TUSCALOOSA,Ala. (February 10, 2000)--Second-ranked Alabama opened its baseball season Thursday night before a record crowd of 6,222 fans with an 11-1 victory over BYU.

The Cougars, now 2-5, took the initial lead on an unearned run in the first inning. Craig Peterson got the first of four BYU hits and advanced to third when Nick Day's drive to deep right field was dropped for an error. Peterson scored on Michael Davies' ground out to second.

BYU's three other singles came in the final three innings on lead-off hits by Kainoa Obrey in the seventh, by pinch-hitter Aaron Whitley in the eighth and by substitute third-baseman Tyler Perry in the ninth.

The Cougars stranded two runners in the fifth and eighth innings in the 58-degree temperature.

"They have a good club, but we made a couple of pitches at the wrong time," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "I'm pleased with a lot of things and still have a lot of confidence in what we can do."

Aaron Clark broke the game open for Alabama when his first of three collegiate hits was a three-run homer off Jeff Stone in the second inning. Teammate Brent Boyd belted a grand slam to left field in the sixth inning off reliever Sean Noorda and had five RBI for the night.

The sellout crowd at the newly expanded Sewell-Thomas Stadium began the night with a moment of silence for the late Alabama football star Derrick Thomas as the American flag hung at half mast. The Crimson Tide have a 15-game home winning streak.

The two teams continue the three-game series Friday evening at 7 p.m. CDT.

Third-ranked Alabama opens its baseball season in a first-ever meeting with BYU, 2-4, at Tuscaloosa.

The three-game series begins Thursday evening. Friday evening's 7 p.m. game (CST) will be televised live in the South by College Sports Southeast with former BYU baseball coach Glen Tuckett, who was athletic director at both schools, as its color analyst. Because of Alabama basketball conflicts, only Friday's game will be broadcast live on the internet at either www.broadcast.com, or rolltide.com, or crimsontide.com. Saturday's game time has been moved up to 2 p.m. (CST).

A 26-man roster will travel to Alabama. Scheduled to start on the mound Thursday will be Taylorsville southpaw sophomore Jeff Stone (1-0, 11.17). On Friday, Midvale senior Micah Mangrum (1-1, 4.50), a righthander gets the starting nod. On Saturday afternoon lefty junior James Ray (0-1, 5.00) returns to his native South on the mound.

"We saw that we could actually play with the Arizona schools and Florida Atlantic and could have won more games than we did. We're not going to be intimidated by Alabama," says BYU Coach Vance Law. "We responded well in Arizona against top-ranked programs and will give it our best shot at Alabama. We have stressed to our team that the game is won between the lines. We have great confidence in ourselves if we play the way we practice and execute.

"I knew Fernley (Nate) was good, but he was absolutely dominate in his two outings in keeping the batters off balance. DJ (Jackson) was not intimidated and we helped Nick Day understand to do no more than the situation allows."

Day, a transfer from Stanford, leads the Cougars with a current nine-game hitting streak. Day hit safely in the final three games of the World Series last year for the Cardinal, all against Florida State (a single on June 14, a single on June 17, and a pair of singles and a triple on June 18). He is the only Cougar to record a hit in all six games this season. Other Cougar current Cougar hitting streaks are Michael Davies 4 games, Nate Mathis 3, and Matt Carson, Seth King and Kainoa Obrey all at two.

The Alabama trip is the first time during the regular season that BYU has played east of the Mississippi River. BYU has a 3-6 record east of the Mississippi in post-season play and has a 12-29 record east of the Rocky Mountains.

Following the Alabama games, the Cougars next play at Mesa State in a three-game series on Feb. 18-19.