PROVO -- In the second battle of a three-game series, reserves Andrew Law and Jared Miller led BYU to a 12-5 victory over Air Force Friday night at Larry H. Miller Field.
Miller, a lefty transfer from Cal State Northridge, earned his second save in relief and Law, normally a starter, came in as a pinch-runner to steal two consecutive bases in the eighth inning. Their efforts ignited the Cougar attack.
Jordan Muir pitched six-plus innings, striking out nine.
"Jordan [Muir] pitched outstanding baseball tonight," said BYU head coach Vance Law.
The game got rolling for BYU in the second inning when junior Kasey Ko singled to left-center field. Sophomore Jonathan Cluff continued the momentum singling to center field and Bryce Ayoso followed by hitting sac-fly to deep right field, which scored Ko. BYU got its second run of the game when Cluff stole home, on a wild pitch from Air Force.
Muir proved his strong pitching skills in the fifth inning as he struck out the side.
Later, in the fifth inning, the Cougar offense proved unstoppable as sophomore Brandon Relf took advantage of a dropped ball in the outfield to reach second base. Steve Parker then came to bat and singled to center, scoring Relf and junior Kent Walton, making the score 6-2.
"Our guys played well all-around tonight," Law said. "When we make our plays, our offense picks up and we play great baseball."
When sophomore outfielder Sean McNaughton stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning, junior J.T. Musso and Ayoso executed a double steal, scoring Ayoso.
The seventh inning proved to be a defensive challenge for the Cougars as they walked four players and brought in two different pitchers. Sophomore Blake Torgerson replaced Muir at the mound, but he stayed in for only two batters until the sophomore Miller came in to finish the game for the Cougars.
"I wanted to come in, get ahead, and give our team a chance to win," Miller said. "Even though we are a young team, we have maturity and we're able to stay poised in tough situations."
BYU's offense heated up again in the eighth inning when Cluff doubled to left field, scoring Andrew Law. Ayoso then came to bat and singled to center, helping Cluff get on third base. The bases were loaded when Musso singled to first. And BYU's offense exploded when Relf doubled to deep center field, driving in Cluff, Ayoso, and Musso.
McNaughton scored the final run for BYU, making the score 12-5. BYU went above the .500 mark for the first time this season, improving its record 11-10 and 2-3 in the Mountain West Conference. Air Force falls to 7-11 and 0-2 in the MWC.
The Cougars will conclude the series against Air Force Saturday at 1 p.m.
Air Force at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 21, 2008 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force 5 (7-11,0-2 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CARTER, Nathan 2b........ 4 0 0 1 1 0 1 4 0
RANDHAWA, K.J. ss........ 3 0 0 0 2 3 0 2 1
DERBIGNY, Chay lf/rf..... 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 0 3
GENTRY, Addison 1b....... 3 1 1 2 1 1 10 0 1
ALEXANDER, Matt dh....... 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
ALLEN, Jake cf........... 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 1 0
ABT, Jeff rf............. 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
WALKER, Daniel lf....... 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
MEENTS, Josh c........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0
MAYO, Parker c.......... 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0
McMAHON, Jon 3b.......... 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 0
PETRO, Jake p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
SHEPHERD, Colin p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
RUVOLO, Michael p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TEACH, Adam p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 5 5 5 7 13 24 12 6
Brigham Young Univ. 12 (11-10,2-3 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MCNAUGHTON, Sean lf...... 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 1
VARGAS, Dan ss........... 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 2 0
WALTON, Kent cf.......... 4 1 2 0 1 0 6 0 0
PARKER, Steve 3b......... 4 0 1 2 1 2 2 0 2
KO, Kasey 1b............. 4 1 2 0 0 0 4 0 1
LAW, Andrew pr.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BILLS, Thomas ph/1b..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf....... 5 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 2
AYOSO, Bryce dh.......... 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
MUSSO, J.T. c............ 4 1 1 0 0 1 12 1 0
RELF, Brandon 2b......... 4 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 0
MUIR, Jordan p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TORGERSON, Blake p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MILLER, Jared p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 36 12 12 7 5 5 27 4 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force........... 200 000 300 - 5 5 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 031 06X - 12 12 0
-------------------------------------------
E - RANDHAWA(4); ABT(2). DP - AF 1; BYU Cougars 1. LOB - AF 6; BYU Cougars
6. 2B - MCNAUGHTON(6); WALTON(5); CLUFF 2(7); RELF(3). HR - GENTRY(3). SF -
AYOSO(2). SB - DERBIGNY(12); GENTRY(2); MCNAUGHTON(8); WALTON(8); LAW 2(6);
AYOSO(4); MUSSO(3).
Air Force IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PETRO, Jake......... 6.0 7 6 3 3 4 24 28
SHEPHERD, Colin..... 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 4 4
RUVOLO, Michael..... 0.2 4 5 3 0 0 7 7
TEACH, Adam......... 0.1 0 0 0 2 0 1 3
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MUIR, Jordan........ 6.0 3 5 5 5 9 21 26
TORGERSON, Blake.... 0.0 1 0 0 1 0 1 2
MILLER, Jared....... 3.0 1 0 0 1 4 9 10
Win - MUIR (2-2). Loss - PETRO, J. (1-3). Save - MILLER (2).
WP - PETRO, J. 2(6); TEACH 2(2); MUIR(2). PB - MEENTS(2).
Umpires - HP: John Cortez 1B: Lew Carleton 3B: Wes Hamilton
Start: 6:03 pm Time: 2:56 Attendance: 1286
MUIR faced 4 batters in the 7th.
TORGERSON faced 2 batters in the 7th.
SHEPHERD faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Air Force starters: 15/2b CARTER; 1/ss RANDHAWA; 5/lf DERBIGNY; 24/1b GENTRY;
21/dh ALEXANDER; 4/cf ALLEN, J.; 36/rf ABT; 8/c MEENTS; 20/3b McMAHON; 26/p
PETRO, J.;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/lf MCNAUGHTON; 13/ss VARGAS; 9/cf WALTON; 5/3b
PARKER; 22/1b KO; 8/rf CLUFF; 11/dh AYOSO; 10/c MUSSO; 4/2b RELF; 12/p MUIR;
Air Force 1st - CARTER grounded out to ss. RANDHAWA struck out swinging.
DERBIGNY singled up the middle. DERBIGNY stole second. GENTRY homered to right
field, 2 RBI; DERBIGNY scored. ALEXANDER grounded out to 1b unassisted. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - MCNAUGHTON singled to right field. MCNAUGHTON
stole second. VARGAS flied into double play cf to 2b; MCNAUGHTON out on the
play. WALTON singled to center field. WALTON stole second. PARKER struck out
looking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 2nd - ALLEN, J. flied out to cf. ABT struck out swinging.
MEENTS struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - KO singled through the left side. CLUFF
doubled to right center; KO advanced to third. AYOSO flied out to rf, SF, RBI;
CLUFF advanced to third; KO scored. MUSSO struck out swinging. CLUFF scored on
a wild pitch. RELF grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 3rd - McMAHON struck out swinging. CARTER lined out to 3b.
RANDHAWA walked. DERBIGNY flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - MCNAUGHTON flied out to lf. VARGAS flied out
to lf. WALTON doubled to center field. PARKER struck out swinging, out at first
c to 1b, interference. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 4th - GENTRY struck out swinging. ALEXANDER flied out to lf.
ALLEN, J. flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - KO out at first 2b to p. CLUFF struck out
swinging. AYOSO grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 5th - ABT struck out swinging. MEENTS struck out swinging.
McMAHON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MUSSO grounded out to p. RELF reached on a
fielding error by rf, advanced to second. MCNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b; RELF
advanced to third. VARGAS walked. VARGAS advanced to second; RELF scored on a
passed ball, unearned. WALTON walked, advanced to second; VARGAS advanced to
third on a wild pitch. PARKER singled up the middle, 2 RBI; WALTON scored,
unearned; VARGAS scored, unearned. KO grounded out to 2b. 3 runs, 1 hit, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Air Force 6th - CARTER flied out to cf. RANDHAWA walked. RANDHAWA
advanced to second on a wild pitch. DERBIGNY struck out swinging. GENTRY flied
out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - DERBIGNY to rf. WALKER to lf for ABT. MAYO to
c for MEENTS. CLUFF grounded out to 3b. AYOSO walked. MUSSO singled to left
field; AYOSO advanced to second. RELF flied out to rf; AYOSO advanced to third.
MUSSO stole second; AYOSO stole home. MCNAUGHTON grounded out to p. 1 run, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 7th - ALEXANDER walked. ALLEN, J. walked; ALEXANDER advanced
to second. WALKER singled up the middle; ALLEN, J. advanced to second;
ALEXANDER advanced to third. MAYO walked, RBI; WALKER advanced to second;
ALLEN, J. advanced to third; ALEXANDER scored. TORGERSON to p for MUIR. McMAHON
singled to third base, RBI; MAYO advanced to second; WALKER advanced to third;
ALLEN, J. scored. CARTER walked, RBI; McMAHON advanced to second; MAYO advanced
to third; WALKER scored. MILLER to p for TORGERSON. RANDHAWA struck out
swinging. DERBIGNY grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; CARTER out on the
play. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - SHEPHERD to p for PETRO, J.. VARGAS struck out
looking. WALTON flied out to cf. PARKER flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 8th - GENTRY walked. ALEXANDER struck out swinging. GENTRY
stole second. ALLEN, J. flied out to lf. WALKER struck out swinging. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - KO singled up the middle. LAW pinch ran for
KO. RUVOLO to p for SHEPHERD. LAW stole second. LAW stole third. CLUFF doubled
to left field, RBI; LAW scored. AYOSO singled to second base; CLUFF advanced to
third. MUSSO reached on a fielding error by ss; AYOSO advanced to second. RELF
doubled to center field, 2 RBI; MUSSO scored, unearned; AYOSO scored; CLUFF
scored. MCNAUGHTON doubled to center field, RBI; RELF scored. VARGAS grounded
out to 3b. WALTON grounded out to ss. TEACH to p for RUVOLO. MCNAUGHTON
advanced to third on a wild pitch. PARKER walked. BILLS pinch hit for LAW.
PARKER advanced to second; MCNAUGHTON scored on a wild pitch, unearned. BILLS
walked. CLUFF flied out to cf. 6 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Air Force 9th - BILLS to 1b. MAYO singled to first base. McMAHON fouled
out to 3b. CARTER flied out to cf. RANDHAWA struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.