - TORGERSON (5-2). Loss - FREED (1-5). Save - None.
WP - HEDMAN. HBP - by FREED (MOLINA); by CHRISTENSEN (HIESTAND); by LANE
(MOLINA); by TORGERSON (WELSH); by BAILEY (HIESTAND).
Umpires - HP: Jeff Richardson 1B: Daniel Weikle 3B: Ryan Bleiberg
Start: 12:06 pm Time: 3:14 Attendance: 556
Game notes:
Brandon Taylor tied a school record with six hits and
hit for the cycle: grand slam, single, double, triple
FREED faced 1 batter in the 2nd.
Brigham Young Univ. at University of Utah - Play-by-Play
Apr 23, 2005 at Salt Lake City, Utah (Franklin Covey Field)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 401 047 012 - 19 24 2
University of Utah.. 022 000 200 - 6 9 0
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 1/cf MOLINA; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 16/1b
HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/lf SAYLOR; 12/rf KNELL; 9/c CLOWARD; 6/2b LAW; 32/p
TORGERSON;
University of Utah starters: 4/cf WELSH; 2/ss KHOURY; 18/3b BROSSMAN; 3/2b BECK;
33/1b GARRETT; 22/rf MOZELESKI; 5/c EASTMAN; 24/dh OLSEN; 16/lf TARTLER; 19/p FREED;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - MOLINA singled to left field. VILLEZCAS singled up
the middle; MOLINA advanced to second. NAKAYAMA grounded out to ss; VILLEZCAS
advanced to second; MOLINA advanced to third. HIESTAND walked. TAYLOR homered to
right field, 4 RBI; HIESTAND scored; VILLEZCAS scored; MOLINA scored. SAYLOR doubled
to right center. KNELL walked. CLOWARD struck out looking. LAW reached on a
fielder's choice; KNELL out at second 3b to 2b. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
University of Utah 1st - WELSH grounded out to 2b. KHOURY popped up to 2b.
BROSSMAN flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - MOLINA hit by pitch. MADSEN to p for FREED.
VILLEZCAS grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; MOLINA out on the play. NAKAYAMA
popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Utah 2nd - BECK flied out to cf. GARRETT singled to center
field. MOZELESKI singled to left field; GARRETT advanced to second. EASTMAN flied
out to rf. OLSEN doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; MOZELESKI scored; GARRETT scored.
TARTLER grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HIESTAND walked. TAYLOR singled to left field;
HIESTAND advanced to second. SAYLOR flied out to rf; HIESTAND advanced to third.
KNELL walked; TAYLOR advanced to second. CLOWARD flied out to lf, SF, RBI; TAYLOR
advanced to third; HIESTAND scored. LAW grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
University of Utah 3rd - WELSH grounded out to ss. KHOURY reached on a
fielding error by ss. BROSSMAN reached on a fielder's choice; KHOURY out at second
3b to 2b. BECK homered to left field, 2 RBI, unearned; BROSSMAN scored, unearned.
GARRETT out at first 1b to p. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MOLINA grounded out to 2b. VILLEZCAS flied out to
lf. NAKAYAMA flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Utah 4th - MOZELESKI lined out to ss. EASTMAN grounded out to
2b. OLSEN singled to left field. TARTLER grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - CHRISTENSEN to p for MADSEN. HIESTAND hit by pitch.
TAYLOR doubled down the lf line; HIESTAND advanced to third. SAYLOR flied out to cf.
KNELL walked. CLOWARD singled through the left side, 2 RBI; KNELL advanced to
second; TAYLOR scored; HIESTAND scored. KNELL stole third. LAW doubled down the lf
line, RBI; CLOWARD advanced to third; KNELL scored. LANE to p for CHRISTENSEN.
MOLINA hit by pitch. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 2b, RBI; MOLINA advanced to second;
LAW advanced to third; CLOWARD scored. NAKAYAMA out at first 1b to p. 4 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
University of Utah 5th - SAYLOR to rf. KNELL to lf. WELSH hit by pitch. WELSH
out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. KHOURY walked. BROSSMAN grounded into double
play 3b to 2b to 1b; KHOURY out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HIESTAND doubled to left field. TAYLOR tripled to
right field, RBI; HIESTAND scored. SAYLOR doubled to right center, RBI; TAYLOR
scored. KNELL grounded out to 3b. CLOWARD doubled down the lf line, RBI; SAYLOR
scored. LAW singled to center field, RBI; CLOWARD scored. BAILEY to p for LANE.
MOLINA singled to right field; LAW advanced to second. VILLEZCAS singled to right
field, RBI; MOLINA advanced to third; LAW scored. NAKAYAMA singled to left field,
RBI; VILLEZCAS advanced to second; MOLINA scored. HIESTAND hit by pitch; NAKAYAMA
advanced to second; VILLEZCAS advanced to third. TAYLOR singled to right field, RBI;
HIESTAND advanced to second; NAKAYAMA advanced to third; VILLEZCAS scored. SAYLOR
struck out swinging. KNELL popped up to 2b. 7 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
University of Utah 6th - IORG to lf for HIESTAND. SAYLOR to 1b. KNELL to rf.
BECK reached on a fielding error by 3b. GARRETT singled to right field; BECK
advanced to second. WALDRAM pinch ran for GARRETT. MOZELESKI reached on a fielder's
choice; WALDRAM out at second ss to 2b; BECK advanced to third. EASTMAN lined out to
2b. OLSEN flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WALDRAM to 1b. CLOWARD struck out looking. LAW
singled to left field. MOLINA flied out to lf. RELF pinch hit for VILLEZCAS. RELF
popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 7th - RELF to ss. SLOAN to rf for KNELL. AYOSO to c for
CLOWARD. PLATT to p for TORGERSON. TARTLER walked. WELSH singled to right field;
TARTLER advanced to second. KHOURY singled to right field; WELSH advanced to second;
TARTLER advanced to third. BROSSMAN grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; KHOURY
out on the play; WELSH advanced to third; TARTLER scored. BECK doubled to left
center, RBI; WELSH scored. WALDRAM walked. MOZELESKI lined out to 3b. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - NAKAYAMA popped up to ss. IORG homered to left
field, RBI. TAYLOR doubled to right center. SAYLOR flied out to rf. SLOAN flied out
to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah 8th - FRANK to c for EASTMAN. FRANK struck out looking.
OLSEN flied out to lf. TARTLER grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - HEDMAN to p for BAILEY. AYOSO struck out. LAW
singled to shortstop. MOLINA singled to left field; LAW advanced to second. RELF
singled to right center, RBI; MOLINA advanced to third; LAW scored. NAKAYAMA flied
out to lf, SF, RBI; MOLINA scored. IORG singled to right center; RELF advanced to
second. IORG advanced to second; RELF advanced to third on a wild pitch. TAYLOR
walked. SAYLOR grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
University of Utah 9th - BERGERON to p for PLATT. WISE pinch hit for WELSH. WISE struck out looking.
KMETKO pinch hit for KHOURY. KMETKO grounded out to p. KAY pinch hit for BROSSMAN.
KAY flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.