ARLINGTON -- Former Cougar Rett Varner pitched UT Arlington to a 6-3 victory over BYU Friday night.

The Texas junior, who was on the BYU team in 2007, got out of some jams against the Cougars and got a big four-run fourth inning from his Maverick teammates.

Wes Guenther hit a lead-off homer, BYU’s second of the season, in the fifth inning to put BYU on the board. Sean McNaughton hit a two-out double and was singled in by Brandon Relf. Guenther scored BYU’s final run of the game in the ninth inning.

Cougars Jonathan Cluff and Alex Wolfe lost hitting streaks of six and five games, respectively.

BYU, now 3-7, meets the Mavericks in a final game on Saturday afternoon as UT Arlington, now 4-5, takes the series advantage.

BYU at UT Arlington
Mar 05, 2010 at Arlington, TX (Clay Gould Ballpark)
BYU 3 (3-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  1  2  0   1  1  2  0   0
RELF, Brandon ss.........  5  0  2  1   0  1  2  3   1
WOLFE, Alex 3b...........  3  0  0  0   1  0  0  3   2
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  4  0  0  0   0  3  2  0   0
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  4  0  0  0   0  3  5  0   2
BERNAL, Ryan 1b..........  3  0  1  0   1  1 11  0   1
GUENTHER, Wes dh.........  3  2  2  1   1  0  0  0   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  0  2  0   0  0  2  3   2
HANCOCK, Alex rf.........  4  0  0  1   0  0  0  0   0
NEIL, Matthew p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
 CAPPER, Chris p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MICHON, Brandon p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SLOAN, Kevin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  3  9  3   4  9 24 13   8
UT Arlington 6 (4-5)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Orr, N. lf...............  3  0  2  1   1  1  2  0   0
Hopkins, S. 1b...........  4  0  1  0   0  1  9  0   2
Choice, M. cf............  4  1  1  0   0  1  1  0   2
Guest, S. dh.............  4  1  3  1   0  0  0  0   0
Beck, P. rf..............  4  1  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
Comer, C. c..............  4  1  2  0   0  0  9  2   0
Nephew, B. 3b............  4  2  2  1   0  1  1  3   1
Payne, J. ss.............  4  0  1  1   0  1  1  3   0
Jordan, D. 2b............  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  3   0
Varner, R. p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Bawcom, L. p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  6 13  4   1  5 27 12   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 020 001 -  3  9  2
UT Arlington........ 000 411 00X -  6 13  1
-------------------------------------------
E - RELF(5); NIELSEN(2); Nephew, B.(3). DP - BY 2; UTA 1. LOB - BY 8; UTA 5.
2B - McNAUGHTON(2); Guest, S. 2(3). HR - GUENTHER(1). SB - McNAUGHTON(6);
RELF(1); WOLFE(1); Orr, N.(2). CS - McNAUGHTON(1); BERNAL(2).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
NEIL, Matthew.......  4.0 10  5  5  0  4 22 22
CAPPER, Chris.......  1.1  2  1  0  0  0  5  5
MICHON, Brandon.....  1.2  0  0  0  1  1  4  5
SLOAN, Kevin........  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  3  3
UT Arlington           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Varner, R...........  6.0  8  2  2  2  5 24 26
Bawcom, L...........  3.0  1  1  1  2  4 10 12
Win - Varner, R. (1-1).  Loss - NEIL (1-1).  Save - Bawcom, L. (1).
BK - Bawcom, L. 2(2).
Umpires - HP: Jon Wolfe  1B: Cale Smith  3B: Scott Johnston
Start: 6:33 PM   Time: 2:32   Attendance: 316
Weather: 67 degrees/12 MPH, In from LF
NEIL faced 2 batters in the 5th.
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON singled to center field. McNAUGHTON out at second c
to 2b, caught stealing. RELF singled to center field. WOLFE walked; RELF
advanced to second. CLUFF struck out swinging. AYOSO struck out swinging. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UT Arlington 1st - Orr, N. struck out swinging. Hopkins, S. grounded out
to p. Choice, M. struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - BERNAL singled to third base. BERNAL out at second c to ss,
caught stealing. GUENTHER popped up to 3b. NIELSEN flied out to rf. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UT Arlington 2nd - Guest, S. doubled to right center. Beck, P. lined out
to cf. Comer, C. grounded out to 2b; Guest, S. advanced to third. Nephew, B.
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - HANCOCK grounded out to 1b unassisted. McNAUGHTON lined out to
lf. RELF flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UT Arlington 3rd - Payne, J. struck out swinging. Jordan, D. grounded
out to ss. Orr, N. singled to pitcher. Hopkins, S. singled through the left
side; Orr, N. advanced to second. Choice, M. lined out to lf. 0 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - WOLFE reached on a fielding error by 3b. CLUFF grounded out to
3b; WOLFE advanced to second. AYOSO struck out looking; WOLFE stole third.
BERNAL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 4th - Guest, S. singled up the middle. Beck, P. singled
through the right side; Guest, S. advanced to second. Comer, C. singled to
shortstop, advanced to second; Beck, P. advanced to third; Guest, S. advanced
to third, scored on a throwing error by ss. Nephew, B. singled to left field,
RBI; Comer, C. advanced to third; Beck, P. scored. Payne, J. grounded out to 1b
unassisted, RBI; Nephew, B. advanced to second; Comer, C. scored. Jordan, D.
out at first p to ss to 1b; Nephew, B. advanced to third. Orr, N. singled to
shortstop, RBI; Nephew, B. scored. Hopkins, S. grounded out to p. 4 runs, 5
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - GUENTHER homered to right field, RBI. NIELSEN singled to left
field. HANCOCK grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; NIELSEN out on the
play. McNAUGHTON doubled to left center. RELF singled to second base, RBI;
McNAUGHTON scored. RELF stole second. WOLFE grounded out to 2b. 2 runs, 4
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 5th - Choice, M. singled down the lf line. Guest, S.
doubled to left center, RBI; Choice, M. scored. CAPPER to p for NEIL. Beck, P.
lined into double play 2b to ss; Guest, S. out on the play. Comer, C. grounded
out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - CLUFF struck out swinging. AYOSO flied out to cf. BERNAL
walked. GUENTHER singled to right field; BERNAL advanced to second. NIELSEN
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UT Arlington 6th - Nephew, B. singled to right field. Payne, J. singled
through the left side; Nephew, B. advanced to second. Jordan, D. reached on a
fielder's choice to third base; Payne, J. out at second 3b to 2b; Nephew, B.
advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by 2b, unearned. MICHON to p for
CAPPER. Jordan, D. out at first p to 1b, picked off. Orr, N. walked. Orr, N.
stole second. Hopkins, S. struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
BYU 7th - Bawcom, L. to p for Varner, R.. HANCOCK grounded out to 3b.
McNAUGHTON walked. RELF struck out swinging; McNAUGHTON stole second.
McNAUGHTON advanced to third on a balk. WOLFE grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 7th - Choice, M. flied out to cf. Guest, S. grounded out to
3b. Beck, P. flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - CLUFF struck out swinging. AYOSO struck out swinging. BERNAL
grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UT Arlington 8th - SLOAN to p for MICHON. Comer, C. singled through the
left side. Nephew, B. grounded into double play ss to 1b; Comer, C. out on the
play. Payne, J. grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 9th - GUENTHER walked. GUENTHER advanced to second on a balk.
NIELSEN singled through the left side; GUENTHER advanced to third. HANCOCK
reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop, RBI; NIELSEN out at second ss to
2b; GUENTHER scored. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. HANCOCK advanced to
second. RELF grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Five straight days of baseball in Texas for BYU, with a 2-4 record, begins Tuesday evening at Baylor University (4-3).

After meeting the Bears, the Cougars have a contest at Texas A & M (5-2), followed by a three-game series at UT Arlington (2-4).

Shawn Hardesty (0-1, 16.88) gets the start on the mound for BYU against Baylor. Freshman lefty Mark Anderson starts for the Cougars at Texas A & M on Wednesday. Then BYU returns to its regular rotation at UT Arlington with righthanders Justin Shutt (0-1, 8.00), Matt Neil (1-0, 1.74) and Chunner Nyberg (0-1, 10.57).

“We are looking forward to playing quality programs,” said BYU Coach Vance Law. “These games will be a good measuring stick for our players.”

UT Arlington senior Jason Mitchell was named one of the national pitchers of the week for his 18-strikeout performance against Missouri State last Friday, a no-hitter for 8.2 innings.

For more information, please download the PDF at the top of this page.