PROVO -- Nate Fernley threw a five-hit complete game Saturday to beat New Mexico 4-1 and give BYU its final victory on Cougar Field.
Before a season-high home crowd of 1,103, Fernley threw 98 pitches as BYU held a groundbreaking ceremony prior to the game for the new Miller Park Softball/Baseball Complex. Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller threw out the first pitch as the principal donor for the new facility.
Then it was on to victory as BYU avenged two previous losses this week to the conference champion Lobos. Fernley, making his first start of the season in 23 appearances, fanned three of UNM's first six batters. By the time he struck out All-American Aaron Sisk for the second straight time, the Cougar bats came alive.
Matt Carson dropped a single in shallow right field, then Kainoa Obrey singled past Sisk at third base before they were driven in by Ty Haguewood's double to center field.
"He (Brandon Wells) threw me a curve and I got a good piece of it," said Haguewood. "When I saw the centerfielder (Aaron Stanley) turn and sprint to the wall I knew I hit it well enough."
Aaron Stanley had made three good catches against the Cougars earlier in the game at center field. The Lobos scored their only run in the eighth when Jake Little scored on a groundout by Dusty Young. Little had singled up the middle, then advanced on Donny Sevieri's single and a sacrifice bunt.
In the bottom of the eighth BYU got two insurance runs as leadoff hitter Cameron Coughlan got on base when Scott Candelaria overthrew first base. Coughlan advanced to third on Nick Greene's sac bunt.
"The key was Cameron is so quick that the shortstop had to hurry his throw," said BYU Coach Vance Law.
Then UNM intentionally walked Nick Day to bring up Seth King.
"That made me mad," said King. "That's no respect. I wanted to make an impact. He (Jeff Perez) threw me a belt-high outside fastball and I was looking for anything I could hit."
King's hit was a two-run double to the centerfield wall.
"It backfired for them," said Law. "I knew Sisk was coming up in the ninth, so a three-run lead with the way Fernley was pitching was insurmountable."
"Everything felt like it went well and I was staying in a groove," said Fernley, who didn't walk anyone and earned his first victory of the season against six saves.
The Cougars, now 27-27 overall and 15-15 in the Mountain West Conference, move on to the league tournament at Las Vegas on Wednesday. UNM is the top seed in the tourney with a 34-19 record and 22-8 in the MWC.
The Automated ScoreBook
New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ.
May 13, 2000 at Provo, Utah (Cougar Field)
New Mexico 1 (34-19,22-8 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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STANLEY, Aaron cf........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 2
CANDELARIA, Scott lf..... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
SISK, Aaron 3b........... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
DENNIS, Dee 1b........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 7 0 1
LITTLE, Jake c........... 3 1 1 0 0 1 7 1 0
SEVIERI, Donny rf........ 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
ALEXANDER, Chris dh...... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
KITAMURA, Jared ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
YOUNG, Dusty ss.......... 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0
CAIRNS, Troy 2b.......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 0
WELLS, Brandon p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PEREZ, Jeff p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 31 1 5 1 0 7 24 11 3
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (27-27,15-15 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
COUGHLAN, Cameron dh..... 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
GREENE, Nick cf.......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
DAY, Nick lf............. 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
KING, Seth ss............ 3 0 1 2 1 0 0 5 1
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 4 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 4 1
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b......... 3 0 1 2 0 1 17 0 0
CLOWARD, Casey c......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 7 1 2
MATHIS, Nate 2b.......... 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 6 0
FERNLEY, Nate p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 27 4 6 4 4 7 27 19 5
Score by Innings R H E
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New Mexico.......... 000 000 010 - 1 5 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 200 02X - 4 6 1
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E - YOUNG; OBREY. DP - Lobos 2; Cougars 1. LOB - Lobos 3; Cougars 5. 2B -
CANDELARIA; KING; HAGUEWOOD. HBP - DAY. SH - GREENE. CS - KING.
New Mexico IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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WELLS, Brandon...... 4.1 4 2 2 2 2 16 19
PEREZ, Jeff......... 3.2 2 2 1 2 5 11 14
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FERNLEY, Nate....... 9.0 5 1 0 0 7 31 31
Win - FERNLEY (1-3). Loss - WELLS (4-3). Save - None.
WP - WELLS. HB - WELLS.
Umpires - Home:Robert Franceschiello 1st:Kevin Newby 3rd:John Cortez
Start: 12:37 Time: 2:13 Attendance: 1103
Game notes:
Game three of three in Provo. This is the 32nd season BYU has played
on this field with a current record of 503-123-2 (.802) since 1969.