PROVO -- Pitcher Jeff Mousser struck out eight in BYU's 9-2 win against Air Force on Thursday, before a season-high 1,601 fans at Larry H. Miller Field.
BYU's Ryan Chambers knocked in the games first two runs in the third inning on a ball hit to left field that fell just inside the foul line for a double. Chambers now has a 15-game hitting streak, the longest this season for the Cougars.
Mousser retired eight straight batters, striking out four, before giving up his first hit to Nick Liegl in the third inning. Mousser pitched eight innings, striking out eight on 103 pitches. He had three innings where he retired the Falcons in order, the last of which was a 6-4-3 double play turned by Ranger Wiens, Wade Vest and Jake Stubblefield.
"I didn't have my best stuff, but I made them hit my pitch," said Mousser, whose record improved to 4-3.
Kainoa Obrey kept Air Force off the board in fourth inning by throwing out Zach McAngus at the plate to catcher Adam Wilkes after Mike Rose hit a slow grounder down the third base line. Stubblefield got Mousser out of fourth by throwing out Rose at the plate after receiving the ball on a pick-off play.
"We've got to have a well-pitched game to set to tone for the series, and Jeff has done that all year," BYU Head Coach Vance Law said.
Brock Jacobsen started off the fourth inning with a single and later scored on a single up the middle by Wilkes. Chambers continued to dominate pitchers by hitting a single to right field for another RBI. Wiens kept the inning alive, and runs crossing the plate with an RBI single to score Doug Jackson, making the score 5-0.
Air Force got on the board in the fifth on a two-run double by Jackson Ranes, 5-2.
The Cougars had a 5-2 lead when they chased Jesper Stubbendroff off the mound in the fifth inning.
Wiens and Obrey extended the lead, 7-2, in the sixth on single and a sacrifice fly, respectively.
Wiens hit a no-doubter in the eighth for a two-run home run to give the Cougars a comfortable 9-2 lead going into the ninth. Wiens drove in Vest who had stolen second, catching Josh Zumbrun napping while grooming the mound. Curtis Rodriguez came in on the mound the ninth for BYU to close the book on the Falcons.
"It's great to see a nice crowd out at the ballpark," Law said. "It was a great night for baseball."
The win improves BYU's record to 14-16 overall and 7-6 in conference, while Air Force falls to 11-21, 0-12.
The Cougars take the field again Friday at 7 p.m. Saturday's game time has been moved up to Noon.
Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ
Apr 10, 2003 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force Academy 2 (11-21,0-12 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
LIEGL cf................. 3 0 0 0 0 3 5 1 1
FUGLER ph/rf............ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
McANGUS 3b/2b............ 4 0 1 0 0 2 2 2 1
ROSE rf/cf............... 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
PHIFER lf................ 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
SHOCKLEY dh.............. 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
PETERSON ph............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HOWES 1b................. 2 1 0 0 1 0 8 0 0
DEROHAN ph.............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PROUTY ss................ 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 0
TITTLE ph............... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
FITZGERALD 2b/3b......... 3 1 2 0 0 1 3 1 0
RANES c.................. 3 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 1
WALTER c................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STUBBENDORFF p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ZUMBRUN p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 2 8 2 1 9 24 11 5
Brigham Young Univ 9 (15-16,7-6 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf......... 5 3 2 0 0 0 4 0 0
CHAMBERS, Ryan rf........ 5 1 4 3 0 0 1 0 0
WIENS, Ranger ss......... 5 1 4 4 0 0 0 4 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 3
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake 1b.... 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 2
LAW, Tim 1b............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
JACOBSEN, Brock cf....... 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 0
CARSON, Clayton dh....... 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
WILKES, Adam c........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 11 0 2
VEST, Wade 2b............ 3 2 1 0 1 0 2 2 0
MOUSSER, Jeff p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
RODRIGUEZ, Curtis p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 37 9 17 9 2 2 27 11 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 020 000 - 2 8 3
Brigham Young Univ.. 002 302 02X - 9 17 0
-------------------------------------------
E - LIEGL; PROUTY; RANES. DP - AFA 1; BYU Cougars 1. LOB - AFA 5; BYU
Cougars 7. 2B - FUGLER; McANGUS; FITZGERALD; RANES; JACKSON; CHAMBERS. HR -
WIENS(2). SF - OBREY. SB - ROSE; VEST. CS - ROSE; WIENS; CARSON.
Air Force Academy IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
STUBBENDORFF........ 4.0 10 5 3 2 1 20 22
ZUMBRUN............. 4.0 7 4 3 0 1 17 18
Brigham Young Univ IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MOUSSER, Jeff....... 8.0 8 2 2 1 8 30 31
RODRIGUEZ, Curtis... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
Win - MOUSSER (4-3). Loss - STUBBENDORFF (3-5). Save - None.
WP - MOUSSER.
Umpires - HP: Ray Belfiore 1B: Terry Balser 3B: Tony Sender
Start: 7:09 pm Time: 2:28 Attendance: 1601
Game notes:
Game 1 of 3
Saturday's game time has been moved up to Noon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play-by-Play
Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ - Play-by-Play
Apr 10, 2003 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 020 000 - 2 8 3
Brigham Young Univ.. 002 302 02X - 9 17 0
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy starters: 6/cf LIEGL; 12/3b McANGUS; 15/rf ROSE; 4/lf
PHIFER; 9/dh SHOCKLEY; 2/1b HOWES; 16/ss PROUTY; 19/2b FITZGERALD; 38/c
RANES; 24/p STUBBENDORFF;
Brigham Young Univ starters: 13/lf JACKSON; 22/rf CHAMBERS; 8/ss WIENS;
32/3b OBREY; 33/1b STUBBLEFIELD; 3/cf JACOBSEN; 23/dh CARSON; 24/c
WILKES; 5/2b VEST; 35/p MOUSSER;
Air Force Academy - inning 1
LIEGL struck out swinging. McANGUS struck out looking. ROSE grounded out
to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 1
JACKSON grounded out to 2b. CHAMBERS singled to left field. WIENS flied
out to lf. OBREY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 2
PHIFER flied out to lf. SHOCKLEY struck out swinging. HOWES flied out to
lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 2
STUBBLEFIELD grounded out to ss. JACOBSEN singled, bunt, advanced to
second on a throwing error by c. CARSON walked. CARSON out at second c to
3b, caught stealing. WILKES grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit,
1 error, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 3
PROUTY popped up to lf. FITZGERALD struck out looking. RANES singled to
left field. LIEGL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 3
VEST walked. JACKSON doubled to left field; VEST advanced to third.
CHAMBERS doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; JACKSON scored; VEST scored.
WIENS singled to right field; CHAMBERS advanced to third. WIENS out at
second c to 2b, caught stealing. OBREY struck out swinging. STUBBLEFIELD
popped up to 2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 4
McANGUS doubled down the lf line. McANGUS advanced to third on a wild
pitch. ROSE reached on a fielder's choice; McANGUS out at home 3b to c.
PHIFER flied out to cf. ROSE stole second. SHOCKLEY singled to shortstop;
ROSE advanced to third. ROSE out at home p to 1b to c, caught stealing. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 4
JACOBSEN singled to second base, bunt. CARSON singled to right field;
JACOBSEN advanced to third. WILKES singled up the middle, RBI; CARSON out
at second cf to 3b; JACOBSEN scored. VEST flied out to cf. JACKSON
reached on a fielder's choice; WILKES advanced to second on a fielding
error by ss. CHAMBERS singled to right field, RBI; JACKSON advanced to
third; WILKES scored, unearned. WIENS singled to right field, RBI;
CHAMBERS advanced to second; JACKSON scored, unearned. OBREY flied out to
cf. 3 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 5
HOWES walked. PROUTY popped up to 2b. FITZGERALD doubled to right center;
HOWES advanced to third. RANES doubled to center field, 2 RBI; FITZGERALD
scored; HOWES scored. LIEGL struck out swinging. McANGUS grounded out to
p. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 5
ZUMBRUN to p for STUBBENDORFF. STUBBLEFIELD grounded out to ss. JACOBSEN
singled to right field. CARSON singled to right field; JACOBSEN advanced
to third. WILKES lined into double play ss to 1b; CARSON out on the play.
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 6
ROSE grounded out to 3b. PHIFER singled to right field. SHOCKLEY grounded
into double play ss to 2b to 1b; PHIFER out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 6
VEST grounded out to 3b. JACKSON singled to first base. CHAMBERS singled
through the right side; JACKSON advanced to second. WIENS singled to
center field, RBI; CHAMBERS advanced to second, advanced to third on a
fielding error by cf; JACKSON scored. OBREY flied out to cf, SF, RBI;
CHAMBERS scored, unearned. STUBBLEFIELD reached on a fielder's choice;
WIENS out at second ss to 2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 7
HOWES grounded out to 2b. PROUTY fouled out to lf. FITZGERALD singled to
shortstop. RANES lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 7
McANGUS to 2b. FITZGERALD to 3b. JACOBSEN flied out to cf. CARSON flied
out to cf. WILKES struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 8
LAW to 1b for STUBBLEFIELD. FUGLER pinch hit for LIEGL. FUGLER doubled to
left field. McANGUS struck out swinging. ROSE struck out looking. PHIFER
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 8
FUGLER to rf. ROSE to cf. WALTER to c for RANES. VEST singled to
shortstop. JACKSON flied out to cf. VEST stole second. CHAMBERS grounded
out to 2b; VEST advanced to third. WIENS homered to left field, 2 RBI;
VEST scored. OBREY flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy - inning 9
RODRIGUEZ to p for MOUSSER. PETERSON pinch hit for SHOCKLEY. PETERSON
flied out to rf. DEROHAN pinch hit for HOWES. DEROHAN grounded out to ss.
TITTLE pinch hit for PROUTY. TITTLE struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.