OREM -- Mike Tufte threw 118 pitches to lead the Air Force Academy to its first series win with a 9-5 victory Saturday over BYU.
Tufte, who improved his record to 6-3, kept the Cougars off stride in his seven innings as BYU stranded 12 runners in a game it never led. The Colorado senior got key plays in the third, fourth and seventh innings each with two outs and Cougars on base.
A crucial injury to BYU pitcher Ryan Adams in the second inning slowed the Cougar effort. Bowie Frost lined a two-out shot off Adams' thigh, but was picked off on the next play by the righthander after the injury timeout.
Adams lasted one more inning before the Falcons scored four consecutive runs in the fourth, mainly due to doubles by Price Paramore and Brad Bashore. When Justin Su'a replaced Adams, shortstop Seth King gave BYU new life with a diving stop to start a double play.
BYU got on board in the fifth inning when Shane Belliston hit a high hopper to second and Brian LaBasco missed a controversial tag as the umpires reversed their decision. King then worked a bases loaded full count and drove in BYU's first run as shortstop Nelson Prouty bobbled the ball to account for a two of the three runs.
When Cougar catcher Lars Birkeland hit a towering lead-off homer to left field on an 0-1 count in the sixth, BYU was behind 5-4.
Air Force widened the distance in the eighth when pinch runner Don Rolleg avoided the tag on a controversial call at home on a double steal. Mike Thiessen added a two-run homer in the ninth. David Diehl pitched the final two innings to earn his third save of the season.
It was the first time AFA had won a series against BYU on the road, after winning 15-11 on Friday, and only the second time the Falcons had ever won the series with the Cougars.
AFA improved to 16-15 overall and 3-6 in the Mountain West Conference, while BYU is 14-13 and 5-4. The Cougars next play a three-game series at UNLV, while AFA is at New Mexico State before hosting New Mexico this coming week.
The Automated ScoreBook
Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 24, 2001 at Orem, Utah (UVSC Stadium)
Air Force Academy 9 (16-15,3-6 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
LaBASCO, Brian 2b........ 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 3 0
PROUTY, Nelson ss........ 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 2 0
THIESSEN, Mike cf........ 4 1 2 3 0 0 1 0 1
LIEGL, Nick cf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GOLDSBERRY, Gerremy rf... 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 2
PARAMORE, Price dh....... 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
FITZGERALD, Ryan pr..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PHIFER, Josh lf.......... 4 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0
ROLLEG, Don pr/lf....... 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
BASHORE, Brad 3b......... 3 1 2 2 1 0 3 3 0
FROST, Bowie 1b.......... 3 0 3 1 0 0 10 1 0
SHOCKLEY, Tony ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HOWES, Adam 1b.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
PETRO, Daniel c.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 4 2 1
TUFTE, Mike p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
DIEHL, David p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 38 9 15 8 3 1 27 11 6
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (14-13,5-4 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf......... 4 0 1 0 1 1 6 0 0
BELLISTON, Shane cf...... 5 1 2 0 0 1 5 0 1
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 1 1
KING, Seth ss............ 5 1 0 1 0 1 0 7 3
HIESTAND, Jeff dh........ 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0
WIRRICK, Michael 1b...... 4 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 3
BIRKELAND, Lars c........ 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 1 4
PERRY, Tyler 2b.......... 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 2 0
ADAMS, Ryan p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
SU'A, Justin p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
RAY, James p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WARD, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 41 5 11 4 1 6 27 12 12
Score by Innings R H E
---------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 410 013 0 - 9 15 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 031 001 X - 5 11 2
---------------------------------------------
E - PROUTY 2; OBREY; BIRKELAND. DP - Cougars 1. LOB - Falcons 6; Cougars 12.
2B - LaBASCO; PARAMORE; PHIFER; BASHORE 2; FROST; BELLISTON. 3B - WIRRICK.
HR - THIESSEN(5); BIRKELAND(2). HBP - OBREY; WIRRICK. SF - THIESSEN. SB -
ROLLEG; SHOCKLEY; JACKSON; KING; OBREY. CS - FITZGERALD.
Air Force Academy IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TUFTE, Mike......... 7.0 10 4 3 0 5 33 34
DIEHL, David........ 2.0 1 1 0 1 1 8 10
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ADAMS, Ryan......... 3.0 8 4 4 1 0 16 17
SU'A, Justin........ 4.1 3 2 1 1 1 15 17
RAY, James.......... 0.2 3 2 2 0 0 4 4
WARD, Matt.......... 1.0 1 1 1 1 0 3 4
Win - TUFTE (6-3). Loss - ADAMS (5-2). Save - DIEHL (3).
WP - ADAMS; SU'A. HB - TUFTE; DIEHL. BK - DIEHL.
Umpires - Home:Jim Paronto 1st:Kelly Gonzales 3rd:Bill Boyd
Start: 11:56 Time: 2:49 Attendance: 472
Game notes:
Game Three of Three
ADAMS faced 5 batters in the 4th.
RAY faced 2 batters in the 9th.