LAS CRUCES -- Ryan Chambers and Brandon Taylor got the big hits when needed Thursday to lift BYU to a 5-3 victory over New Mexico State.

The Cougars (7-4-1) won their fourth game in a row as both hitters went 3-4 for the day. James Platt picked up his first victory in relief to down the Aggies (10-9).

Chambers knocked in the final insurance run in the eighth, and drove in the first run of the game in the third. He scored the tying run on his third single in the seventh.

Taylor knocked a homer to right field, his fourth of the season, on the first pitch thrown to him with one out in the fourth, to give BYU a 2-0 lead.

The Aggies got men aboard in the first inning via a walk and two hit batters. BYU's Casey Nelson and Sean McNaughton combined to get Jason Long out on a stolen base attempt. Cougar hurler Dave Horlacher struck out his second batter of the inning with two aboard.

BYU got a base runner in the second when Taylor singled to third, but was picked off by the catcher. In the bottom of that inning, NMS stranded two after they got on with a hit and being hit by Horlacher.

The Cougars got on the scoreboard in the third when leadoff batter Kory Knell advanced to third on a two-base throwing error by the Aggie third baseman. Knell scored off Chambers' single up the middle.

In the fifth, NMS tied the score, 2-2, when Long walked with two out. He advanced to second on Xardiel Cotto's single up the middle. They both scored when Mark Aranda doubled to right center.

The Aggies took the lead in the sixth when Luke Hopkins drew a leadoff walk off Platt, who had just entered the game. Hopkins advanced to third on a single to left field and scored on a groundout to second.

BYU took a 4-3 lead in the seventh when Chambers and Nelson hit back-to-back one-out singles, respectively. Chambers advanced to third on McNaughton's fly-out to center and scored when Marcos Villezcas singled to left-center. Nelson then scored when Apana Nakayama got aboard by another third-base error.

When Jeff Hiestand got hit by a pitch to load the bases in the seventh with two-out, Aggie pitcher Dustin Cameron was replaced so he didn't have to face Taylor, who was three-for-three to that point. Cameron had struck out the Cougars eight times, but reliever Brian Gausman got Taylor to ground out to him to end the inning.

Ben Saylor led off with a double in the eighth, advanced on Knell's sacrifice bunt and scored when Chambers singled to right field.

The Cougars play game two vs. NMS on Friday at 1 p.m.

Brigham Young Univ. at N.Mexico State Univ.
Mar 10, 2005 at Las Cruces, N.M. (Presley Askew Field)
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (7-4-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  5  0  0  0   0  3  3  4   1
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  0  1  1   0  2  0  2   1
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  5  0  0  1   0  0  0  0   2
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  0  0  0   0  2 12  1   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  1  3  1   0  0  0  5   3
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   1
KNELL, Kory lf...........  3  1  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  4  1  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  1  2  0   0  1  8  1   0
HORLACHER, Dave p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 PLATT, James p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 37  5 10  5   0 10 27 16   8
N.Mexico State Univ. 3 (10-9)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rodden, Vince cf.........  5  0  0  0   0  2  3  0   3
Long, Jason ss...........  3  1  0  0   2  0  0  1   0
Cotto, Xardiel 2b........  2  1  2  0   1  0  1  4   0
Aranda, Mark rf..........  3  0  1  2   0  1  2  0   0
Harvey, Adam dh..........  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   3
 Davies, Emory ph........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   2
Hopkins, Luke 1b.........  3  1  1  0   1  0 11  0   0
Monreal, Cole 3b.........  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  1   0
Fields, Patrick lf.......  4  0  0  1   0  2  0  0   0
Lance, Brandon c.........  4  0  0  0   0  0 10  2   0
Cameron, Dustin p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Gausman, Brian p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 31  3  5  3   4  8 27 10   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 001 100 210 -  5 10  1
N.Mexico State Univ. 000 021 000 -  3  5  3
-------------------------------------------
E - TAYLOR; Monreal 3. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - BYU Cougars 8; NMS Aggies
8. 2B - SAYLOR; Aranda. HR - TAYLOR(4). HBP - HIESTAND; Cotto; Aranda;
Monreal. SH - KNELL; NELSON. SB - Cotto. CS - Long.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HORLACHER, Dave.....  5.0  3  2  2  3  6 17 23
PLATT, James........  4.0  2  1  1  1  2 14 15
N.Mexico State Univ.   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Cameron, Dustin.....  6.2  8  4  2  0  8 29 31
Gausman, Brian......  2.1  2  1  1  0  2  8  9
Win - PLATT (1-0).  Loss - Cameron (3-3).  Save - None.
WP - HORLACHER 2. HBP - by HORLACHER (Cotto); by HORLACHER (Aranda); by
HORLACHER (Monreal); by Cameron (HIESTAND).
Umpires - HP: Phil Gonzales  1B: Jim Sayer  3B: Randy Shepherd
Start: 1:05   Time: 2:25   Attendance: 183
Play-by-Play
Brigham Young Univ. at N.Mexico State Univ. - Play-by-Play
Mar 10, 2005 at Las Cruces, N.M. (Presley Askew Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 001 100 210 -  5 10  1
N.Mexico State Univ. 000 021 000 -  3  5  3
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/rf SAYLOR; 12/lf KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 8/c NELSON;
11/p HORLACHER;
N.Mexico State Univ. starters: 1/cf Rodden; 4/ss Long; 6/2b Cotto; 27/rf Aranda;
17/dh Harvey; 8/1b Hopkins; 23/3b Monreal; 11/lf Fields; 15/c Lance; 29/p Cameron;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS struck out
looking. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 1st - Rodden struck out looking. Long walked. Long out
at second c to 2b, caught stealing. Cotto hit by pitch. Aranda hit by pitch; Cotto
advanced to second. Harvey struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - HIESTAND struck out looking. TAYLOR singled to
third base. TAYLOR out at first c to 1b, picked off. SAYLOR grounded out to 3b. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 2nd - Hopkins singled through the right side. Monreal
hit by pitch; Hopkins advanced to second. Fields struck out looking. Lance grounded
out to p; Monreal advanced to second; Hopkins advanced to third. Rodden grounded out
to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - KNELL reached on a throwing error by 3b, advanced
to third. CHAMBERS singled up the middle, RBI; KNELL scored, unearned. NELSON
reached on a fielding error by 3b, SAC, bunt; CHAMBERS advanced to second.
McNAUGHTON struck out looking. VILLEZCAS struck out looking. NAKAYAMA flied out to
rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 3rd - Long grounded out to 3b. Cotto walked. Aranda
flied out to cf. Cotto advanced to second on a wild pitch. Cotto advanced to third
on a wild pitch. Harvey struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HIESTAND struck out swinging. TAYLOR homered to
right field, RBI. SAYLOR flied out to cf. KNELL struck out swinging. 1 run, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 4th - Hopkins out at first 1b to p. Monreal struck out
swinging. Fields struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - CHAMBERS flied out to 2b to center field. NELSON
singled to right center. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS grounded out to
p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 5th - Lance grounded out to 3b. Rodden grounded out to
ss. Long walked. Cotto singled up the middle; Long advanced to second. Aranda
doubled to right center, 2 RBI; Cotto scored; Long scored. Davies pinch hit for
Harvey. Davies out at first p to 2b to 1b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b. HIESTAND grounded out
to 2b. TAYLOR singled through the left side. SAYLOR struck out looking. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 6th - PLATT to p for HORLACHER. Hopkins walked. Monreal
singled to left field, advanced to second on the throw; Hopkins advanced to third.
Fields grounded out to 2b, RBI; Monreal advanced to third; Hopkins scored. Lance
grounded out to 3b. Rodden struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - KNELL grounded out to ss. CHAMBERS singled to left
field. NELSON singled up the middle; CHAMBERS advanced to second. McNAUGHTON flied
out to cf; CHAMBERS advanced to third. VILLEZCAS singled to left center, RBI; NELSON
advanced to third; CHAMBERS scored. NAKAYAMA reached on an error by 3b, RBI;
VILLEZCAS advanced to second; NELSON scored, unearned. HIESTAND hit by pitch;
NAKAYAMA advanced to second; VILLEZCAS advanced to third. Gausman to p for Cameron.
TAYLOR grounded out to p. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 7th - Long grounded out to 3b. Cotto singled to right
center. Aranda struck out swinging. Cotto stole second. Davies grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - SAYLOR doubled to left center. KNELL grounded out
to c, SAC, bunt; SAYLOR advanced to third. CHAMBERS singled through the right side,
RBI; SAYLOR scored. NELSON struck out swinging. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 8th - Hopkins flied out to lf. Monreal flied out to cf
to right center. Fields grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - VILLEZCAS grounded out to 2b. NAKAYAMA grounded out
to 1b unassisted. HIESTAND grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
N.Mexico State Univ. 9th - Lance reached on an error by 3b. Rodden reached on
a fielder's choice; Lance out at second ss to 2b. Long grounded into double play 3b
to 2b to 1b; Rodden out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- After going 3-2 on an Oklahoma road trip that featured two ranked opponents, BYU opens its home schedule Tuesday against UVSC at 3 p.m., at Larry H. Miller Field.

The Cougars (5-4-1) are fresh off their first series win of the season, taking two of three from No. 30 Oral Roberts. BYU also split its two games with No. 25 Oklahoma State. The Wolverines (5-9) have lost three in a row, going 1-3 at the Banana Belt Tournament in Lewiston, Idaho, where they defeated tournament champion Washington State.

UVSC will be broadcasting the BYU game live on the Internet with Zach Fraser calling the play-by-play. The link to this broadcast can be found at www.byucougars.com on on the baseball schedule page.

BYU head coach Vance Law is pleased with the way his team has started the season.

"We've been working hard together and look forward to coming home even if it is only for one game right now," he said.

Matt Jensen will make his division one starting debut on the mound against UVSC. Prior to his church mission to Thailand, Jensen pitched for the Wolverines. He is one of four current Cougars that have transferred from UVSC. BYU starters Brandon Taylor, Ben Saylor and Apana Nakayama also will be playing against their former team. Brad Hales, a current starting middle infielder for the Wolverines, transferred last season from BYU.

Law and Cougar assistant Ryan Roberts also have UVSC ties. Law is a former assistant coach at UVSC. Roberts played and coached with the Wolverines, before doing both roles at BYU.

After Tuesday's game, BYU will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., for a three-game weekend series against New Mexico State (10-8) beginning Thursday.