Provo, Utah (May 7, 2005)--New Mexico knocked BYU off its first-place perch Saturday with a 14-7 thumping in the Mountain West Conference baseball race.

The Cougars, now 33-15-1 overall and 17-7 in the league, lost for the second consecutive day to New Mexico, now 21-27 and 11-13.

Daniel Stovall got the Lobos going with a single to right center to lead off the second. He advanced to second when Matt Foote won a foot race when pitcher Dave Torgerson couldn't get the ball out of his glove on an infield single. That set up a two-run single by Jeff Grady to jump-start the Lobos' 4-0 rally.

Brandon Christiansen replaced Torgerson on the mound to start the third and was effective until the seventh.

BYU's Jeff Hiestand connected with one out to the right center wall on a double to extend his current hitting streak to 27 games in the bottom of the fourth. The Lobos walked Brandon Taylor, then Ben Saylor got an RBI single to right center. Ryan Chambers singled up the middle to score Taylor.

Chambers was ruled safe when the Lobo second baseman dropped the throw from third to load the bases, still with one out. Lobo Coach Rich Alday came out in protest of the dropped ball at second. Then Casey Cloward doubled off the rightfield wall to tie the game, 4-4, with the two RBI clout.

That would be BYU's only rally. A potential rally was cut short when Cougar Coach Vance Law went out in protest of a fifth inning controversial slide on which Apana Nakayama was ruled out on a double play. At the end of that inning, BYU Assistant Ryan Roberts went out again to protest and was ejected.

Christiansen had a three-up-three-down inning in the fifth, striking out the first and third batters. Unfortunately, the Cougars went down in order that same inning.

Cougar Ryan Chambers pounded a homer to center to tie the game at five-all in the sixth.

Then came the disastrous seventh and eighth innings as the Lobos batted around both times. Ironically, the game-winning RBI came from Ian Hollick, who was the third Lobo to be hit by a pitch in the seventh.

Cougar Sean McNaughton got his first start at second base, returning to the top of the order since injuring his thumb last month.

BYU now readies for its final three-game home series when UNLV begins play on Thursday at 7 p.m.

"We are going to try tighten up a few things and regroup for UNLV, it's a huge series," said Law. "We didn't pitch well today and New Mexico is a good hitting team. If we are going to retake the lead, we need to have a sweep, but it's got to come one game at a time, one pitch at a time and one at bat at a time."

UNM 040 001 450--14 17 1

BYU 000 001 110--7 12 3

Torgerson, Christiansen (3), Platt (7), Su'a (7), Bingham (8), Bergeron (9) and Cloward. Coltrinari, Lopez (8) and J. Grady.

WP-Coltrinari, 7-3.

LP-Christiansen, 3-1.

2B-Barba 3 (N), Stovall (N), Hiestand (B), Cloward (B), Villezcas (B), Chambers (B) .

HR-Chambers (B), Pacheco (N).

New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ.
May 07, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
New Mexico 14 (21-27,11-13 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
PACHECO, Jordan 2b.......  5  2  3  3   0  0  1  0   0
HAYMORE, Garrick lf......  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   1
 CARLSON, Nick ph/lf.....  1  1  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
 SMITH, Jackie lf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CARLSON, Chris dh........  5  1  2  1   1  1  0  0   0
STOVALL, Daniel 1b.......  6  4  3  2   0  0  6  1   1
FOOTE, Matt cf...........  4  2  2  0   0  0  5  0   0
HOLLICK, Ian 3b..........  3  0  2  1   0  1  0  1   0
DABBS, Chris rf..........  3  0  0  2   0  2  3  0   0
GRADY, Jeff c............  5  1  2  4   0  1  6  4   4
BARBA, Ryan ss...........  5  3  3  1   0  2  3  1   2
COLTRINARI, Darren p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 LOPEZ, Javier p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 40 14 17 14   2  9 27  7   8
Brigham Young Univ. 7 (33-15-1,17-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  4  0  0  0   1  1  2  1   1
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  1  1  0   0  0  3  2   2
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  0  3  0   1  0  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  1  1  1   0  3  6  0   1
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  1  0  0   1  1  2  2   2
SAYLOR, Ben lf...........  4  1  1  1   0  1  3  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  4  3  4  2   0  0  2  0   0
KNELL, Kory rf...........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  4  0  2  3   0  1  9  1   0
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon p..  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 PLATT, James p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SU'A, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BINGHAM, Anthony p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 BERGERON, Michel p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37  7 12  7   3  7 27  9   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico.......... 040 001 450 - 14 17  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 401 110 -  7 12  3
-------------------------------------------
E - PACHECO(11); TAYLOR(12); CHAMBERS(5); CLOWARD(2). DP - BYU Cougars 1.
LOB - New Mexico 8; BYU Cougars 7. 2B - STOVALL(17); BARBA 3(13);
VILLEZCAS(13); HIESTAND(16); CHAMBERS(15); CLOWARD(7). HR - PACHECO(12);
CHAMBERS(9). HBP - PACHECO; FOOTE; HOLLICK. SH - HAYMORE(3); HOLLICK(1). SF
- DABBS 2(3); HIESTAND(3). CS - PACHECO(3); McNAUGHTON(2); NAKAYAMA(1).
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
COLTRINARI, Darren..  7.0 10  6  5  2  5 29 32 127
LOPEZ, Javier.......  2.0  2  1  1  1  2  8  9  40
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  2.0  5  4  3  0  3 10 11  36
CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon  4.1  5  4  4  1  4 15 19  63
PLATT, James........  0.0  1  1  1  0  0  1  2  12
SU'A, Justin........  0.2  2  2  2  0  0  3  5  18
BINGHAM, Anthony....  1.0  3  3  1  1  2  7  8  33
BERGERON, Michel....  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4  13
Win - COLTRINARI (7-3).  Loss - CHRISTIANSEN (3-1).  Save - None.
HBP - by CHRISTIANSEN (PACHECO); by PLATT (FOOTE); by SU'A (HOLLICK).
Pitches/strikes: COLTRINARI 127/71; LOPEZ 40/20; TORGERSON 36/25; CHRISTIANSEN
63/42; PLATT 12/6; SU'A 18/9; BINGHAM 33/22; BERGERON 13/8.
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Kevin Daugherty  3B: Reuben Chavira
Start: 1:06 pm   Time: 3:20   Attendance: 1221
PLATT faced 2 batters in the 7th.
SU'A faced 2 batters in the 8th.
New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
May 07, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico.......... 040 001 450 - 14 17  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 401 110 -  7 12  3
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico starters: 1/2b PACHECO; 14/lf HAYMORE; 35/dh CARLSON, C.; 34/1b STOVALL;
12/cf FOOTE; 10/3b HOLLICK; 29/rf DABBS; 15/c GRADY, J.; 6/ss BARBA; 21/p
COLTRINARI;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/lf SAYLOR; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 12/rf KNELL; 9/c CLOWARD;
32/p TORGERSON;
New Mexico 1st - PACHECO reached on a fielding error by cf (0-2). PACHECO out
at second c to ss, caught stealing. HAYMORE struck out looking (1-2). CARLSON, C.
struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON flied out to rf (3-2). VILLEZCAS
grounded out to 1b unassisted (2-2). NAKAYAMA singled to right field (1-1). HIESTAND
struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 2nd - STOVALL singled to right center (1-2). FOOTE singled to
pitcher, bunt (1-0); STOVALL advanced to second. HOLLICK out at first p to 2b, bunt,
SAC (0-0); FOOTE advanced to second; STOVALL advanced to third. DABBS struck out
looking (2-2). GRADY, J. singled to left field, 2 RBI (1-0); FOOTE scored; STOVALL
scored. BARBA doubled down the lf line, RBI (0-1); GRADY, J. scored. BARBA advanced
to third on a throwing error by c. PACHECO singled to third base, RBI (2-1); BARBA
scored, unearned. HAYMORE grounded out to 2b (0-1). 4 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - TAYLOR grounded out to ss (0-0). SAYLOR struck out
looking (2-2). CHAMBERS singled to right field (1-1). KNELL reached on a fielder's
choice (1-1); CHAMBERS out at second 3b to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
New Mexico 3rd - CHRISTIANSEN to p for TORGERSON. CARLSON, C. walked (3-1).
STOVALL flied out to cf (0-0). FOOTE grounded into double play p to ss to 1b (2-2);
CARLSON, C. out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - CLOWARD flied out to cf (1-2). McNAUGHTON walked
(3-2). VILLEZCAS flied out to lf (3-1). McNAUGHTON out at second c to ss, caught
stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 4th - HOLLICK struck out swinging (2-2). DABBS lined out to 3b
(0-1). GRADY, J. struck out looking (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to c (1-0). HIESTAND doubled
to right center (2-2). TAYLOR walked (3-0). SAYLOR singled to right center, RBI
(2-0); TAYLOR advanced to third; HIESTAND scored. CHAMBERS singled up the middle,
RBI (1-0); SAYLOR advanced to second; TAYLOR scored. KNELL reached on a fielder's
choice (0-0); CHAMBERS advanced to second on a fielding error by 2b; SAYLOR advanced
to third. CLOWARD doubled to right center, 2 RBI (2-0); KNELL advanced to third;
CHAMBERS scored, unearned; SAYLOR scored. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging (1-2).
VILLEZCAS flied out to rf (1-0). 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
New Mexico 5th - BARBA struck out swinging (0-2). PACHECO grounded out to 3b
(1-1). HAYMORE struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NAKAYAMA singled up the middle (0-0). HIESTAND
struck out swinging (3-2); NAKAYAMA out at second c to ss, caught stealing. TAYLOR
flied out to cf (3-0). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 6th - CARLSON, C. grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-1). STOVALL
singled to right field (0-0). FOOTE singled to left field (0-0); STOVALL advanced to
second. HOLLICK singled to right field (2-2); FOOTE advanced to second; STOVALL
advanced to third. DABBS flied out to lf, SF, RBI (2-2); STOVALL scored. GRADY, J.
grounded out to 1b unassisted (1-2). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - SAYLOR grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-1).
CHAMBERS homered to center field, RBI (1-0). KNELL popped up to ss (2-2). CLOWARD
struck out looking (1-2). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 7th - BARBA doubled to right field (0-0). PACHECO hit by pitch
(0-0). HAYMORE out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt (0-0); PACHECO advanced to second;
BARBA advanced to third. CARLSON, C. singled to left field, RBI (3-2); PACHECO
advanced to third; BARBA scored. PLATT to p for CHRISTIANSEN. STOVALL doubled to
right center, RBI (2-2); CARLSON, C. advanced to third; PACHECO scored. FOOTE hit by
pitch (3-2). SU'A to p for PLATT. HOLLICK hit by pitch, RBI (1-0); FOOTE advanced to
second; STOVALL advanced to third; CARLSON, C. scored. DABBS flied out to lf, SF,
RBI (2-0); FOOTE advanced to third; STOVALL scored. GRADY, J. flied out to cf (3-1).
4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - McNAUGHTON flied out to cf (2-1). VILLEZCAS doubled
to right center (1-0). NAKAYAMA singled to shortstop (2-0); VILLEZCAS advanced to
third. HIESTAND flied out to cf, SF, RBI (3-1); VILLEZCAS scored. TAYLOR flied out
to cf (1-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 8th - BARBA doubled to left field (1-2). PACHECO homered to left
field, 2 RBI (1-2); BARBA scored. BINGHAM to p for SU'A. CARLSON, N. pinch hit for
HAYMORE. CARLSON, N. walked (3-2). CARLSON, C. singled to right field, advanced to
second on the throw (1-2); CARLSON, N. advanced to third. STOVALL reached on a
fielding error by 3b, RBI (1-1); CARLSON, C. advanced to third; CARLSON, N. scored.
FOOTE reached on a fielder's choice (0-1); STOVALL advanced to second; CARLSON, C.
out at third p to 3b. HOLLICK singled to pitcher (2-2); FOOTE advanced to second;
STOVALL advanced to third. DABBS struck out swinging (0-2). GRADY, J. singled to
center field, 2 RBI (1-1); HOLLICK advanced to second; FOOTE scored, unearned;
STOVALL scored, unearned. BARBA struck out looking (2-2). 5 runs, 5 hits, 1
error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - CARLSON, N. to lf. LOPEZ to p for COLTRINARI.
SAYLOR out at first 1b to p (1-1). CHAMBERS doubled down the rf line (3-1). KNELL
flied out to rf (1-0). CLOWARD singled to left field, RBI (3-1); CHAMBERS scored.
McNAUGHTON flied out to lf (1-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 9th - BERGERON to p for BINGHAM. PACHECO singled to left field
(1-0). CARLSON, N. popped up to ss (1-1). CARLSON, C. grounded out to ss (3-2);
PACHECO advanced to second. STOVALL flied out to lf (0-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - SMITH, J. to lf for CARLSON, N.. VILLEZCAS grounded
out to 1b unassisted (3-1). NAKAYAMA walked (3-0). HIESTAND struck out looking
(1-2). TAYLOR struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.

No. 1 in the nation at slugging and doubles are two kudos for BYU as it hosts the final six games of the home season, beginning Thursday with a three-game series against New Mexico.

The Cougars, 32-13-1, are tied for first place in the Mountain West Conference at 16-5 with UNLV, while UNM is tied for fourth with Utah at 9-12.

BYU ascended to the nation's lead with a .564 slugging percentage in the latest NCAA statistics and are still on school-record pace averaging 2.93 doubles. The Lobos also have a national leader with Garrick Haymore averaging .21 triples as UNM is second as a team in the nation in that category at 0.71.

BYU also has some individual leaders topped by Brandon Taylor and Ben Saylor. Taylor, who was named to a national player of the week honor for the second consecutive week, is sixth in the nation with his 18 homers and is fifth nationally in RBI with a 1.51 average. Saylor is third nationally, averaging 0.5 doubles.

The Cougars are hopeful for the return of freshman phenom Sean McNaughton this week after he was sidelined last month with a broken thumb. UNM also has a top freshman second baseman in Jordan Pacheco who leads the MWC in several categories.

BYU will be starting Dave Horlacher (4-2, 3.84) on the mound in Thursday's game at 7 p.m., at Larry H. Miller Field. On Friday, BYU Coach Vance Law has tapped a new starter in junior southpaw Lance Beus (1-0, 6.48), also starting at 7 p.m. This is the first start of the season for Beus, who had arm surgery last Fall. On Saturday at 1 p.m., freshman Blake Torgerson (5-2, 5.77) will be the BYU starter.

Saturday vs. UNM is Cosmo's Kids Club Day and Kids Take Over Milleryy´Park Day. Kids will be helping take tickets, read PA's, select music, and rake the field with the grounds crew. Kids will be selected starting at 12 noon at Cosmo's Kids Club Party. There is a FREE Youth Baseball Clinic (ages of 8-12, pre-register on www.byucougars.com) following the 1 p.m. game vs. New Mexico.

Next week, BYU closes its regular season at home with a three-game stand against UNLV.

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.