New Cougar Field
University Parkway Provo UT 84602
PROVO -- First win in the new baseball stadium goes to BYU as Shane Belliston's three-run homer gave it a come-from-behind victory Friday over New Mexico, 7-5.
Before 1,143 fans coming to witness the opening game at Larry H. Miller Field, Belliston swatted an 0-2 pitch over the right field fence in the eighth inning. That homer gave the Cougars the victory behind the nation's winningest pitcher, Nate Fernley, who improves to 11-1.
BYU improved to 22-14 overall and remained tied for first place in the Mountain West Conference with an 11-5 record, while UNM fell to 18-24 and 8-8.
Fernley went the nine-inning distance, throwing 129 pitches and recording seven strikeouts, four of which came in the final two innings.
"I didn't have my best stuff at first, so our batters saved me," said Fernley. "They battled all day. This was an awesome crowd and we fed off them."
Belliston was one of those pumped by the crowd whose noise was loudly reflected even to his centerfield position. Belliston generated some of that noise with a fifth-inning double to start the Cougar comeback capped by his homer.
"They threw me a curveball up and luckily I got ahold of it pretty good," said Belliston of his homer. "My first at bat set the tone." Belliston struck out in the first inning as the Cougars saw a diet of curves throughout the night as he extended his hitting streak to a team-leading 10 games.
Slugger Matt Carson was one Cougar who saw nothing but curves as he drew four consecutive walks, one short of the school record. Teammate Michael Wirrick also ended up being one short of a school record as he was one of eight batters who were hit by pitches during the game.
UNM's Anthony Lovato hit a pair of two-run homers in the third and fifth innings to give the Lobos a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. After Doug Jackson's sixth-inning single drove in Lars Birkeland, Lobo lefty Chris Cooper was removed from the game.
Meanwhile Fernley was building momentum on the mound. With two out and one on in the top of the eighth, Fernley's slider caught Aaron Stanley looking after he battled a full count.
"It's uncommon for Nate to give up more than three runs, but he settled down and was real effective," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "It was the right move leaving him in all game."
"This was an outstanding ball game with a good crowd. I applaud our grounds crew because this morning there was four inches of snow in our outfield."
The Cougars have won seven games in a row as they host the Lobos in a noon doubleheader on Saturday at Miller Park. The games can be heard live on KSRR Radio (1400 AM) starting in progress at 1 p.m.
The Automated ScoreBookNew Mexico Lobos at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 13, 2001 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
New Mexico Lobos 5 (18-24,8-8 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CAIRNS 2b................ 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
SALAS rf................. 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
SEVIERI lf............... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
LOVATO 1b................ 4 3 3 4 0 0 5 2 0
OKANO cf................. 3 0 1 0 0 2 2 0 0
ALEXANDER, M dh.......... 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1
STANLEY 3b............... 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 1
TAJIMA c................. 2 0 0 0 1 2 9 0 0
YOUNG, DU ss............. 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 3
COOPER p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
PEREZ p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 30 5 6 5 2 7 24 9 6
Brigham Young Univ. 7 (22-14,11-5 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf......... 3 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
BELLISTON, Shane cf...... 5 2 2 3 0 1 3 0 0
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 1 1 0 0 4 1 2 0 0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 0 1 2 0 2 2 2 3
WIRRICK, Michael dh...... 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
HIESTAND, Jeff ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
KING, Seth ss............ 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 10 0 0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........ 2 1 1 0 1 0 6 0 0
WHITLEY, Aaron pr....... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DAVIES, Michael c....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
PERRY, Tyler 2b.......... 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 1
COUGHLAN, Cameron ph/2b. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FERNLEY, Nate p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 28 7 7 7 7 8 27 6 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico Lobos.... 012 020 000 - 5 6 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 021 03X - 7 7 0
-------------------------------------------
E - COOPER. LOB - UNM 6; Cougars 9. 2B - OKANO; BELLISTON. 3B - WIRRICK. HR
- LOVATO 2(5); BELLISTON(2). HBP - SALAS 2; OKANO; ALEXANDER, M; JACKSON;
WIRRICK; HAGUEWOOD; BIRKELAND. SH - TAJIMA. SF - ALEXANDER, M; OBREY.
New Mexico Lobos IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
COOPER.............. 5.2 6 4 3 6 6 20 29
PEREZ............... 2.1 1 3 3 1 2 8 11
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FERNLEY, Nate....... 9.0 6 5 5 2 7 30 38
Win - FERNLEY (11-1). Loss - PEREZ (2-2). Save - None.
HB - COOPER 2; PEREZ 2; FERNLEY 4. BK - COOPER.
Umpires - Home:Jeff Jenkins 1st:Jim Paronto 3rd:John Cortez
Start: 4:58 Time: 2:45 Attendance: 1,143
Name the university whose baseball and softball programs have never lost a game in its home facility?
It's BYU, because neither team has played a game in the new Miller Park until this week. The Cougar baseball team begins play at the new Larry H. Miller Field on Thursday, while the BYU softball team has its first game at Gail Miller Field, the nation's fourth-largest college stadium (2,100 seats), on Friday.
Fittingly, BYU's baseball team opens its first-class 2,300-seat facility in first place in the Mountain West Conference and on a six-game winning streak. The Cougar baseball team is tied with San Diego State both at 10 5 in the league and with overall records of 21-14.
New Mexico, the team that helped BYU break ground last year for Miller Park, is the first opponent for baseball at Larry H. Miller Field. The Lobos, 18-23 overall, are in third place in the MWC at 8-7.
Game time on Thursday for free T-shirt night (first 500 fans) is 6 p.m., the only night game in Provo since a 1977 doubleheader at Timpanogos Park. Scheduled to be on the mound that night for BYU is senior Nate Fernley, the winningest pitcher in the NCAA this season at 10-1 and an earned run average of 2.79.
On Friday there is free admission through Hogi Yogi to both the softball doubleheader vs. Southern Utah at 1:30 p.m. and the BYU-UNM baseball game which has been moved up to 5 p.m. The probable pitcher against the Lobos on Friday is freshman Jeff Stearman (1-4, 5.46).
Kids (14 & under) get in free to Saturday's baseball game which starts at 1 p.m. Scheduled to start on the hill is lefty Jeff Stone (2-3, 6.90) who is seeking his 24th career victory for the Cougars. Thursday and Friday's baseball games are joined in progress on KSRR Radio (1400 AM) following the Utah Jazz games, while Saturday's baseball game is broadcast live.
Many of Stone's victories have come at BYU which still plays on the same field as the new Larry H. Miller Field. But the chair seating, press box, lockerrooms, lights, and dugouts are new. BYU posted a 503-123-2 (.803) record on this field since it was opened in 1969.
The field has been host to a number of landmark baseball games, including Peter Kendrick's two-no hitters and 16-inning back-to-back victories over his native Hawai'i in the early 1980's, several Cougars belting four homers in a game, BYU's ascension to number one in 1983 after it beat top-ranked SDSU, and beating Gonzaga in a best of three series in 1971 to advance to the College World Series.
This week's games are the first official games at Miller Park, however, the grand opening ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday, April 21 for both softball and baseball. The BYU baseball team has a 2-3 record at home this season, but all of those games were played last month at UVSC's field in Orem due to construction.
After the BYU-UNM series, the baseball Cougars continue their consecutive 11-game homestand at Miller Park by hosting Southern Utah on Monday and Tuesday, followed by Utah in a three-game series.
