CULLOWHEE, N. C. (April 2, 2009)--Kent Walton's home run and combined efforts of three Cougar pitchers led BYU to a 1-0 non-conference victory Thursday over Western Carolina University.

Walton's one-out homer in the fourth inning was the only offense needed by BYU, now 16-10 overall, thanks to the pitching of Jeremy Toole, Marc Oslund and Jordan Muir.

"Pitching was the name of the game today," said BYU coach Vance Law. "Jeremy (Toole) was great and their guy threw well, too."

Toole threw 95 pitches and struck out 10 Catamounts in seven innings to improve his record to 5-2. Oslund spelled Toole to start the bottom of the eighth. And Muir earned his sixth save of the season by starting the ninth.

Toole retired WCU batters in order in the first, fourth, sixth and seventh innings. In the seventh Toole struck out all three batters he faced. Oslund and Muir followed suit retiring the Catamounts in order.

Walton's homer to right centerfield, his fifth of the season, came off a 2-0 count. The senior designated hitter from Yucaipa, Calif., batted 4-for-4 from the plate.

"Kent's home run cleared the fence by just enough and he had a very good day at the plate.

"In spite of three errors in pretty wet conditions we played well defensively. Relf (Brandon) and Andrew (Law) each had some good plays."

Thursday's game was delayed 45 minutes in starting because of rain. The first three innings were played in mist and sprinkling conditions.

WCU, now 18-6, hosts BYU in the second of a three-game series on Friday night.

Brigham Young at Western Carolina
Apr 02, 2009 at Cullowhee, N.C. (Hennon Stadium)
Brigham Young 1 (16-10)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0  .245
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   0  .279
WALTON, Kent dh..........  4  1  4  1   0  0  0  0   0  .451
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   2  .344
RELF, Brandon ss.........  3  0  2  0   1  0  1  3   0  .291
BOWEN, Michael rf........  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   1  .333
KO, Kasey 1b.............  3  0  0  0   0  2 12  0   0  .288
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   1  .205
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  0  0   0  2 12  0   0  .294
TOOLE, Jeremy p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0     -
 OSLUND, Marc p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
 MUIR, Jordan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
Totals................... 31  1  7  1   1  9 27 11   5
Western Carolina 0 (18-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Liles 2b............  4  0  2  0   0  0  2  4   0  .383
Ross Heffley 3b..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  2   0  .462
Stephen Notaro c.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  8  2   2  .318
Brent Greer ss...........  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  4   1  .402
J.C. Lyons rf............  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0  .290
Matt Johns 1b............  4  0  0  0   0  4 14  0   0  .272
Reid Rollison dh.........  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0  .286
Dylan de Graaf cf........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0  .231
 Lee Murray ph/lf........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0  .303
Trevor Collias lf/cf.....  3  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   3  .241
Corey Martin p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0     -
 Garrett Ozar p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
Totals................... 33  0  4  0   0 12 27 14   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 100 000 -  1  7  3
Western Carolina.... 000 000 000 -  0  4  0
-------------------------------------------
E - PARKER(9); MUSSO(3); TOOLE(2). DP - Catamounts 1. LOB - Cougars 5;
Catamounts 6. 2B - Heffley(8). HR - WALTON(5). SH - BOWEN(1).
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
TOOLE, Jeremy.......  7.0  4  0  0  0 10 27 27  98  3.74
OSLUND, Marc........  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  3  20  1.98
MUIR, Jordan........  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  3  3  11  3.06
Western Carolina       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Corey Martin........  8.0  6  1  1  1  9 27 29  97  4.76
Garrett Ozar........  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4  12  2.97
Win - TOOLE (5-2).  Loss - Martin (4-3).  Save - MUIR (6).
Pitches/strikes: TOOLE 98/67; OSLUND 20/11; MUIR 11/7; Martin 97/63; Ozar 12/7.
Umpires - HP: David Mabe  1B: David Brown  3B: Gerald Trexler
Start: 6:48 pm   Time: 2:11   Attendance: 169
Weather: Overcast, cool; chance of rain
Play-by-Play
Brigham Young 1st - No play. Start of game delayed due to rain.
McNAUGHTON struck out looking (0-2 FFK). LAW, An. grounded out to 2b (2-0 BB).
WALTON singled through the left side (2-2 BBFF). PARKER flied out to lf (1-1
BF). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Western Carolina 1st - Liles grounded out to ss (1-1 KB). Heffley struck
out looking (1-2 FBFK). Notaro grounded out to ss (0-1 K). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - RELF singled through the left side (2-1 BBF). BOWEN
grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b (1-1 BF); RELF out on the play. KO
struck out looking (0-2 KKK). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Western Carolina 2nd - Greer grounded out to 2b (1-2 KFB). Lyons reached
on a fielding error by 3b (2-0 BB). Johns struck out swinging (1-2 BKKS).
Rollison singled to third base, bunt (2-1 BKB); Lyons advanced to second. de
Graaf reached on a throwing error by c, bunt (0-0); Rollison advanced to
second; Lyons advanced to third. Collias grounded out to 3b, bunt (2-1 BKB).
0 runs, 1 hit, 2 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - CLUFF grounded out to ss (1-0 B). MUSSO struck out
looking (1-2 KBSFK). McNAUGHTON popped up to 2b (0-1 K). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Western Carolina 3rd - Liles singled through the left side (1-0 B).
Liles advanced to second on a throwing error by p, failed pickoff attempt.
Heffley lined out to ss (0-2 KFFF). Notaro struck out looking (1-2 KBKK). Greer
struck out looking (1-2 FBFK). 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - LAW, An. struck out swinging (1-2 KFBS). WALTON
homered to right center, RBI (2-0 BB). PARKER struck out swinging, out at first
c to 1b (0-2 KS). RELF walked (3-1 BSBBB). BOWEN singled to center field (1-0
B); RELF advanced to third. BOWEN out at second p to 2b, picked off. 1 run,
2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Western Carolina 4th - Lyons struck out swinging (1-2 BFSS). Johns
struck out looking (1-2 BKSK). Rollison grounded out to p (2-1 BKB). 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - KO grounded out to 2b (1-0 B). CLUFF struck out
swinging (1-2 KBSFS). MUSSO struck out swinging to catcher (1-2 FSSB). 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Western Carolina 5th - de Graaf grounded out to 2b (1-2 BSS). Collias
fouled out to 1b (0-2 KS). Liles singled through the right side (1-0 B).
Heffley doubled to center field (2-1 BBF); Liles advanced to third. Notaro
grounded out to p (0-1 K). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - McNAUGHTON fouled out to 1b (1-0 B). LAW, An. flied
out to lf (1-1 KB). WALTON singled up the middle (3-1 BBKB). PARKER grounded
out to 2b (0-1 S). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Western Carolina 6th - Greer grounded out to 3b (0-1 S). Lyons grounded
out to 3b (1-2 KSB). Johns struck out swinging (2-2 SBBFS). 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - RELF singled up the middle (0-0). BOWEN grounded out
to p, SAC, bunt (1-0 B); RELF advanced to second. KO struck out looking (0-2
KFK). CLUFF struck out swinging (1-2 BKFS). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Western Carolina 7th - Rollison struck out swinging (3-2 SBKBBS). Murray
pinch hit for de Graaf. Murray struck out looking (2-2 SBBFK). Collias struck
out swinging (2-2 KFBBS). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - Murray to lf. Collias to cf. MUSSO grounded out to
3b (1-1 BF). McNAUGHTON fouled out to 1b (3-2 BKBSB). LAW, An. grounded out to
c, bunt (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Western Carolina 8th - OSLUND to p for TOOLE. Liles grounded out to 3b
(3-1 BBKB). Heffley grounded out to ss (3-2 KBBBFFF). Notaro flied out to rf
(3-2 BSSBBF). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - Ozar to p for Martin. WALTON singled, bunt (0-0).
PARKER grounded out to ss (2-1 BBK); WALTON advanced to second. RELF grounded
out to 3b (3-2 BBKBF). BOWEN grounded out to ss (0-0). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Western Carolina 9th - MUIR to p for OSLUND. Greer struck out swinging
(1-2 KSBS). Lyons flied out to rf down the rf line (0-0). Johns struck out
swinging (3-2 SSBBBS). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Western Carolina University is BYU baseball’s opponent this week during the Cougars’ designated bye week from league action.

The Cougars, now 15-10 overall, face the Catamounts, 17-6, in Cullowhee, N.C., in a three-game series starting Thursday evening.

Jeremy Toole (4-2, 4.42), Blake Torgerson (3-2,6.21) and Adam Miller (2-2, 3.69) are scheduled to take the mound in that order for the Cougars in the games Thursday and Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

This will be the second meeting between BYU and Western Carolina. The Catamounts played a single game in Provo, losing 12-5, in May of 1993. One member of that 1993 BYU team was future Major Leaguer Brian Banks, uncle of current Cougar outfielder Stetson Banks.

Following the Carolina trip, the Cougars touch down briefly in Salt Lake City before continuing on to play a pair of games the start of next week at Washington State.