Miller Park
400 E University Parkway Provo UT 84604
PROVO -- Despite an incredible outing by Jeff Mousser, who retired 19 consecutive batters, BYU came up short Thursday in a 6-5 loss against league-leading UNLV in its home opener.
Mousser (3-2) was tagged for five runs in the first three innings of the ball game, but was spectacular as the game wore on, giving up one hit to the final 22 batters he faced. Despite picking up the loss, the Cougar hurler went the distance, allowing just five hits and one walk.
Jake Stubblefield put the Cougars (6-13, 1-3) out to an early 2-1 lead in the first, sending the ball deep over the right-center field fence for his team-leading fifth home run of the season.
An RBI triple by Doug Jackson, who was 3-for-5 on the night, in the second inning, added another run to the Cougar tally, bringing the score to 3-1. Jackson's triple was his sixth of the season and the 21st of his career.
UNLV (18-7, 4-0) took a 5-3 lead in the third, when the first four Rebel hitters reached base and scored. A two-out rally by the Cougars in the fourth, which included three consecutive singles, cut the Rebels' lead in half, 5-4.
The score remained constant until the eighth when Brock Jacobsen hit a dramatic game-tying home run to center field, a hard line drive that cleared the fence by less than five feet. The Cougar momentum and Mousser's streak were stopped in the ninth when Patrick Dobson hit a one-out home run directly over the 400-foot marker in center. Despite putting a runner on in the ninth, the Cougars were unable to score.
Thursday's defeat was the sixth one-run loss for the Cougars, who had twice as many hits as the Rebels, but again came up short.
"We just seem to give up runs at inopportune times," said BYU Head Coach, Vance Law. "I feel that we played hard and hit the ball well, we just caught some bad breaks."
Thursday's attendance was 1,092.
The Cougars will be back in action Friday evening at 7 p.m. for the second game of a three-game series. Friday's game will be broadcast locally on KOVO 960 AM and will be webcast over the Internet through links on www.byucougars.com.
UNLV at Brigham Young UnivMar 20, 2003 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
UNLV 6 (18-7,4-0 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
D'ANGELO cf.............. 3 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
JOHNSON 3b............... 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 0
NIELSEN rf............... 4 1 1 2 0 2 3 1 0
VALENZUELA 1b............ 3 0 0 1 0 1 9 0 0
DOBSON lf................ 3 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 0
GILL dh.................. 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
RUIZ 2b.................. 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 3 0
VAN KIRK c............... 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1
WHITE ss................. 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 0
LUCA p................... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PUPO p.................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
GUERRA p................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SCHEINBAUM p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 6 5 6 1 6 27 10 1
Brigham Young Univ 5 (6-13,1-3 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf......... 5 1 3 1 0 0 3 0 1
WIENS, Ranger ss......... 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake 1b.... 4 1 1 2 0 0 6 1 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
JACOBSEN, Brock cf....... 4 1 1 1 0 2 3 0 0
ITRI, Rob 2b............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
KNELL, Kory dh........... 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
CARSON, Clayton ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
CHAMBERS, Ryan rf........ 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 0 0
WILKES, Adam c........... 3 2 1 0 0 0 6 1 0
BARNES, Clayton ph...... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
MOUSSER, Jeff p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 36 5 10 5 1 5 27 7 5
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV................ 104 000 001 - 6 5 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 210 100 010 - 5 10 2
-------------------------------------------
E - VAN KIRK 2; ITRI; MOUSSER. DP - UNLV 1. LOB - UNLV 1; BYU Cougars 5. 2B
- OBREY. 3B - JACKSON. HR - JOHNSON(6); DOBSON(5); STUBBLEFIELD(5);
JACOBSEN(4). HBP - D'ANGELO. SF - VALENZUELA. SB - JOHNSON; JACKSON. CS -
DOBSON.
UNLV IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
LUCA................ 4.0 7 4 4 1 3 19 20
PUPO................ 4.0 2 1 1 0 0 13 13
GUERRA.............. 0.2 1 0 0 0 2 3 3
SCHEINBAUM.......... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Brigham Young Univ IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MOUSSER, Jeff....... 9.0 5 6 5 1 6 31 34
Win - PUPO (1-0). Loss - MOUSSER (3-2). Save - SCHEINBAUM (1).
HBP - by MOUSSER (D'ANGELO).
Umpires - HP: Blake Jensen 1B: John Cortez 3B: Tom Chandler
Start: 7:10 pm Time: 2:28 Attendance: 1092
Game notes:
Game 1 of 3
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Play-by-Play
UNLV at Brigham Young Univ - Play-by-Play
Mar 20, 2003 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV................ 104 000 001 - 6 5 2
Brigham Young Univ.. 210 100 010 - 5 10 2
-------------------------------------------
UNLV starters: 1/cf D'ANGELO; 45/3b JOHNSON; 36/rf NIELSEN; 33/1b
VALENZUELA; 5/lf DOBSON; 46/dh GILL; 4/2b RUIZ; 16/c VAN KIRK; 7/ss
WHITE; 26/p LUCA;
Brigham Young Univ starters: 13/lf JACKSON; 8/ss WIENS; 33/1b STUBBLEFIELD;
32/3b OBREY; 3/cf JACOBSEN; 21/2b ITRI; 12/dh KNELL; 22/rf CHAMBERS; 24/c
WILKES; 35/p MOUSSER;
UNLV - inning 1
D'ANGELO out at first 1b to p. JOHNSON homered to right field, RBI.
NIELSEN struck out looking. VALENZUELA struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 1
JACKSON singled to left center. WIENS flied out to cf. JACKSON stole
second. JACKSON advanced to third on an error by c. STUBBLEFIELD homered
to right field, 2 RBI; JACKSON scored. OBREY struck out swinging.
JACOBSEN struck out swinging, reached first on an error by c. ITRI flied
out to lf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV - inning 2
DOBSON lined out to 2b. GILL reached on a fielding error by 2b, advanced
to second. RUIZ grounded out to 3b. VAN KIRK flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 2
KNELL walked. CHAMBERS reached on a fielder's choice; KNELL out at second
2b to ss. WILKES reached on a fielder's choice; CHAMBERS out at second 3b
to 2b. JACKSON tripled to right center, RBI; WILKES scored. WIENS flied
out to lf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV - inning 3
WHITE singled to shortstop. D'ANGELO hit by pitch; WHITE advanced to
second. JOHNSON singled to right center, RBI; D'ANGELO advanced to third;
WHITE scored. JOHNSON stole second. NIELSEN singled to center field, 2
RBI; JOHNSON scored; D'ANGELO scored. NIELSEN advanced to second on a
throwing error by p, advanced to third. VALENZUELA flied out to lf, SF,
RBI; NIELSEN scored, unearned. DOBSON flied out to rf. GILL grounded out
to 1b unassisted. 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 3
STUBBLEFIELD flied out to rf. OBREY doubled to right center. JACOBSEN
struck out swinging. ITRI grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
UNLV - inning 4
RUIZ fouled out to rf. VAN KIRK grounded out to 2b. WHITE flied out to
cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 4
KNELL flied out to rf. CHAMBERS grounded out to 2b. WILKES singled to
center field. JACKSON singled to left field; WILKES advanced to second.
WIENS singled, out at second rf to 2b, RBI; JACKSON advanced to third;
WILKES scored. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV - inning 5
D'ANGELO flied out to lf. JOHNSON grounded out to ss. NIELSEN struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 5
PUPO to p for LUCA. STUBBLEFIELD flied out to cf. OBREY grounded out to
ss. JACOBSEN flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV - inning 6
VALENZUELA fouled out to 3b. DOBSON walked. GILL flied out to lf. DOBSON
out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 6
ITRI flied out to cf. KNELL singled to shortstop. CHAMBERS lined into
double play 1b unassisted; KNELL out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV - inning 7
RUIZ struck out swinging. VAN KIRK flied out to rf. WHITE struck out
looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 7
WILKES grounded out to ss. JACKSON flied out to cf. WIENS grounded out to
2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV - inning 8
D'ANGELO grounded out to 3b. JOHNSON grounded out to 2b. NIELSEN flied
out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 8
STUBBLEFIELD grounded out to p. OBREY flied out to cf. JACOBSEN homered
to center field, RBI. ITRI flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
UNLV - inning 9
VALENZUELA flied out to rf. DOBSON homered to center field, RBI. GILL
struck out looking. RUIZ flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 9
GUERRA to p for PUPO. CARSON pinch hit for KNELL. CARSON struck out
looking. CHAMBERS singled up the middle. BARNES pinch hit for WILKES.
BARNES struck out looking. SCHEINBAUM to p for GUERRA. JACKSON grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Home at last after 18 games, BYU's baseball team begins its season at Miller Park this Thursday when it hosts UNLV.
The Cougars, 6-12 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference, start a three-game series with UNLV, 16-7 and 3-0, on Thursday at 7 p.m. Junior Jeff Mousser (3-1, 5.11) is scheduled to start the 2003 home campaign on the mound.
The Rebels are the only MWC team that has been receiving votes in national polls. BYU is scheduled to throw Paul Jacinto (1-4, 4.89) against UNLV in Friday's game at 7 p.m. Game time has changed for Saturday's contest to 2 p.m., because of the BYU Spring Football Game at noon and Ken Gravley (1-1, 5.92) is the anticipated starter.
"After what seems like two months on the road, it is nice to finally be home," says Coach Vance Law, who leads BYU into its second full season at Larry H. Miller Field. "We start defending our championship at home. They are a good team and are off to a good start, so we have our work cut out."
Among the hot Cougar batters are Rob Itri, Jake Stubblefield and Doug Jackson. Itri improved his batting average to .325 by batting .667 in last week's action. Stubblefield batted .538 last week, while Jackson was .533.
In last week's series at New Mexico, Jackson broke the BYU career triples record by hitting a pair to boost his total to 20. Jackson's five triples this season is half-way to the school season record of 10.
This week's UNLV games are the first of 17 hosted by the Cougars this season at Larry H. Miller Field where they have a 24-12 record the past two years. The three games will be broadcast live over KOVO Radio (960 AM), with Thursday and Friday's games making the inaugural appearance also as live audiocasts on the Internet. For links to those games, please visit www.byucougars.com.
Following the series with UNLV, BYU plays next week at Southern Utah before returning to league play at the University of Utah.
