First League Win

PROVO -- In the first of a three-game series against Air Force, the BYU men's baseball team beat the Falcons 10-6 Thursday night at Miller Park.

Junior Jake Wortham led the Cougars as he pitched the first through fifth innings, gave up three runs, all unearned, and struck out five Air Force players. Wortham picked up his second win of the season and gave the Cougars their first league victory of the season.

"Jake [Wortham] is a great competitor," said BYU head coach Vance Law. "He knows how to move the ball in and out and how to command the strike zone."

Despite two errors in the first three innings, the Cougars' strong hitting lifted them to victory over Air Force.

BYU got its offensive action started in the bottom of the third inning, when the team was down 2-0. Junior outfielder Kent Walton made a solid hit to center field, helping the Cougars score two runs.

Later, in the fourth inning, the Cougars wasted no time to gain a strong lead over the Falcons. With the bases loaded, junior short-stop Dan Vargas blasted a near home-run to centerfield for a triple, giving BYU three runs and pushing the score to 6-2.

"Our offense is contagious," Law said. "When one of our players starts, others catch on and it becomes contagious. We've got guys who can run and hit. When it all comes together, our offense is great."

Sophomore outfielder Sean McNaughton stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning and hit a fly deep to center field which scored Thomas Bills and Andrew Law. Walton then batted in McNaughton with a triple, BYU's third of the game, to raise the Cougar score 10-2.

Michael Ward came in for the Cougars in the sixth inning and finished the game, striking out three Air Force players to earn a save for his three effective innings.

BYU remained scoreless from the six through eighth innings, while the Falcons scored three last-minute runs in the ninth inning, making the final score 10-2.

BYU will continue the series against Air Force Friday at 6 p.m.

Air Force at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 20, 2008 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force 6 (7-10,0-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CARTER, Nathan cf........  5  1  2  0   0  2  5  0   0
RANDHAWA, K.J. ss........  4  1  2  1   0  1  3  4   0
DERBIGNY, Chay rf........  5  0  0  0   0  3  1  0   4
GENTRY, Addison 1b.......  5  1  1  2   0  0  3  0   1
ALEXANDER, Matt dh.......  5  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
ALLEN, Jake lf...........  3  0  0  1   0  0  1  0   0
MEENTS, Josh c/p.........  3  1  1  0   0  1  4  1   1
 MAYO, Parker c..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
AUSBUN, Ben 3b...........  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  1   0
 GRIGGS, Jason 3b........  0  1  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
McMAHON, Jon 2b..........  4  1  3  0   0  0  6  1   1
TRUESDALE, Alex p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PINGEL, Brad p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARATTINO, Matt p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ABT, Jeff p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37  6 10  4   0  8 24  7   8
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (10-10,1-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MCNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  2  1  2   1  1  1  0   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  2  1  1  3   1  0  1  1   0
 RELF, Brandon ss........  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  2   0
WALTON, Kent cf..........  3  0  2  3   1  0  0  0   0
 BOWEN, Michael rf.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  4  0  2  1   1  1  0  0   1
KO, Kasey 1b.............  2  0  0  0   0  1  6  1   1
 LEACH, J.C. 1b..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  6  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf/cf....  5  1  0  0   0  0  2  0   3
BILLS, Thomas dh.........  5  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   4
MUSSO, J.T. c............  2  2  1  1   1  0  6  0   0
 NACAPOY, Chad c.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  3  3  2  0   0  0  1  3   0
 HERMOSILLO, Kiko 2b.....  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   0
WORTHAM, Jake p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
 WARD, Michael p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 35 10 10 10   5  4 27 13   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force........... 011 001 003 -  6 10  4
Brigham Young Univ.. 003 430 00X - 10 10  3
-------------------------------------------
E - RANDHAWA 2(3); AUSBUN 2(10); MCNAUGHTON(3); LEACH(1); MUSSO(2). DP - AF
1. LOB - AF 8; BYU Cougars 9. 3B - GENTRY(2); MCNAUGHTON(3); VARGAS(2);
WALTON(4). HBP - RANDHAWA; ALLEN, J.; MEENTS; GRIGGS; KO; MUSSO. SF -
VARGAS(2). SB - CARTER 2(12); LAW(4). CS - MEENTS(1); VARGAS(3).
Air Force              IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TRUESDALE, Alex.....  3.2  5  7  3  4  1 15 21
PINGEL, Brad........  0.2  2  3  2  1  0  5  7
BARATTINO, Matt.....  1.2  1  0  0  0  1  6  6
ABT, Jeff...........  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  3  3
MEENTS, Josh........  1.0  2  0  0  0  0  6  6
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WORTHAM, Jake.......  6.0  6  3  0  0  5 24 25
WARD, Michael.......  3.0  4  3  3  0  3 13 16
Win - WORTHAM (2-1).  Loss - TRUESDALE (0-5).  Save - WARD (1).
WP - TRUESDALE(4). HBP - by TRUESDALE (MUSSO); by WORTHAM (MEENTS); by PINGEL
(KO); by WARD (RANDHAWA); by WARD (ALLEN, J.); by WARD (GRIGGS).
Umpires - HP: Wes Hamilton  1B: John Cortez  3B: Lew Carleton
Start: 6:02 pm   Time: 240   Attendance: 812
Air Force starters: 15/cf CARTER; 1/ss RANDHAWA; 5/rf DERBIGNY; 24/1b GENTRY;
21/dh ALEXANDER; 4/lf ALLEN, J.; 8/c MEENTS; 6/3b AUSBUN; 20/2b McMAHON; 3/p
TRUESDALE;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/lf MCNAUGHTON; 13/ss VARGAS; 9/cf WALTON; 5/3b
PARKER; 22/1b KO; 8/rf CLUFF; 30/dh BILLS; 10/c MUSSO; 6/2b LAW; 28/p WORTHAM;
Air Force 1st - CARTER singled to third base. RANDHAWA struck out
swinging. CARTER stole second. DERBIGNY grounded out to p. GENTRY fouled out to
lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - MCNAUGHTON flied out to lf. VARGAS walked.
WALTON popped up to 1b. VARGAS out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 2nd - ALEXANDER grounded out to 2b. ALLEN, J. grounded out to
p. MEENTS singled to left field. AUSBUN singled, advanced to second on a
fielding error by lf; MEENTS scored, unearned. McMAHON grounded out to ss. 1
run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PARKER walked. KO reached on a fielder's
choice; PARKER out at second 2b unassisted. CLUFF popped up to ss. BILLS
reached on a fielder's choice; KO out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 3rd - CARTER singled to left field. RANDHAWA grounded out to
2b; CARTER advanced to second. CARTER stole third, scored on a throwing error
by c, unearned. DERBIGNY struck out swinging. GENTRY flied out to rf. 1 run,
1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - MUSSO hit by pitch. LAW singled down the rf
line, bunt; MUSSO advanced to second. MCNAUGHTON walked; LAW advanced to
second; MUSSO advanced to third. VARGAS flied out to cf, SF, RBI; LAW advanced
to third; MUSSO scored. MCNAUGHTON advanced to second on a wild pitch. WALTON
singled to center field, 2 RBI; MCNAUGHTON scored; LAW scored. PARKER flied out
to cf. KO struck out looking. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 4th - ALEXANDER popped up to 2b. ALLEN, J. grounded out to 2b.
MEENTS hit by pitch. MEENTS out at second p to 1b to ss, caught stealing. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - CLUFF reached on a throwing error by 3b,
advanced to second. BILLS grounded out to ss; CLUFF advanced to third. MUSSO
singled to right field, RBI; CLUFF scored, unearned. LAW singled to left field;
MUSSO advanced to second. MCNAUGHTON popped up to 2b. VARGAS tripled to center
field, 2 RBI; LAW scored, unearned; MUSSO scored, unearned. WALTON walked.
PINGEL to p for TRUESDALE. PARKER singled to center field, RBI; WALTON advanced
to third; VARGAS scored, unearned. KO hit by pitch; PARKER advanced to second.
CLUFF flied out to cf. 4 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Air Force 5th - AUSBUN flied out to rf. McMAHON singled to center field.
CARTER struck out swinging. RANDHAWA singled up the middle; McMAHON advanced to
second. DERBIGNY struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - BILLS reached on a fielding error by ss. MUSSO
walked; BILLS advanced to second. LAW reached on a fielder's choice, stole
second; MUSSO out at second 3b to 2b; BILLS advanced to third. MCNAUGHTON
tripled to right center, 2 RBI; LAW scored; BILLS scored, unearned. BARATTINO
to p for PINGEL. VARGAS flied out to rf. WALTON tripled to right field, RBI;
MCNAUGHTON scored. PARKER struck out looking. 3 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Air Force 6th - LEACH to 1b for KO. HERMOSILLO to 2b for LAW. GENTRY
reached on a fielding error by 1b, advanced to second. ALEXANDER grounded out
to 1b unassisted; GENTRY advanced to third. ALLEN, J. grounded out to 2b, RBI;
GENTRY scored, unearned. MEENTS struck out looking. 1 run, 0 hits, 1 error,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - LEACH popped up to 2b. CLUFF reached on a
fielding error by 3b. BILLS grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; CLUFF out
on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Air Force 7th - RELF to ss for VARGAS. BOWEN to rf for WALTON. CLUFF to
cf. WARD to p for WORTHAM. AUSBUN struck out swinging. McMAHON singled through
the left side. CARTER grounded out to p; McMAHON advanced to second. RANDHAWA
hit by pitch. DERBIGNY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - ABT to p for BARATTINO. MUSSO flied out to cf.
HERMOSILLO struck out looking. MCNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 8th - NACAPOY to c for MUSSO. GENTRY flied out to rf.
ALEXANDER grounded out to ss. ALLEN, J. hit by pitch. MEENTS flied out to rf.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - MAYO to c for MEENTS. GRIGGS to 3b for AUSBUN.
MEENTS to p for ABT. RELF singled through the right side. BOWEN reached on a
fielder's choice; RELF out at second ss to 2b. PARKER singled to left field;
BOWEN advanced to second. LEACH flied out to cf. CLUFF reached on a fielding
error by ss; PARKER advanced to second; BOWEN advanced to third. BILLS reached
on a fielder's choice; CLUFF advanced to second; PARKER out at third 3b
unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Air Force 9th - GRIGGS hit by pitch. McMAHON singled to right field;
GRIGGS advanced to second. CARTER struck out looking. RANDHAWA singled to left
field, RBI; McMAHON advanced to third; GRIGGS scored. DERBIGNY struck out
swinging. GENTRY tripled to right center, 2 RBI; RANDHAWA scored; McMAHON
scored. ALEXANDER grounded out to p. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.