LAS VEGAS -- Pitcher Dave Horlacher threw a four-hit complete-game shutout in windy conditions to give BYU a one-game, first-place lead after a 5-0 victory over UNLV.

BYU, now 22-7-1 overall and 9-1 in the Mountain West Conference, took an early lead over UNLV, now 14-20 and 8-2.

Horlacher, who improved his record to 3-1 and lowered his earned run average from 3.60 to 2.94, struck seven Rebels including the side out in order in the seventh. He gave up two hits in the eighth.

"I had to throw out of the stretch because of the wind and it helped me," said Horlacher, a junior from St. George. "The wind makes the breaking ball cut a little bit more and that keep them off balance. I can't say enough about my defense, they bailed me out several times."

Horlacher threw a one-hitter through the first four innings until Matt Fry hit a gap double to lead off the fifth. The Cougars then made great back-to-back defensive plays, Brandon Taylor's line drive catch and Ben Saylor's diving catch in left field just before the Rebels loaded the bases. That inning ended with another good defensive play by super freshman Sean McNaughton up the middle.

"To throw a shutout in these conditions (30-40 mph winds) is amazing, " said BYU Coach Vance Law. The intensity where we needed it was on the hill with Horlacher. Taylor is one of the best third-basemen in all of college baseball, he is an unbelievable defensive player.

A pick off play worked in the first inning as Cougar first baseman Jeff Hiestand ran down leadoff batter JC Sibley who had been hit by Horlacher's pitch.

Hiestand, who extended his team-leading hitting streak to 15 games, belted a leadoff double to the rightfield wall in the second inning. Ryan Chambers knocked an RBI single to the centerfield wall to score Hiestand. With one man down and a one-run lead, BYU then loaded the bases. Casey Nelson tapped a sacrifice fly to right field to score Taylor.

With two out in the fourth, McNaughton, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games, scored a pair of runs off a double down the right center alley. He also scored on the next play when Marcos Villezcas doubled, putting BYU up 5-0. Nelson scored the middle of those runs with a head-first slide to home to avoid the tag.

"Our club finds a way to string together some hits," said Law. "I'm pleased we took this first ball game, I think it could set the tone for the rest of the series."

The Cougars will spend Friday morning taking a tour of nearby Nellis Air Force Base, home of the Thunderbird Jets. The two teams are scheduled to play again at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Friday in the second of three games.

BYU at UNLV
Apr 07, 2005 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
BYU 5 (22-7-1,9-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  5  1  1  2   0  1  2  1   2
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  0  1  1   0  0  2  2   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  1  2  0   0  0  6  0   1
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  3  1  1  0   1  1  2  3   1
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  4  1  2  1   0  0  3  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben lf...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
KNELL, Kory rf...........  4  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   1
NELSON, Casey c..........  2  1  0  1   1  0  7  0   0
HORLACHER, Dave p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 33  5  8  5   3  4 27  7   6
UNLV 0 (14-20,8-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SIBLEY lf................  1  0  0  0   2  0  1  0   0
CRUZ 3b..................  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   3
PARRAZ ss................  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  1   0
BONNELL 1b...............  4  0  0  0   0  0  7  1   2
TELLAM c.................  4  0  0  0   0  2  4  0   2
FRY dh...................  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  0   0
BIRD rf..................  3  0  1  0   1  1  4  0   0
LANG 2b..................  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  2   0
KOWALSKI cf..............  3  0  0  0   0  0  5  0   0
LUCA p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 WAGNER p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 30  0  4  0   3  7 27  7   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 020 300 000 -  5  8  1
UNLV................ 000 000 000 -  0  4  0
-------------------------------------------
E - McNAUGHTON. DP - BY 1; LV 1. LOB - BY 6; LV 7. 2B - McNAUGHTON;
VILLEZCAS; HIESTAND; FRY. HBP - NAKAYAMA; SIBLEY. SF - NELSON.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HORLACHER, Dave.....  9.0  4  0  0  3  7 30 34
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
LUCA................  7.0  7  5  5  3  4 26 31
WAGNER..............  2.0  1  0  0  0  0  7  7
Win - HORLACHER (3-1).  Loss - LUCA (3-5).  Save - None.
WP - LUCA. HBP - by HORLACHER (SIBLEY); by LUCA (NAKAYAMA).
Umpires - HP: Tom Chandler  1B: Bruce Bayne  3B: Dan Ignosci
Start: 6:30 pm   Time: 2:20   Attendance: 253
BYU at UNLV - Play-by-Play
Apr 07, 2005 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 020 300 000 -  5  8  1
UNLV................ 000 000 000 -  0  4  0
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 16/1b HIESTAND;
3/3b TAYLOR; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 25/lf SAYLOR; 12/rf KNELL; 8/c NELSON; 11/p HORLACHER;
UNLV starters: 22/lf SIBLEY; 1/3b CRUZ; 10/ss PARRAZ; 11/1b BONNELL; 36/c TELLAM;
2/dh FRY; 34/rf BIRD; 5/2b LANG; 12/cf KOWALSKI; 26/p LUCA;
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON lined out to 1b. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 1b
unassisted. NAKAYAMA flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 1st - SIBLEY hit by pitch. SIBLEY out at first p to 1b, picked off. CRUZ
struck out looking. PARRAZ grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 2nd - HIESTAND doubled. TAYLOR walked. CHAMBERS singled, RBI; TAYLOR
advanced to second; HIESTAND scored. SAYLOR struck out. KNELL singled; CHAMBERS
advanced to second; TAYLOR advanced to third. NELSON flied out to rf, SAC, RBI;
CHAMBERS advanced to third; TAYLOR scored. McNAUGHTON struck out. 2 runs, 3 hits,
0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV 2nd - BONNELL flied out to cf. TELLAM struck out looking. FRY popped up
to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - VILLEZCAS grounded out to 2b. NAKAYAMA hit by pitch. NAKAYAMA
advanced to second on a wild pitch. HIESTAND popped up to 3b. TAYLOR struck out.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 3rd - BIRD singled. LANG flied out to rf. KOWALSKI grounded into double
play ss to 2b to 1b; BIRD out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - CHAMBERS singled to right field. SAYLOR flied out to cf. KNELL
struck out; CHAMBERS advanced to second. NELSON walked. McNAUGHTON doubled, advanced
to third, 2 RBI; NELSON scored; CHAMBERS scored. VILLEZCAS doubled, RBI; McNAUGHTON
scored. NAKAYAMA popped up to ss. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 4th - SIBLEY walked. CRUZ flied out to rf. PARRAZ flied out to cf.
BONNELL reached on a fielder's choice; SIBLEY advanced to second on an error by 2b.
TELLAM grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 5th - HIESTAND singled to left field. TAYLOR grounded into double play 2b
to ss to 1b; HIESTAND out on the play. CHAMBERS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 5th - FRY doubled. BIRD walked. LANG lined out to 3b. KOWALSKI flied out
to lf. SIBLEY walked; BIRD advanced to second; FRY advanced to third. CRUZ lined out
to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
BYU 6th - SAYLOR lined out to cf. KNELL grounded out to p. NELSON lined out
to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 6th - PARRAZ lined out to ss. BONNELL flied out to cf. TELLAM grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS grounded out to p. NAKAYAMA
walked. HIESTAND reached on a fielder's choice; NAKAYAMA out at second ss
unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 7th - FRY struck out. BIRD struck out looking. LANG struck out. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - WAGNER to p for LUCA. TAYLOR singled. CHAMBERS flied out to lf;
TAYLOR advanced to second. SAYLOR flied out to rf; TAYLOR advanced to third. KNELL
flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 8th - KOWALSKI flied out to lf. SIBLEY lined out to ss. CRUZ singled to
right field. PARRAZ singled; CRUZ advanced to third. BONNELL grounded out to p
unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 9th - NELSON grounded out to p. McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS out
at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 9th - TELLAM struck out. FRY struck out looking. BIRD grounded out to
ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Both UNLV and BYU are tied for first place at 8-1 in the Mountain West Conference as the two baseball teams meet this Thursday at Las Vegas.

BYU (21-7-1) has a three-game series at UNLV (14-19).

"One of us will have a chance to set the tone for the rest of the season," said BYU Coach Vance Law of the series with the Rebels.

The Cougars are ahead of school record pace in doubles, averaging 2.86 with its tally of 83 in 29 games. The first-time NCAA statistics of the season come out next Monday after the UNLV-BYU series.

BYU will start Dave Horlacher (2-1, 3.60) in Thursday's game against Matt Luca (3-4, 3.88). Cougar Brandon Christiansen (3-0,3.38) will start Friday's game against Koji Pupo (3-0, 3.25). Both games Thursday and Friday will start at 6:30 p.m., PDT. And in Saturday's 2 p.m., tilt, BYU will throw freshman Blake Torgerson (4-1, 5.23) against Derek Rodriguez (1-4, 5.05).

BYU is hoping to be at full strength going into the series with UNLV now that Jeff Hiestand is back after missing three of the last six games with a wrist injury and two players, Ben Saylor and Casey Nelson, missed most of last week's games with strep.

All of the BYU-UNLV games will be broadcast live on KOVO Radio (960 AM).

Following the series with UNLV, the Cougars return to host Lewis and Clark State on Tuesday at 3 p.m., before hosting pre-season favorite San Diego State in a three-game series.

A multi-page release can be found by downloading the PDF file at the top of this story, which gives a detailed analysis of the Cougars.