New Cougar Field
University Parkway Provo UT 84602
PROVO -- A five-run explosion in the fifth inning boosted BYU to a 9-1 home-opening victory Friday over the Air Force Academy.
The Cougars, now 13-10 overall and 4-0 in the Mountain West Conference, capitalized on Seth King's fifth-inning single to set up that rally. BYU was behind 1-0 going into the bottom of the fifth when King fouled off several pitches to stay alive for a left-field single. Nate Mathis' bunt loaded the bases, then Shane Belliston hit a two-run single.
"If King doesn't battle at the plate, then we don't have as good of an opportunity for one of our best bunters, Nate Mathis, to do his job," said BYU Coach Vance Law.
Nick Day's crushing double to center field kept that fifth inning rally alive, scoring Belliston.
"Nick's double would have been a home run in our old park," said Law. This was the first game the Cougars played with the fences being moved back from 390 to 400 in center and from 375 to 388 in the power alleys.
Day scored BYU's fifth run off Michael Davies' sacrifice fly to center field.
The Falcons scored their only run in the fourth inning from a lead-off double by Brendon Shannon, who was singled in by Gerremy Goldsberrry.
The Cougars scored four runs in the seventh thanks to a two-run single to left field by Craig Peterson, another off Day's second double of the day and off a left-field single by Kainoa Obrey.
Lefty Jeff Stone picked up his fifth victory against two losses in striking out six Falcons in eight innings.
AFA, now 13-11 and 0-3 in the MWC, plays BYU in a noon doubleheader on Saturday in Provo.
The Automated ScoreBookAir Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 17, 2000 at Provo, Utah (Cougar Field)
Air Force Academy 1 (13-11,0-3 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
LABASCO ss............... 4 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 1
FISHER ss............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WOLFRAM ss.............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SHANNON 2b............... 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0
HOWES 2b................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
THIESSEN cf.............. 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
HUMPHREY dh.............. 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
KASEL dh................ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GOLDSBERRY rf............ 3 0 2 1 0 1 2 0 0
BERG rf................. 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
GORNICK lf............... 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
PHIFER lf............... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
CARVILLE 1b.............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 9 0 0
RUNYON 1b............... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
JONES 3b................. 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 2
MURPHY c................. 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 1 0
ELLIS c................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
KAERCHER p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
CORNELL p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GEORGE p................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
WERNER p................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 31 1 7 1 3 7 24 9 6
Brigham Young Univ. 9 (13-10,4-0 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BELLISTON, Shane cf...... 4 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 0
GREENE, Nick cf......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PETERSON, Craig 1b....... 3 1 1 2 0 2 10 0 2
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
DAY, Nick lf............. 4 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
JACKSON, DJ lf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DAVIES, Michael c........ 3 0 0 1 0 1 7 0 0
WHITLEY, Aaron dh........ 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 1
PERRY, Tyler pr/3b...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 1
ROCK, David rf.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
KING, Seth ss............ 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 7 0
MATHIS, Nate 2b.......... 2 2 1 0 2 0 5 3 0
STONE, Jeff p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
GRAY, Rusty p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 32 9 11 8 2 6 27 16 4
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 100 000 - 1 7 3
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 050 40X - 9 11 1
-------------------------------------------
E - KAERCHER 2; GEORGE; OBREY. DP - BYU Cougars 3. LOB - Falcons 6; BYU
Cougars 4. 2B - SHANNON; THIESSEN; DAY 2. SH - PETERSON. SF - DAVIES;
WHITLEY. SB - BELLISTON. CS - OBREY.
Air Force Academy IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
KAERCHER............ 4.1 7 5 5 1 5 19 21
CORNELL............. 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
GEORGE.............. 1.0 3 4 4 1 0 6 7
WERNER.............. 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 6 7
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
STONE, Jeff......... 8.0 6 1 1 2 6 27 29
GRAY, Rusty......... 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 4 5
Win - STONE (5-2). Loss - KAERCHER (4-2). Save - None.
WP - KAERCHER. PB - MURPHY.
Umpires - Home:Blake Jensen 1st:Bruce Bayne 3rd:Ron Ramirez
Start: 3:06 Time: 224 Attendance: 456
Game: BYU23
Game notes:
This is BYU's first home game after 22 games on the road.
GEORGE faced 4 batters in the 7th.
Home after 22 games on the road, BYU's baseball team begins its 22-game home season this Friday when it hosts the Air Force Academy at noon.
BYU is atop the standings after the first week of action in the Mountain West Conference at 3-0 with a 12-10 overall record. Air Force is 13-10 overall and has an 0-2 record in the MWC.
"We have a ball club that has an exciting brand of play," says BYU Coach Vance Law, whose Cougars have a four-game winning streak. "To be 12-10 with the caliber of competition we have played on the road is quite good. I'm not disappointed, we are in good shape."
The first games on Friday and Saturday at noon will be broadcast live over KSRR Radio (1400 AM). Following Saturday's seven-inning game will be a nine-inning game starting at 2 p.m.
Ticket prices are $3 for students/faculty/staff, $5 for general admission, $10 for a family pass, or public Cougar Cards ($25 individual, $60 family) and BYU All Sport Cards ($20) are good for season admission and are available through the Marriott Center Ticket Office.
In last week's action Air Force lost a pair of games to New Mexico and had snow interfere with two of its games. BYU swept UNLV in three games.
That three-game sweep over UNLV was its first on the road since 1998 when it started that season with three league wins at AFA. Earlier this season BYU won a two-game series at then No. 19 Arizona.
"For the first time this season we played a complete series without a letdown," says Law. "We are starting to build our confidence. We have 12 to 13 guys who are playing well."
BYU's current hitting-streak leader is Aaron Whitley with 12 games. Stanford transfer Nick Day, who had never played a collegiate game in his hometown of Las Vegas until last weekend, has hit safely in 14 of his 15 games this season.
BYU is batting .327 with three players batting over .400--Whitley at .524, Craig Peterson at .438 and Day at .403.
