BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic (November 22, 2011)—Southpaw Mark Anderson threw a two-hitter and teammate Jaycob Brugman belted a two-run homer in BYU’s 8-2 defeat of the Ranger club team Tuesday.
The junior Anderson threw 84 pitches in five innings to record the win, leaving the game with a 5-1 lead. Sophomore right fielder Brugman hit his home run in the seventh to give BYU its seventh and eighth runs.
“I was rounding second base and thought I was going to get a triple because I didn't think it wasn't going to go out,” said Brugman. “It's a little different to hit the ball here. Usually you know right off the bat if you hit a home run or not, and here the air is so dense that the ball doesn't go anywhere. I've been struggling to get the barrel on the ball lately and I just wanted to shorten up and get a good swing on it. “
Anderson worked out of a 1-0 deficit in the first inning, but got the help he needed in the third when the Cougars took lead they didn’t relinquish.
With one out in the third, Brugman singled to center, Austin Hall singled to left center and then Dillon Robinson singled to center to score Brugman and Hall. Brock Whitney then doubled to advance Robinson who later scored on a wild pitch.
“The key for me was our pitchers,” said coach Vance Law. “They maintained a good pace throughout the ball game. They threw strikes and kept themselves ahead of hitters and that's the key to pitching. If we're able to pound the strike zone like we did today, it keeps our defense into it. We played excellent defense and got a couple of timely hits.”
Relievers Tyler Westensee and Chris Howard limited the Ranger club team to one run in the remaining four innings after Anderson left the mound. Brugman’s homer assisted in the Cougar hurlers’ confidence.
“Brugman's home run was great. He's been trying so hard to impress and do a good job,” said Law. “I told him to just relax and he was able to step in there and get a big home run for us and seal the deal for us today."
Law started the same lineup as he had in game one, with the exception of junior college transfer Christian Mua in left field. In the seventh with the six-run cushion, Tanner Chauncey replaced Hall at shortstop, Jarrett Jarvis filled in for Guenther at catcher, Kelton Caldwell took over for Chase Frampton at DH, and Adam Law went in for Bret Lopez at second base.
The first BYU hit of the game was a fruitless triple by Frampton in the second inning which was interrupted by a swarm of killer bees passing over the field. Dillon Robinson continued his hitting terror.
"Dillon (Robinson) played an outstanding ball game,” said Coach Law. “He played awesome infield and made a couple of great diving plays. With his three hits and three RBI, he just continues to get better and he's going to be a very fine player for us.
"Our goals have been to execute the things we have been practicing all Fall. If our pitchers come out and throw strikes, we know we're going to be in ball games. It doesn't matter who we're playing, if we can throw strikes we have a deep enough pitching staff that is going to give us the chance to win. Our goals now are to try and win all four games now that we're here, to have fun and to do a great job giving service and representing the University. I believe that they're doing all three of them right now and I'm really proud of them."
BYU, now 2-0, is idle Wednesday before resuming play on Thanksgiving Day against the Red Sox club team in its four-game, week-long tour of the Dominican Republic.
Brigham Young Univ. 8, at DR Rangers 2
Nov 22, 2011 at Boca Chica, Dominican Republic (Rangers Complex)
Brigham Young Univ. 8 (2-0)
Player .................AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB----------------------------------------------------------BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf...... 4 3 2 2 1 0 1 0 0HALL, Austin ss......... 3 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 0 CHAUNCEY, Tanner ss.. 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0ROBINSON, Dillon 3b..... 5 2 3 3 0 0 0 3 1WHITNEY, Brock 1b....... 5 0 1 1 1 0 8 0 1GUENTHER, Wes c......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 JARVIS, J. c.......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0FRAMPTON, C. dh......... 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 CALDWELL, Kelton dh.. 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2LOPEZ, Bret 2b.......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 LAW, Adam 2b.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0MUA, Christian lf....... 3 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1WELLS, Stephen cf....... 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0ANDERSON, Marc p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0WESTENSEE, Tyler p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0HOWARD, Chris p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Totals................. 35 8 12 6 7 4 27 8 8Score by Innings R H E-------------------------------------------Brigham Young ... 003 021 200 - 8 12 0DR Rangers .... 100 001 000 - 2 5 2-------------------------------------------E - GARIA, RIVERA. 2B - WHITNEY(B), 3B - FRAMPTON (B)HR - BRUGMAN (B). SB - BRUGMAN. SH - MUA.Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF------------------------------------------------------ANDERSON, Mark.... 5.0 2 1 1 1 3 17 20WESTENSEE, T...... 2.0 3 1 1 2 0 9 11HOWARD, Chris..... 2.0 0 0 0 4 6 6 10
Win - ANDERSON (1-0). Loss - ROJAS. Save - None.