LAS VEGAS -- UNLV snapped BYU's 10-game winning streak in the Mountain West Conference to take a 10-6 baseball victory on Saturday.

The Cougars, now 23-8-1 and 10-2 in the MWC, took two of the three games at UNLV, who is now 15-21 and 9-3.

While BYU ended up out-hitting the Rebels, 13-12, it couldn't string those hits together to get out of the hole in the finale.

Sean McNaughton's hitting streak stopped at 15 games. There was no Jeff Hiestand again in the lineup. Fielding and base-running errors cost the Cougars over three runs. BYU left eight runners on base and hit into three double plays.

Cougar pitcher Blake Torgerson was replaced in the third inning by Josh Barrett after the freshman starter twisted his ankle fielding a bunt during the first of UNLV's two four-run innings. Barrett was replaced on the hill in the seventh by James Platt, but both were touched up.

BYU got its initial run in the fifth off two hits, but Apana Nakayama came through with a leadoff homer in the sixth to bring the score, 5-2. Kory Knell got caught in a rundown off first in the sixth and was tagged out before Ryan Chambers could score to end BYU's threat.

Adrian Molina, who had been at bat when Knell was picked off, laid out for a diving catch to snuff out Ryan Bird's leadoff smash in the sixth. Then Matt Fry smacked a solo homer to give UNLV a 6-2 lead.

Chris Bonnell and Ryan Bird tagged Platt for a double and a two-run homer to put UNLV up 10-2.

Knell hit a bases-loaded double in the eighth to score two in BYU's four-run rally, closing the gap to 10-6.

"With a couple more breaks we could have had a chance to squeak one out," said BYU Coach Vance Law.

The Cougars return home to host Lewis and Clark State, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA, on Tuesday when gametime has been changed to 3 p.m., in non-conference action. On Thursday, BYU begins hosting a three-game series with San Diego State.

BYU at UNLV
Apr 09, 2005 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
BYU 6 (23-8-1,10-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  4  0  0  1   0  0  2  5   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  4  1  3  0   1  0  0  3   1
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  5  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   1
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  1  1  0   1  0  0  3   1
CHAMBERS, Ryan lf........  4  1  2  0   1  1  0  0   2
KNELL, Kory rf...........  4  1  2  2   0  0  2  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  4  1  1  1   0  0 12  0   0
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  4  0  3  1   0  0  3  0   1
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  5  1   1
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARRETT, Joshua p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PLATT, James p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36  6 13  6   3  1 24 12   8
UNLV 10 (15-21,9-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SIBLEY lf................  5  1  2  1   0  1  1  0   0
CRUZ 3b..................  3  2  1  1   0  1  1  1   2
PARRAZ ss................  4  0  1  1   0  0  4  4   0
TELLAM c.................  4  1  1  1   0  1  1  0   0
BONNELL 1b...............  4  1  1  2   0  0 10  2   1
BIRD rf..................  4  1  1  2   0  1  1  0   0
FRY dh...................  4  2  3  1   0  0  0  0   0
 HERNANDEZ 2b............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
LANG 2b..................  3  1  1  0   0  0  4  7   0
 RAND ph.................  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
KOWALSKI cf..............  4  1  1  1   0  0  4  0   0
RODRIGUEZ p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 BROCK p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 TABEEK p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36 10 12 10   0  5 27 17   4
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 011 040 -  6 13  3
UNLV................ 004 101 40X - 10 12  2
-------------------------------------------
E - VILLEZCAS; CHAMBERS; TORGERSON; CRUZ; LANG. DP - BY 1; LV 3. LOB - BY 8;
LV 4. 2B - CHAMBERS; KNELL; BONNELL; LANG; KOWALSKI. HR - NAKAYAMA; BIRD;
FRY. HBP - CRUZ 2. SH - NELSON. SF - McNAUGHTON. SB - MOLINA; SIBLEY;
KOWALSKI. CS - KNELL.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  2.1  4  4  2  0  1 10 11
BARRETT, Joshua.....  4.1  5  4  3  0  3 19 20
PLATT, James........  1.1  3  2  2  0  1  7  7
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
RODRIGUEZ...........  6.0  8  2  2  1  0 22 25
BROCK...............  2.0  5  4  1  0  0 11 11
TABEEK..............  1.0  0  0  0  2  1  3  5
Win - RODRIGUEZ (2-4).  Loss - TORGERSON (4-2).  Save - None.
HBP - by TORGERSON (CRUZ); by BARRETT (CRUZ).
Umpires - HP: Dan Ignosci  1B: Tom Chandler  3B: Bruce Bayne
Start: 2:00   Time: 2:30   Attendance: 351
BYU at UNLV - Play-by-Play
Apr 09, 2005 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 011 040 -  6 13  3
UNLV................ 004 101 40X - 10 12  2
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 3/3b TAYLOR; 22/lf
CHAMBERS; 12/rf KNELL; 25/1b SAYLOR; 1/cf MOLINA; 8/c NELSON; 32/p TORGERSON;
UNLV starters: 22/lf SIBLEY; 1/3b CRUZ; 10/ss PARRAZ; 36/c TELLAM; 11/1b BONNELL;
34/rf BIRD; 2/dh FRY; 5/2b LANG; 12/cf KOWALSKI; 27/p RODRIGUEZ;
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b. VILLEZCAS singled. NAKAYAMA reached
on a fielder's choice; VILLEZCAS out at second 2b to ss. TAYLOR grounded out to ss.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 1st - SIBLEY flied out to rf. CRUZ hit by pitch. PARRAZ grounded into
double play ss to 2b to 1b; CRUZ out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 2nd - CHAMBERS walked. KNELL reached on an error by 2b; CHAMBERS advanced
to second. SAYLOR popped up to ss. MOLINA grounded into double play 2b to 1b; KNELL
out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
UNLV 2nd - TELLAM grounded out to ss. BONNELL grounded out to 3b. BIRD struck
out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - NELSON grounded out to 2b. McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b. VILLEZCAS
singled. NAKAYAMA reached on a fielder's choice; VILLEZCAS out at second ss to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 3rd - FRY grounded out to c. LANG doubled. KOWALSKI doubled, RBI; LANG
scored. SIBLEY singled; KOWALSKI advanced to third. CRUZ singled, RBI; SIBLEY
advanced to second, advanced to third on an error by p; KOWALSKI scored. BARRETT to
p for TORGERSON. PARRAZ grounded out to 2b, RBI; CRUZ advanced to second; SIBLEY
scored, unearned. TELLAM singled, advanced to second on an error by lf, advanced to
third, RBI; CRUZ scored, unearned. BONNELL grounded out to 2b. 4 runs, 5 hits, 2
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - TAYLOR singled. CHAMBERS grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b;
TAYLOR out on the play. KNELL flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
UNLV 4th - BIRD flied out to cf. FRY singled. LANG popped up to 1b. KOWALSKI
reached on a fielding error by ss; FRY advanced to second. SIBLEY singled, RBI;
KOWALSKI advanced to second; FRY scored, unearned. SIBLEY stole second; KOWALSKI
stole third. CRUZ struck out. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 5th - SAYLOR singled. MOLINA singled; SAYLOR advanced to second. NELSON
grounded out to p, SAC; MOLINA advanced to second; SAYLOR advanced to third.
McNAUGHTON flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; MOLINA advanced to third; SAYLOR scored.
VILLEZCAS grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 5th - PARRAZ grounded out to ss. TELLAM struck out. BONNELL grounded out
to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - NAKAYAMA homered, RBI. TAYLOR flied out to cf. CHAMBERS doubled.
KNELL singled; CHAMBERS advanced to third. SAYLOR lined out to ss. KNELL out at
second p to 1b to 2b, caught stealing. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 6th - BIRD lined out to cf. FRY homered, RBI. LANG popped up to 1b.
KOWALSKI flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - BROCK to p for RODRIGUEZ. MOLINA singled. NELSON grounded into
double play ss to 2b to 1b; MOLINA out on the play. McNAUGHTON flied out to rf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 7th - SIBLEY struck out. CRUZ hit by pitch. PARRAZ singled; CRUZ
advanced to second. TELLAM reached on a fielder's choice; PARRAZ out at second 3b to
2b; CRUZ advanced to third. PLATT to p for BARRETT. BONNELL doubled, 2 RBI; TELLAM
scored; CRUZ scored. BIRD homered, 2 RBI; BONNELL scored. FRY singled. RAND pinch
hit for LANG. RAND struck out. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - HERNANDEZ to 2b for FRY. VILLEZCAS singled. NAKAYAMA flied out to
lf. TAYLOR reached on an error by 3b; VILLEZCAS advanced to second. CHAMBERS
singled; TAYLOR advanced to second; VILLEZCAS advanced to third. KNELL doubled, 2
RBI; CHAMBERS advanced to third; TAYLOR scored, unearned; VILLEZCAS scored. SAYLOR
grounded out to 2b, RBI; KNELL advanced to third; CHAMBERS scored, unearned. MOLINA
singled, RBI; KNELL scored, unearned. MOLINA stole second. NELSON out at first 1b to
p. 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
UNLV 8th - KOWALSKI grounded out to 2b. SIBLEY flied out to rf. CRUZ grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 9th - TABEEK to p for BROCK. McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS
walked. NAKAYAMA popped up to 3b. TAYLOR walked; VILLEZCAS advanced to second.
CHAMBERS struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 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.