Taylor's Homer Topples Aztecs

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SAN DIEGO -- Brandon Taylor ensured BYU at least a number two seed and first round bye in the Mountain West Conference with a go-ahead, three-run home run in the ninth inning to push the Cougars to a 6-4 victory over San Diego State Wednesday night.

BYU improves to 36-16-1 (20-8, Mountain West Conference) with the victory. The Cougars also move within a half-game of first-place UNLV. The Aztecs fell to 22-32 and 16-12 in MWC play.

SDSU started scoring in the first inning, getting two early runs and an early lead. The Aztecs got some help from two Cougars' errors that plated one unearned run.

San Diego State got another unearned run in the fourth inning when Jordan Swaydan got to second base on a throwing error by BYU. He scored from third on a two-out RBI by James Guerrero.

Once again, the Cougars had trouble figuring out SDSU pitcher Alex Hinshaw. Last month, BYU lost to Hinshaw 10-4. Hinshaw pitched a complete game, striking out 12 Cougars' batters. On Wednesday, Hinshaw only allowed five hits and no runs in seven innings.

Hinshaw left the game after seven and the Aztecs' shut out left soon thereafter. Adrian Molina led of BYU's side of the eighth with an opposite-field single. One batter later, Molina scored on a RBI single by Ben Saylor. Ryan Chambers followed two batters later with an RBI single of his own to cut the lead to 3-2. SDSU's Dan Bruckart was able to get the next two Cougars' batters out to preserve the lead.

The Aztecs added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a triple by Swaydan and a RBI single from Quintin Berry.

In the ninth, BYU got a one-out double from Apana Nakayama. Molina then walked to put the potential game-tying runner on base with only one out in the inning. That's when Taylor came up big with his 20th home run to give the Cougars a 5-4 lead. The lead was BYU's first of the game. Kory Knell added a towering homer in the inning for the Cougars.

BYU head coach Vance Law said that the Cougars hit the ball well all night despite not scoring any runs until the eighth inning.

"We hit the ball hard the whole game," Law said. "I just felt like it was a matter of time before some of the balls would fall in for us."

The series continues Thursday at 6 p.m. (PDT). KOVO radio 960 AM will again carry live radio coverage.

Brigham Young at San Diego State

May 18, 2005 at San Diego, CA (Tony Gwynn Stadium)

Brigham Young 6 (36-16-1,20-8 MWC)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

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McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b...... 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 2

VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss..... 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 4 1

NAKAYAMA, Apana dh....... 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2

HIESTAND, Jeff rf........ 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0

MOLINA, Adrian ph/cf.... 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

TAYLOR, Brandon 3b....... 5 1 1 3 0 1 1 2 0

SAYLOR, Ben 1b........... 4 1 3 1 1 0 8 0 0

KNELL, Kory lf........... 4 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 4

CHAMBERS, Ryan cf/rf..... 4 0 2 1 1 0 2 0 2

CLOWARD, Casey c......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0

NELSON, Casey ph/c...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0

HORLACHER, Dave p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0

JENSEN, Matthew p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 38 6 11 6 5 6 26 8 11

San Diego State 4 (22-32,16-12 MWC)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Berry, Quintin cf........ 5 0 2 1 0 0 6 0 0

Guerrero, James ss....... 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 1 2

Ungricht, Brock 1b....... 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1

McLintock, Jake rf....... 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0

Zawadzki, Lance 3b....... 4 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0

Mendoza, Curt dh......... 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1

Scaperotta, Joseph lf.... 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 6

Swaydan, Jordan c........ 4 2 1 0 0 1 7 0 0

Desme, Grant 2b.......... 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0

Hinshaw, Alex p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Esquibel, Andres p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bruckart, Dan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Miller, Will p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 37 4 8 3 4 8 27 1 12

Score by Innings R H E

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Brigham Young....... 000 000 024 - 6 11 4

San Diego State..... 200 100 010 - 4 8 0

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Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.

E - VILLEZCAS(11); TAYLOR 2(14); SAYLOR(2). LOB - BYU 11; SDSU 12. 2B -

NAKAYAMA(16); UNGRICHT(9); ZAWADZKI(17). 3B - SWAYDAN(3). HR - TAYLOR(20);

KNELL(6). HBP - HIESTAND; MCLINTOCK. CS - BERRY(8).

Brigham Young IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

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HORLACHER, Dave..... 5.0 4 3 0 3 4 21 25

JENSEN, Matthew..... 3.2 4 1 1 1 4 16 17

San Diego State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Hinshaw, Alex....... 7.0 5 0 0 3 5 26 30

Esquibel, Andres.... 0.1 2 2 2 1 0 3 4

Bruckart, Dan....... 1.0 2 2 2 1 1 5 6

Miller, Will........ 0.2 2 2 2 0 0 4 4

Win - JENSEN (6-1). Loss - MILLER (1-4). Save - None.

WP - HORLACHER(7). HBP - by HORLACHER (MCLINTOCK); by HINSHAW (HIESTAND).

Umpires - HP: Bruce Bayne 1B: Phil Gonzales 3B: Daniel Weikle

Start: 6:05 pm Time: 3:20 Attendance: 783

Brigham Young at San Diego State - Play-by-Play

May 18, 2005 at San Diego, CA (Tony Gwynn Stadium)

Score by Innings R H E

-------------------------------------------

Brigham Young....... 000 000 024 - 6 11 4

San Diego State..... 200 100 010 - 4 8 0

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Brigham Young starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 16/rf

HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/1b SAYLOR; 12/lf KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 9/c CLOWARD; 11/p

HORLACHER;

San Diego State starters: 23/cf BERRY; 1/ss GUERRERO; 25/1b UNGRICHT; 15/rf

MCLINTOCK; 5/3b ZAWADZKI; 24/dh MENDOZA; 16/lf SCAPEROTTA; 12/c SWAYDAN; 8/2b DESME;

26/p HINSHAW;

Brigham Young 1st - McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS struck out

swinging. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

San Diego State 1st - BERRY singled to left field. GUERRERO reached on an

error by 1b; BERRY advanced to third. BERRY out at home c to p, caught stealing.

UNGRICHT doubled to left center, RBI; GUERRERO scored, unearned. MCLINTOCK singled

to third base. ZAWADZKI flied out to cf; UNGRICHT advanced to third. MCLINTOCK

advanced to second on a wild pitch. MENDOZA reached on an error by 3b; MCLINTOCK

advanced to third; UNGRICHT scored, unearned. SCAPEROTTA struck out swinging. 2

runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.

Brigham Young 2nd - HIESTAND struck out swinging. TAYLOR struck out looking.

SAYLOR singled. KNELL singled to right field; SAYLOR advanced to second. CHAMBERS

flied out to lf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 2nd - SWAYDAN popped up to 3b. DESME grounded out to p, bunt.

BERRY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Brigham Young 3rd - CLOWARD flied out to lf. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging.

VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

San Diego State 3rd - GUERRERO grounded out to 3b. UNGRICHT walked. MCLINTOCK

hit by pitch; UNGRICHT advanced to second. ZAWADZKI flied out to lf. MENDOZA walked;

MCLINTOCK advanced to second; UNGRICHT advanced to third. SCAPEROTTA flied out to

lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

Brigham Young 4th - NAKAYAMA lined out to cf. HIESTAND hit by pitch. TAYLOR

flied out to cf. SAYLOR walked; HIESTAND advanced to second. KNELL flied out to rf.

0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 4th - SWAYDAN reached on an error by 3b, advanced to second.

DESME struck out swinging. BERRY flied out to cf; SWAYDAN advanced to third.

GUERRERO singled to right center, RBI; SWAYDAN scored, unearned. UNGRICHT grounded

out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 5th - CHAMBERS singled to center field. CLOWARD fouled out to

c. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0

errors, 1 LOB.

San Diego State 5th - MCLINTOCK flied out to rf. ZAWADZKI struck out

swinging. MENDOZA walked. SCAPEROTTA struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0

errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 6th - NAKAYAMA flied out to lf. HIESTAND walked. TAYLOR popped

up to ss. SAYLOR singled to right field; HIESTAND advanced to second. KNELL flied

out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 6th - JENSEN to p for HORLACHER. SWAYDAN struck out looking.

DESME struck out swinging. BERRY reached on an error by ss. GUERRERO popped up to

ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 7th - CHAMBERS walked. CLOWARD popped up to 1b. McNAUGHTON

flied out to lf. VILLEZCAS singled through the left side; CHAMBERS advanced to

second. NAKAYAMA reached on a fielder's choice; VILLEZCAS out at second ss to 2b.

0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 7th - UNGRICHT grounded out to 3b. MCLINTOCK grounded out to

ss. ZAWADZKI doubled to center field. MENDOZA flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0

errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 8th - MOLINA pinch hit for HIESTAND. ESQUIBEL to p for HINSHAW.

MOLINA singled to right field. TAYLOR flied out to rf; MOLINA advanced to second.

SAYLOR singled to center field, RBI; MOLINA scored. KNELL walked; SAYLOR advanced to

second. BRUCKART to p for ESQUIBEL. CHAMBERS singled to center field, RBI; KNELL

advanced to second; SAYLOR scored. NELSON pinch hit for CLOWARD. NELSON struck out

swinging. McNAUGHTON reached on a fielder's choice; CHAMBERS out at second ss

unassisted. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 8th - MOLINA to cf. CHAMBERS to rf. NELSON to c. SCAPEROTTA

grounded out to 1b unassisted. SWAYDAN tripled to right center. DESME popped up to

2b. BERRY singled to center field, RBI; SWAYDAN scored. GUERRERO grounded out to ss.

1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 9th - VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. NAKAYAMA doubled to center

field. MOLINA walked. MILLER to p for BRUCKART. TAYLOR homered, 3 RBI; MOLINA

scored; NAKAYAMA scored. SAYLOR flied out to lf. KNELL homered, RBI. CHAMBERS popped

up to ss. 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

San Diego State 9th - UNGRICHT struck out looking. MCLINTOCK singled to right

field. ZAWADZKI walked; MCLINTOCK advanced to second. MENDOZA struck out swinging.

0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.