PROVO -- Two unearned runs in the eighth propelled BYU to a 9-7 comeback win against the University of Utah at Larry H. Miller Field.
After Utah reliever Clay Westmoreland (2-5) stuck out the first two Cougars to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, an error by the third baseman scored a run and led to an additional run and a win for BYU.
"We don't give up against anybody, but Utah is our rival," said BYU third baseman Ranger Wiens. "All the games (against the Utes) have been good games. We seem to pull them out by only a couple runs."
The win is the 12th straight against Utah and the third in a row for the Cougars who improved to 18-25 and 8-9 in the Mountain West Conference in front of the 10th largest crowd in school history with 2,201 fans in attendance. The Utes fall to 13-25 and 5-12 in the MWC.
BYU head coach Vance Law said it is unusual to have a 12-game winning streak against any team.
"I can see how it happens in basketball when a team has a good center," Law said. "Tim (Esmay, Utah's head coach), must feel like he was snake bit. That is one he probably feels he should have had, but our guys played with a lot of confidence. They believe they can win any game."
Last year's MWC Pitcher of the Year, Paul Jacinto (2-8), entered the game in the top of the eighth inning. With nobody out, Utah quickly placed runners on first and third with back-to-back singles by Jay Brossman and Matt Ciaramella. A strikeout later, Brossman tried to score on a wild pitch, but catcher Casey Cloward recovered the ball and threw to a diving Jacinto at home plate for the second out. Wiens then snagged a lined shot off the bat of Jared Pena to end the inning. Jacinto struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season in relief.
"We played a very solid game," Law said. "After giving them a bunch of runs early in the game, I'm proud of the way our guys battled back. We had good intensity in the dugout all game long."
Utah took an early 6-2 lead into the top of the fourth off BYU starter Nick Lemon (1-3). The Utes scored all six runs on only three hits. Lemon finished with six walks in three-plus innings.
Ben Saylor brought the Cougars within one with a two-run inside the park home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that skidded past Ciaramella in center field. The home run is Saylor's fourth of the year.
After the Utes went up 7-5 with a run in the seventh, BYU tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Wiens came through with a two-run single. The senior, who came into the game batting .209 after hitting over .400 last season, finished the day 2-for-3 with two RBI.
"This season has been a struggle at the plate for me," Wiens said. This feels good, especially after a tough season in more than one way."
Game three of the three-game series with Utah is Saturday at 6 p.m. at Miller Field. The game will be televised live by BYUTV, channel 21 locally. The telecast can also be viewed live on the Internet. A link to the telecast can be found on BYU baseball's schedule page at www.byucougars.com. Clicking on the game's audio link will connect to the telecast. The telecast can also be viewed live on the BYUTV channel on DirecTV and the Dish Network. The game will be rebroadcast on KBYU on Saturday at 10 p.m.
KOVO 960 will broadcast the game live. The game can be listened to live on the BYU Radio channel on DirecTV and the Dish Network as well as the Internet. The audiocast can be found at www.byuradio.org.
Live stats are available for the game. A link to the webcast can be found on BYU baseball's schedule page at www.byucougars.com.
University of Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 30, 2004 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
University of Utah 7 (13-25,5-12 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KHOURY, Ryan ss.......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 3 3 3
BROSSMAN, Jay dh......... 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
CIARAMELLA, Matt cf...... 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 1 0
CHEVALIER, Eric rf....... 4 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1
PENA, Jared 2b........... 4 2 2 1 1 0 2 3 1
WESTFALL, Mike 1b........ 4 0 1 1 0 1 7 0 2
WELSH, John lf........... 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0
WILSON, Cort 3b.......... 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2
EASTMAN, Trevor c........ 3 1 0 0 1 0 7 1 1
MACKAY, Doug p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
McCORD, Shad p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
BUCK, Ben p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WESTMORELAND, Clay p.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 7 9 5 6 5 24 11 10
Brigham Young Univ. 9 (18-25,8-9 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........ 4 1 1 0 1 1 4 0 1
KNELL, Kory lf........... 2 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0
ITRI, Rob ph............ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
BILLS, Kevin pr/lf...... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TAYLOR, Brandon ss....... 5 1 2 0 0 0 2 4 0
HIESTAND, Jeff dh........ 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
SAYLOR, Ben rf........... 4 1 1 3 1 1 1 0 1
WIENS, Ranger 3b......... 3 2 2 2 2 0 1 1 3
LAW, Tim 1b.............. 4 1 2 1 0 1 11 0 2
CLOWARD, Casey c......... 3 0 0 0 1 1 5 1 0
VEST, Wade 2b............ 4 0 1 1 0 2 1 5 0
LEMON, Nick p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BEUS, Lance p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
BURGER, Bryce p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
JACINTO, Paul p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 33 9 12 7 8 7 27 12 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
University of Utah.. 102 300 100 - 7 9 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 120 22X - 9 12 1
-------------------------------------------
E - KHOURY; WILSON; KNELL. DP - Utah Utes 3. LOB - Utah Utes 10; BYU Cougars
9. 2B - WIENS. HR - SAYLOR(4). HBP - WESTFALL; WELSH; WILSON; HIESTAND. SH -
WELSH. SF - CIARAMELLA. SB - WILSON; KNELL; WIENS; LAW; CLOWARD.
University of Utah IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MACKAY, Doug........ 5.0 8 5 4 5 4 20 25
McCORD, Shad........ 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 5 6
BUCK, Ben........... 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 3 3
WESTMORELAND, Clay.. 1.0 1 2 0 3 2 5 8
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
LEMON, Nick......... 3.0 3 6 5 6 1 12 20
BEUS, Lance......... 3.1 3 1 1 0 0 11 14
BURGER, Bryce....... 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 3 3
JACINTO, Paul....... 2.0 2 0 0 0 4 7 7
Win - JACINTO (2-8). Loss - WESTMORELAND (2-5). Save - None.
WP - MACKAY; BEUS; JACINTO. HBP - by LEMON (WILSON); by LEMON (WELSH); by BEUS
(WESTFALL); by McCORD (HIESTAND). BK - WESTMORELAND. PB - CLOWARD.
Umpires - HP: Ray Belfiore 1B: Terry Balser 3B: Dan Weikle
Start: 7:03 pm Time: 3:17 Attendance: 2201
Game notes:
Game two of three
The AFA-BYU game times have been finalized for May 20 and 21 and are DH at
4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on May 22 a doubleheader at 11 a.m., and 2 p.m.
Today's AFA-UNLV game canceled snow, rescheduled Sat. 11 a.m. DH
LEMON faced 3 batters in the 4th.
McCORD faced 3 batters in the 7th.
Play-by-Play
University of Utah at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Apr 30, 2004 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
University of Utah.. 102 300 100 - 7 9 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 120 22X - 9 12 1
-------------------------------------------
University of Utah starters: 2/ss KHOURY; 18/dh BROSSMAN; 25/cf CIARAMELLA;
5/rf CHEVALIER; 3/2b PENA; 6/1b WESTFALL; 33/lf WELSH; 13/3b WILSON; 12/c
EASTMAN; 32/p MACKAY;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 22/cf CHAMBERS; 12/lf KNELL; 3/ss TAYLOR;
16/dh HIESTAND; 25/rf SAYLOR; 8/3b WIENS; 1/1b LAW; 9/c CLOWARD; 5/2b
VEST; 14/p LEMON;
University of Utah - inning 1
KHOURY grounded out to ss. BROSSMAN flied out to rf. CIARAMELLA walked.
CHEVALIER walked; CIARAMELLA advanced to second. PENA singled to left
field, RBI; CHEVALIER advanced to second; CIARAMELLA scored. WESTFALL
grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 1
CHAMBERS singled to left field. CHAMBERS advanced to second on a wild
pitch. KNELL walked. TAYLOR flied out to rf; CHAMBERS advanced to third.
HIESTAND grounded into double play ss to 1b; KNELL out on the play. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 2
WELSH grounded out to ss. WILSON hit by pitch. WILSON stole second.
EASTMAN grounded out to 2b. KHOURY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 2
SAYLOR grounded out to 2b. WIENS walked. WIENS stole second. LAW singled
to first base, RBI; WIENS scored. LAW stole second. CLOWARD walked.
CLOWARD advanced to second; LAW advanced to third on a throwing error by
ss, scored, unearned. CLOWARD stole third. VEST struck out swinging.
CHAMBERS struck out swinging. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 3
BROSSMAN flied out to cf. CIARAMELLA walked. CHEVALIER flied out to lf.
CIARAMELLA advanced to second on a passed ball. PENA walked. WESTFALL
singled to left field, advanced to second on a fielding error by lf, RBI;
PENA scored, unearned; CIARAMELLA scored. WELSH hit by pitch. WILSON
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 3
KNELL walked. TAYLOR lined out to ss. HIESTAND struck out looking; KNELL
stole second. SAYLOR grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 4
EASTMAN walked. KHOURY singled to center field; EASTMAN advanced to
third. BROSSMAN walked; KHOURY advanced to second. BEUS to p for LEMON.
CIARAMELLA flied out to cf, SF, RBI; BROSSMAN advanced to second; KHOURY
advanced to third; EASTMAN scored. BROSSMAN advanced to third; KHOURY
scored on a wild pitch. CHEVALIER grounded out to 2b, RBI; BROSSMAN
scored. PENA grounded out to ss. 3 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 4
WIENS walked. LAW singled to left field; WIENS advanced to second.
CLOWARD reached on a fielder's choice; LAW out at second p to ss; WIENS
advanced to third. VEST singled to third base, RBI; CLOWARD advanced to
second; WIENS scored. CHAMBERS flied out to lf. CLOWARD out at second p
to 2b, picked off. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 5
WESTFALL hit by pitch. WELSH grounded out to p, SAC; WESTFALL advanced to
second. WILSON popped up to ss. EASTMAN grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 5
KNELL singled down the rf line. TAYLOR singled to left field; KNELL
advanced to second. HIESTAND grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b;
TAYLOR out on the play; KNELL advanced to third. SAYLOR homered to center
field, 2 RBI; KNELL scored. WIENS doubled to center field. LAW struck out
looking. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 6
KHOURY flied out to cf. BROSSMAN grounded out to 2b. CIARAMELLA singled
to left field. CHEVALIER popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 6
McCORD to p for MACKAY. CLOWARD flied out to lf. VEST grounded out to p,
bunt. CHAMBERS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 7
PENA singled to left field. WESTFALL flied out to cf. WELSH singled up
the middle; PENA advanced to third. BURGER to p for BEUS. WILSON singled
to right field, RBI; WELSH advanced to second; PENA scored. EASTMAN
reached on a fielder's choice; WILSON out at second 3b to 2b; WELSH
advanced to third. KHOURY fouled out to 1b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 7
KNELL singled to left field. TAYLOR singled to left field; KNELL advanced
to second. HIESTAND hit by pitch; TAYLOR advanced to second; KNELL
advanced to third. BUCK to p for McCORD. SAYLOR struck out swinging.
WIENS singled to right field, 2 RBI; HIESTAND advanced to third; TAYLOR
scored; KNELL scored. LAW flied into double play cf to c; HIESTAND out on
the play. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 8
JACINTO to p for BURGER. BROSSMAN singled to pitcher. CIARAMELLA singled
to right field; BROSSMAN advanced to third. CHEVALIER struck out looking.
CIARAMELLA advanced to second on a wild pitch; BROSSMAN out at home c to
p. PENA lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 8
WESTMORELAND to p for BUCK. CLOWARD struck out looking. VEST struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b. CHAMBERS walked. ITRI pinch hit for
KNELL. CHAMBERS advanced to second on a balk. ITRI singled through the
left side; CHAMBERS advanced to third. BILLS pinch ran for ITRI. TAYLOR
reached on a fielding error by 3b; BILLS advanced to second; CHAMBERS
scored, unearned. HIESTAND walked; TAYLOR advanced to second; BILLS
advanced to third. SAYLOR walked, RBI; HIESTAND advanced to second;
TAYLOR advanced to third; BILLS scored, unearned. WIENS grounded out to
ss. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.
University of Utah - inning 9
BILLS to lf. WESTFALL struck out swinging. WELSH struck out looking.
WILSON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.