PROVO -- Kent Walton and Dan Vargas led BYU to a dominating 12-5 Senior Day victory over the University of Utah on Saturday.
Walton went four-for-five with an RBI, while Vargas went three-for-four with three RBI for BYU (35-18, 17-7).
"One of our goals was to win this final game and send the seniors out the right way," said BYU Coach Vance Law.
In the top of the first Jake Wortham struck out the leadoff man, but then issued a walk which would prove to be costly as back-to-back singles by Utah (24-29, 12-12) brought the runner in to score and give the Utes a 1-0 edge heading into the bottom of the inning.
The Cougars came up and after lead-off man Leon Johnson grounded out, Stephen Wells hit a single to right making him eight-for-eight in the series. Apana Nakayama was up next and hit a deep fly ball to the right field wall that doubled Wells out at first to end the inning.
Utah added a run in the second off a solo shot by Erich Kemp. BYU responded with a monster inning putting five runs up on the board.
The inning started with Kent Walton hitting a lead-off single followed by a single by Steve Parker that advanced Walton to third. Kasey Ko then hit a sac fly to score Walton and make the score 2-1. After Austin Hall was issued a walk, J.T. Musso hit a towering double to the left field wall bringing in Parker to score and advancing Hall to third and tying things up at 2-2.
Dan Vargas followed Musso's double with a double of his own scoring Hall and Musso. Vargas would come across the plate after a Johnson single and give BYU the commanding 5-2 lead.
Just as the Cougars offense started getting hot, Wortham and the BYU defense started to settle in. In the third Wortham gave up one hit, and forced three groundouts.
Walton followed a groundout by Nakayama in the bottom frame with a stand-up double and was brought in to score later in that inning on a hit-error play making the score 6-2.
BYU stayed hot offensively in the fourth as Wells hit a two-run triple. Well's triple was followed by a single by Walton that brought Wells in to score and give BYU the commanding 9-4 lead. Walton would then proceed to work his way around the bases with a steal, a called balk and a wild pitch. He would come across to score and make it 10-4 on another wild pitch.
Defensively BYU held strong and after adding another run in the fifth, the Cougars led by pitcher Clayton Barnes retired the Utes in order in the seventh.
The Cougars added a run in the eighth to give them the final score of 12-5. BYU has three seniors on its roster. Nakayama, Matthew Jensen and Jesse Craig all played their final home game on Saturday. Jake Wortham, 7-4, picked up the win for BYU.
Up next the Cougars head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference Tournament. They enter the tournament with the second seed and will play on Thursday at 11 a.m., PDT against either Utah, New Mexico or San Diego State.
Utah Utes at Brigham Young Univ.
May 19, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Utah Utes 5 (24-29,12-12 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BURNHAM, Nate cf......... 5 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 0
SHIMADA, Corey 2b........ 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 3 2
BROSSMAN, Jay 1b......... 5 1 2 1 0 0 10 1 0
GUYMON, Cody dh.......... 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
WELSH, John rf........... 4 0 2 1 0 0 3 1 0
SHRINER, Jesse c......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 3
LOWERY, Nick lf.......... 4 1 1 0 0 0 3 0 1
KEMP, Erich 3b........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 2 1 0
MITCHELL, Mike ss........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0
FERGUSON, Fred ph....... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
TRINNAMAN, Lucas p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DEVORE, Brad p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WOLFGRAMM, Geoff p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FOSTER, Kerr p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ASKEW, Bennett p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 39 5 12 4 1 3 24 12 8
Brigham Young Univ. 12 (35-18,17-7 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon rf......... 5 0 1 1 0 2 3 1 0
WELLS, Stephen cf........ 5 1 2 2 0 1 4 0 0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh....... 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
HOWELL, Blaine pr....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WALTON, Kent lf/2b....... 5 3 4 1 0 0 2 1 3
JENSEN, Matt lf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PARKER, Steve 3b......... 2 1 1 0 2 0 1 4 0
MC KEEVER, Mike ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FRAMPTON, Chase 3b...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
KO, Kasey 1b............. 3 0 1 1 0 0 9 1 1
BILLS, Thomas 1b........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
HALL, Austin 2b.......... 2 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 1
MUSSO, J.T. c............ 2 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0
GUENTHER, Wes pr/c...... 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
VARGAS, Dan ss........... 4 2 3 3 0 0 1 3 0
WORTHAM, Jake p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
PEREZ, Jacob p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BARNES, Clayton p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
PARRY, David p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
KIDD, Brad p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STAMBAUGH, J.D. p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 36 12 16 9 5 3 27 14 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Utah Utes........... 110 110 001 - 5 12 3
Brigham Young Univ.. 051 410 01X - 12 16 1
-------------------------------------------
E - SHIMADA(17); SHRINER(6); MITCHELL(19); VARGAS. DP - Utah Utes 2. LOB -
Utah Utes 8; BYU Cougars 6. 2B - BROSSMAN(18); WALTON(16); MUSSO(8); VARGAS
2(8). 3B - WELLS(5). HR - KEMP(2). SF - KO(4). SB - JOHNSON, L.(28);
WALTON(11). CS - JOHNSON, L.(8).
Utah Utes IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TRINNAMAN, Lucas.... 1.1 4 4 4 1 0 6 8
DEVORE, Brad........ 2.1 8 6 4 1 1 13 14
WOLFGRAMM, Geoff.... 0.1 1 1 1 2 0 2 4
FOSTER, Kerr........ 3.0 1 0 0 1 2 10 11
ASKEW, Bennett...... 1.0 2 1 0 0 0 5 5
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WORTHAM, Jake....... 5.0 8 4 3 1 1 24 25
PEREZ, Jacob........ 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 4 4
BARNES, Clayton..... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
PARRY, David........ 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
KIDD, Brad.......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
STAMBAUGH, J.D...... 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 5 5
Win - WORTHAM (7-4). Loss - TRINNAMAN (0-6). Save - None.
WP - DEVORE(6); WOLFGRAMM(3). BK - WOLFGRAMM(1).
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton 1B: Mike Hendrickson 3B: Jason Rogers
Start: 4:05 pm Time: 2:48 Attendance: 1686
Game notes:
WOLFGRAMM faced 2 batters in the 5th.
Utah Utes starters: 2/cf BURNHAM; 3/2b SHIMADA; 18/1b BROSSMAN; 5/dh GUYMON; 1/rf
WELSH; 7/c SHRINER; 4/lf LOWERY; 16/3b KEMP; 12/ss MITCHELL; 20/p TRINNAMAN;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 14/rf JOHNSON, L.; 1/cf WELLS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 9/lf
WALTON; 5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 18/2b HALL; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 28/p WORTHAM;
Utah Utes 1st - BURNHAM struck out looking. SHIMADA walked. BROSSMAN flied
out to cf. GUYMON singled to right field; SHIMADA advanced to second. WELSH singled
up the middle, RBI; GUYMON advanced to second; SHIMADA scored. SHRINER fouled out to
rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 1b unassisted. WELLS
singled to right field. NAKAYAMA flied into double play rf to 2b to 1b; WELLS out on
the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 2nd - LOWERY popped up to 2b. KEMP homered to left field, RBI.
MITCHELL grounded out to 3b. BURNHAM singled to left field. SHIMADA popped up to rf.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WALTON singled to left field. PARKER singled up the
middle; WALTON advanced to third. KO flied out to lf, SF, RBI; WALTON scored. HALL
walked; PARKER advanced to second. MUSSO doubled to left field, RBI; HALL advanced
to third; PARKER scored. DEVORE to p for TRINNAMAN. VARGAS doubled to right center,
2 RBI; MUSSO scored; HALL scored. JOHNSON, L. singled to right field, RBI; VARGAS
scored. JOHNSON, L. stole second. JOHNSON, L. out at third c to 3b, caught stealing.
WELLS flied out to lf. 5 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 3rd - BROSSMAN grounded out to 2b. GUYMON grounded out to 3b. WELSH
singled to left field. SHRINER flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - NAKAYAMA grounded out to ss. WALTON doubled to
right center. PARKER walked. KO singled up the middle; PARKER advanced to second;
WALTON advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by 2b, unearned. HALL grounded
into double play 2b to ss to 1b; KO out on the play. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Utah Utes 4th - LOWERY singled through the left side. KEMP grounded out to
ss; LOWERY advanced to second. MITCHELL flied out to rf; LOWERY advanced to third.
BURNHAM singled up the middle, RBI; LOWERY scored. SHIMADA popped up to 3b. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MUSSO singled to third base. MUSSO advanced to
second on a wild pitch. VARGAS singled to left field, advanced to second on a
fielding error by c; MUSSO advanced to third. GUENTHER pinch ran for MUSSO. JOHNSON,
L. struck out swinging. WELLS tripled to left field, 2 RBI; VARGAS scored; GUENTHER
scored. NAKAYAMA grounded out to 3b. WALTON singled to left center, RBI; WELLS
scored. WOLFGRAMM to p for DEVORE. WALTON stole second. WALTON advanced to third on
a balk. PARKER walked; WALTON scored on a wild pitch, unearned. KO flied out to lf.
4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Utah Utes 5th - GUENTHER to c. BROSSMAN singled to left field. GUYMON
grounded out to p; BROSSMAN advanced to second. WELSH flied out to cf. SHRINER
reached on a fielding error by ss; BROSSMAN scored, unearned. LOWERY grounded out to
ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - HALL walked. GUENTHER singled to right center; HALL
advanced to second. FOSTER to p for WOLFGRAMM. VARGAS doubled down the lf line, RBI;
GUENTHER advanced to third; HALL scored. JOHNSON, L. struck out swinging. WELLS
struck out swinging. NAKAYAMA walked. WALTON fouled out to 1b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 3 LOB.
Utah Utes 6th - PEREZ to p for WORTHAM. KEMP flied out to lf. MITCHELL
grounded out to ss. BURNHAM singled to left center. SHIMADA singled, out at second
rf to 1b to ss; BURNHAM advanced to second. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - PARKER grounded out to 2b. KO flied out to rf. HALL
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 7th - BARNES to p for PEREZ. BROSSMAN grounded out to 3b. GUYMON
flied out to cf. WELSH grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - GUENTHER fouled out to 3b. VARGAS lined out to ss.
JOHNSON, L. grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 8th - BILLS to 1b for KO. PARRY to p for BARNES. SHRINER grounded
out to 3b. LOWERY fouled out to lf. KIDD to p for PARRY. KEMP struck out looking.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - ASKEW to p for FOSTER. WELLS flied out to rf.
NAKAYAMA singled to right field. HOWELL pinch ran for NAKAYAMA. WALTON singled to
right field; HOWELL advanced to second. MC KEEVER pinch hit for PARKER. MC KEEVER
reached on a fielder's choice, advanced to second; WALTON out at second 1b to ss;
HOWELL advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by ss, unearned. BILLS grounded
out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Utah Utes 9th - FRAMPTON to 3b for MC KEEVER. STAMBAUGH to p for KIDD. JENSEN
to lf for WALTON. FERGUSON pinch hit for MITCHELL. WALTON to 2b for JENSEN. JENSEN
to lf for HALL. FERGUSON singled to left field. BURNHAM struck out looking. SHIMADA
grounded out to 2b; FERGUSON advanced to second. BROSSMAN doubled down the lf line,
RBI; FERGUSON scored. GUYMON grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.