PROVO -- Upset-minded Southern Utah gave BYU its first loss at Larry H. Miller Field with a 15-12 non-conference victory.
The Thunderbirds, now 10-29, stopped the Cougars' nine-game winning streak behind the efforts of Chris Nelson, Chad Grundy and Keith Dickinson. Nelson had two doubles on the day, including a two-run blast in the seven-run fifth inning. Grundy and Dickinson each had a two-run homers in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
BYU took the early 4-0 lead in the first inning off Matt Carson's two-run homer and Lars Birkeland's two-run double. Carson's shot was his 14th of the season. Jeff Hiestand also hit a two-run homer in the third to put BYU up 6-0.
SUU took the lead with its seven-run fifth inning which chased Jeff Mousser from the mound. Reliever Brandon Boothe's pitching was short-lived due in part to Grundy's homer. Enter jake Chrisman, BYU's basketball player, to snuff out two T-Birds in a row to end the sixth inning.
The Cougars made Chrisman the pitcher of record with a five-run sixth inning, including Kainoa Obrey's three-run homer. SUU then tagged Chrisman for four runs to take its 15-12 lead in the seventh.
"We didn't change speeds very much and threw every pitch hard," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "Our young players learned they had better mix it up, otherwise your lunch will be given to you. Southern Utah can swing the bats and they can hurt you.
"We made a couple of mistakes, but we are not out of sync. Our guys continue to learn and this will make them much better."
The Cougars, 25-14, host the T-Birds again at Miller Park on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
The Automated ScoreBook
Southern Utah Univ. at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 16, 2001 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Southern Utah Univ. 15 (10-29)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Nelson, Chris c.......... 4 2 3 2 1 0 3 0 0
Anderson, James ss....... 6 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 4
Jacobsen, Curtis 3b...... 6 2 2 2 0 1 1 5 0
Dickinson, Keith dh...... 5 4 4 2 1 0 0 0 1
Mitchell, Todd 2b........ 5 2 2 1 1 0 0 6 0
Grundy, Chad lf.......... 6 2 3 4 0 1 2 0 0
Wright, Dan 1b........... 5 0 2 1 0 2 15 0 2
Schmitt, Russ rf......... 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Hatch, Travis cf......... 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 3
Hunter, Cody p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ball, Bryan p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 46 15 19 15 4 7 27 13 10
Brigham Young Univ. 12 (24-15)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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JACKSON, Doug cf......... 5 1 2 0 0 0 4 0 1
COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b..... 5 2 1 1 0 1 1 5 0
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 5 3 3 3 0 1 1 0 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 3 3 4 1 0 0 2 0
HIESTAND, Jeff dh........ 5 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........ 5 0 2 2 0 0 6 1 0
LAW, Tim 1b.............. 5 0 0 0 0 1 12 0 1
WHITLEY, Aaron lf........ 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1
HALES, Brad ss........... 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 2
MOUSSER, Jeff p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BOOTHE, Brandon p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CHRISMAN, Jake p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
SU'A, Justin p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 41 12 13 12 3 3 27 12 5
Score by Innings R H E
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Southern Utah Univ.. 000 173 400 - 15 19 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 402 015 000 - 12 13 2
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E - Jacobsen; OBREY; MOUSSER. DP - Cougars 1. LOB - T-Birds 10; Cougars 5.
2B - Nelson 2; Anderson; Jacobsen; Mitchell; Schmitt; JACKSON; CARSON;
OBREY; HIESTAND; BIRKELAND. 3B - Dickinson; Wright. HR - Dickinson(3);
Grundy(4); CARSON(14); OBREY(8); HIESTAND(5). HBP - Nelson; Wright.
Southern Utah Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Hunter, Cody........ 5.1 10 10 9 2 3 27 29
Ball, Bryan......... 3.2 3 2 2 1 0 14 15
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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MOUSSER, Jeff....... 4.1 10 8 6 1 5 24 25
BOOTHE, Brandon..... 1.0 3 3 3 2 1 6 9
CHRISMAN, Jake...... 1.2 4 4 4 1 1 9 11
SU'A, Justin........ 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 7 7
Win - Ball (3-0). Loss - CHRISMAN (0-1). Save - None.
WP - CHRISMAN 2. HB - BOOTHE; CHRISMAN.
Umpires - Home:Gerry Leonard 1st:Blake Jensen 3rd:Blyden Loutensock
Start: 3:54 Time: 2:57 Attendance: 809
Game notes:
Game one of two in the Provo series