PROVO -- Pitcher Jeff Mousser and No. 5 hitter Rob Itri combined at the right times Thursday night to lift BYU to a 3-2 victory over the Air Force Academy.

Mousser threw 122 pitches in just over eight innings to earn the victory as closer Tyler Dabo picked up his second save of the season. Itri's clutch sixth-inning double drove in two runs to give BYU a 2-1 lead at Larry H. Miller field before 1,258 fans.

Itri's hit was only the fifth given up out of seven allowed by AFA ace Matt Kaercher, who was fresh off being named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week. Kaercher nibbled at the corners and kept BYU hitless in the first two innings and in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings.

Kevin Bills beat out a bare-handed fielding throw by Nick Liegl in the third inning for BYU's first hit of the game. AFA had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning when lead-off batter Adam Howes singled up the middle, stole second and scored off Josh Phifer's single up the middle again.

Mousser, however, contained the Falcons, registering six of his 10 strikeouts in the game in the first three innings. He struck out three in the third to foil Howes' lead-off walk and second stolen base. Mousser had earlier picked off Phifer in the first to stop that AFA rally.

"All of my pitches were working and I felt like I could get ahead of batters," said Mousser, who improved to 7-3. "They are aggressive batters and I was able to keep them off balance. The game was tight and that kept me in the game and made me work harder."

Mousser got the needed runs from his teammates in the sixth. Carson got on board when he was beaned by Kaercher.

"He (Matt) took a Mohammed Ali to the head," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "He staggered, but didn't go down." The hit by pitch gave Carson the new BYU career record with 27.

With Carson on base, Dave Jensen drove his second hard shot of the game to draw the AFA first baseman out of position and he beat out the single. With two on, Itri drove Kaercher's second pitch to left center to score Carson and a chugging Jensen.

"Because Dave was running hard and didn't stop, I was able to send him home when I saw they missed their cutoff read," said Law.

Law had seen a bases loaded situation disappear in the third without scoring any runs when AFA tagged Doug Jackson out at second off Carson's fielder's choice.

Jackson was the subject of part of the seventh-inning controversy when he out-raced a hit to second base, causing AFA Coach Reed Peters to protest. Peters followed the first base official clear out to right field as he was tossed from the game.

With men on the corners in Jackson and Lars Birkeland, who led off the inning with a single, Cameron Coughlan's sacrifice fly to center scored what ended up being the game-winning run.

More controversy errupted in the eighth when Liegel was ruled out on a double play to end the inning based on Howes' hard slide to second.

AFA rallied in the ninth when Dabo came in relief with one out and one on, as Mousser hit Phifer with an errant pitch. Dabo fanned his first batter, then gave up a single to Bowie Frost and an infield single to Steve Winters to allow AFA's second run.

The Cougars, now 17-23-1 overall and 10-9 for second place in the MWC, broke a four-game losing streak thanks to Mousser.

"His strike ratio was good and he had an effective combo with his curve and slider," said BYU Pitching Coach Mike Karpel of Mousser. "By the sixth inning his changeup was working, too."

Ryan Adams, 3-5, gets the nod to follow Mousser as the Cougar starter for Friday against the Falcons, now 21-22 and 8-11, in the game which starts at 7 p.m.

Air Force Falcons           AB  R  H BI       Brigham Young Univ.         AB  R  H BI
---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
HOWES, Adam 1b.............  3  1  1  0       JACKSON, Doug cf...........  4  0  2  0
SHOCKLEY, Tony rf..........  4  0  0  0       COUGHLAN, Cameron dh.......  3  0  0  1
PHIFER, Josh lf............  3  1  1  1       CARSON, Matt rf............  3  1  0  0
KASEL, Derck dh............  4  0  0  0       JENSEN, Dave 1b............  4  1  1  0
FROST, Bowie 3b............  4  0  1  0       ITRI, Rob 2b...............  4  0  1  2
 ARNETT, Rob pr............  0  0  0  0       WIENS, Ranger ss...........  4  0  0  0
WINTERS, Steve 2b..........  4  0  2  1       BILLS, Kevin 3b............  3  0  1  0
 WALTER, Colton pr.........  0  0  0  0        THURGOOD, Ryan 3b.........  0  0  0  0
PETRO, Daniel c............  4  0  0  0       BIRKELAND, Lars c..........  3  1  2  0
PROUTY, Nelson ss..........  2  0  1  0       YI, Han lf.................  2  0  0  0
 PARAMORE, Price ph........  1  0  0  0       MOUSSER, Jeff p............  0  0  0  0
 MEARS, Scott ss...........  0  0  0  0        DABO, Tyler p.............  0  0  0  0
LIEGL, Nick cf.............  3  0  1  0
KAERCHER, Matt p...........  0  0  0  0
Totals..................... 32  2  7  2       Totals..................... 30  3  7  3
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Falcons... 100 000 001 -  2  7  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 002 10X -  3  7  1
-------------------------------------------
E - ITRI. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - AF 5; BYU Cougars 6. 2B - ITRI. HBP - PHIFER;
CARSON M.. SF - COUGHLAN. SB - HOWES 2. CS - PROUTY.
Air Force Falcons      IP  H  R ER BB SO      Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO
------------------------------------------    ------------------------------------------
KAERCHER, Matt .....  8.0  7  3  3  1  5      MOUSSER, Jeff ......  8.1  5  2  2  1 10
                                              DABO, Tyler ........  0.2  2  0  0  0  1
Win - MOUSSER (7-3).  Loss - KAERCHER (6-7).  Save - DABO (2).
WP - DABO. HBP - by KAERCHER (CARSON M.); by MOUSSER (PHIFER); by KAERCHER (CARSON M.);
by MOUSSER (PHIFER). PB - PETRO.
Strikeouts - SHOCKLEY 2; PHIFER; KASEL, Derck 2; FROST; WINTERS; PETRO 2; PARAMORE;
LIEGL; JENSEN 2; WIENS; BILLS; YI. Walks - HOWES; YI.
Umpires - HP: Mike Andrews  1B: Bruce Bayne  3B: Kevin Daugherty
Start: 7:02   Time: 2:29   Attendance: 1258

Three-game sweeps were recorded by two teams last week in the Mountain West Conference baseball race and BYU is a party to both of them.

The Cougars, now 16-23-1 overall and 9-9 in the MWC, host the Air Force Academy beginning Thursday. AFA, 21-21 and 8-10, is fresh off its first three-game sweep in 20 years after beating New Mexico.

BYU is hoping to rebound from being swept in its three-game series at San Diego State. The Cougars are currently in a second-place tie with Utah, six games behind the Aztecs who are now ranked No. 25.

The AFA series marks the beginning of at least 17 consecutive games in the state of Utah for BYU. Eight games in a row will be played at Miller Park, the last two being non-conference tilts, before BYU travels to Utah for a three-game series. The Cougars are guaranteed at least two games in the MWC Tournament they host the end of May.

Jeff Mousser (6-3, 4.53) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Cougars in Thursday's game which begins at 7 p.m. No starter has been announced for BYU in Friday's game also at 7 p.m. Paul Jacinto (2-2 ,6.42) is the probable pitcher for Saturday's game at 1 p.m.

One BYU pitcher who will have double duty this week is reliever James Ray. Ray is graduating in sociology as Thursday concludes final exams. Graduation exercises are Thursday afternoon and Ray's convocation will be Friday morning.

Ray and his teammates will be hosting a hot Air Force club which has some of the nation's leaders in doubles and in scoring average as a team.

"Air Force is playing with a lot of confidence and they have three very good starting pitchers," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "It took us a while to get into their bullpen. If we don't get to them early, it could be some long games against them."

Law is still juggling his lineup because of injuries to Ryan Chambers (hamstring) and Cameron Coughlan (tendonitis in his arm).

"It is going to be a challenge to get on a roll, but we are looking forward to being at home. We need to start playing better. Our situational play is way below average. We are walking too many people and making mental errors defensively and on the base paths."

Individual baseball game prices at Miller Park are $5 for public and $3 for students, faculty, staff and senior citizens. Season reserved seats can be obtained with a Cougar Card for $30. Otherwise, reserved seats for the season are $30 for students or $60 for public. For groups of 15 or more, there is a special rate of $2 per person. For reserved tickets, phone 801 378-BYU1. All-sport and Cougar Cards must be shown at the ticket office on the game day and redeemed for a reserved seat, based on availability. Tickets are on sale at the ticket office on the north side of Miller Park.

Fans who are not able to attend the game in person can now read a live webcast of the BYU-AFA games by logging in at

Game One, Game Two and Game Three or click on the webcast link on the right-hand column of the baseball page at www.byucougars.com.