PROVO -- Defending champion No. 10 TCU took over sole possession of first place in the Mountain West Conference, defeating BYU 12-1 on Friday at Larry H. Miller Field.

TCU used the same formula that brought the Horned Frogs success in a 14-8 victory in game one of the three-game series, jumping head early while keeping the Cougar bats largely silent.

Kyle Winkler struck out six for TCU while giving up just one run to improve to 6-0 for the Frogs in front of a home season high of 1,237 fans.

“It’d be nice if they didn’t do one facet of the game well,” said BYU head coach Vance Law. “But they’re not only talented but they also play hard and with enthusiasm. Today we just had it handed to us by Winkler. The only one he missed was the one [Alex] Wolfe hit.”

Wolfe provided BYU’s only run on a home run in the fourth inning. The sophomore’s long ball to center is his sixth homer of the season.

TCU (26-7, 7-3) scored five runs in the first inning and two in the second on a slew of extra-base hits, including a home run by Matt Curry. A two-run homer by Bryan Holaday gave the Frogs a 7-0 lead after just two innings.

The Cougars stuck with TCU over the next six frames, giving up only two runs while adding Wolfe’s round-tripper. Shawn Hardesty came on in relief during that span, striking out two in attempt to give BYU’s offense a chance.

“Hardesty pitched very well for six innings,” Law said. “It kept us somewhat in the ball game, but when you give up five in the first, it’s a pretty big hurdle to overcome. We played hard but we were just beaten by a much better team tonight.”

The BYU defense did well, pulling off a variety of double plays by both the infield and the outfield. In the third inning, rightfielder Jonathan Cluff tracked down a fly ball in foul territory, then gunned down TCU’s Jerome Pena at home plate where BYU catcher Bryce Ayoso easily tagged Pena out.

Stepping in for an injured Sean McNaughton in left field, freshman Mark Anderson played in only his second game as a Cougar, looking comfortable with a sound effort in the outfield.

Bryan Bernal’s double and a single by Brandon Relf were the only two other hits from BYU (16-18, 4-7).

BYU and TCU will complete the series at Miller Park at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

#10 TCU Horned Frogs at BYU
Apr 16, 2010 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
TCU Horned Frogs 12 (26-7,7-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
RIVERA, Brance rf........  6  2  3  0   0  1  1  0   1
HOLADAY, Bryan c.........  5  2  4  3   0  0  6  0   0
 PHARR, Jimmie ph/c......  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   2
COATS, Jason lf..........  5  1  2  1   0  0  2  0   1
 JORDAN, Zac lf..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CURRY, Matt 1b...........  5  2  2  2   0  0 11  1   0
ELANDER, Josh dh.........  4  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
FEATHERSTON, Taylor ss...  4  1  1  0   1  2  0  4   1
PENA, Jerome 2b..........  4  2  2  1   1  0  3  4   0
SCHULTZ, Aaron cf........  3  0  1  2   1  1  1  0   0
 VonTUNGELN, Kyle ph/cf..  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
WITTE, Jantzen 3b........  5  0  2  2   0  1  0  3   3
WINKLER, Kyle p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 MILLER, Erik p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 43 12 19 11   3  6 27 13   8
BYU 1 (16-18,4-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  3   1
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  3  0  0  0   1  0  3  2   0
WOLFE, Alex 1b...........  3  1  1  1   1  1  7  0   0
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  4  0  0  0   0  2  5  3   1
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  3  0  0  0   1  2  2  1   1
HALL, Austin 3b..........  4  0  0  0   0  3  0  2   1
ANDERSON, Mark lf........  2  0  0  0   1  0  3  0   0
WELLS, Stephen cf........  2  0  0  0   1  0  6  0   2
NYBERG, Chunner p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HARDESTY, Shawn p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 PARRY, David p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  1  3  1   5  8 27 12   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
TCU Horned Frogs.... 520 001 103 - 12 19  1
BYU................. 000 100 000 -  1  3  3
-------------------------------------------
E - FEATHERSTON(8); NIELSEN(7); AYOSO(5); HARDESTY(1). DP - TCU 2; Cougars
3. LOB - TCU 8; Cougars 6. 2B - RIVERA(4); HOLADAY(11); ELANDER(12);
SCHULTZ(7); WITTE 2(4); RELF(9); BERNAL(6). 3B - COATS(2). HR - HOLADAY(4);
CURRY(8); WOLFE(7). HBP - ELANDER. SB - SCHULTZ(5). CS - PENA(2);
SCHULTZ(3).
TCU Horned Frogs       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
WINKLER, Kyle.......  8.0  3  1  1  4  6 26 30 125
MILLER, Erik........  1.0  0  0  0  1  2  3  4  18
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
NYBERG, Chunner.....  0.2  5  5  3  0  1  8  8  31
HARDESTY, Shawn.....  6.0 10  4  4  3  2 24 27 109
PARRY, David........  2.1  4  3  3  0  3 11 12  31
Win - WINKLER (6-0).  Loss - NYBERG (0-3).  Save - None.
WP - HARDESTY 3(4); PARRY(2). HBP - by PARRY (ELANDER). Inherited
runners/scored: HARDESTY 1/0; PARRY 2/0. Pitches/strikes: WINKLER 125/77; MILLER
18/9; NYBERG 31/22; HARDESTY 109/65; PARRY 31/23.
Umpires - HP: Bradley Hungerford  1B: Asa Howard  3B: Ray Belfiore
Start: 6:06 pm   Time: 2:48   Attendance: 1237
Weather: Partly cloudy, 72 degrees
TCU Horned Frogs 1st - RIVERA grounded out to ss (1-2). HOLADAY doubled
to left field (3-1). COATS tripled to right field, RBI (0-1); HOLADAY scored.
CURRY homered to right field, 2 RBI (0-0); COATS scored. ELANDER doubled to
right field (3-1). FEATHERSTON struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (1-2).
PENA reached on a fielding error by 2b (0-2); ELANDER advanced to third.
SCHULTZ doubled to left center, 2 RBI (1-1); PENA scored, unearned; ELANDER
scored, unearned. HARDESTY to p for NYBERG. WITTE flied out to cf (1-0). 5
runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 1st - RELF doubled to right center (3-2). NIELSEN grounded out to 3b
(0-1). WOLFE walked (3-2). AYOSO grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b
(2-2); WOLFE out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 2nd - RIVERA singled up the middle, advanced to second
on a throwing error by c (1-2). HOLADAY homered to left field, 2 RBI (1-1);
RIVERA scored. COATS singled to shortstop (1-2). CURRY grounded into double
play p to 2b to ss to 1b (0-2); COATS out on the play. ELANDER singled to right
field (1-0). FEATHERSTON struck out swinging (2-2). 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 error,
1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - BERNAL flied out to lf (1-0). CLUFF struck out looking (1-2).
HALL struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 3rd - PENA singled to left field (1-0). SCHULTZ flied
out to rf (1-2). WITTE doubled down the lf line (1-1); PENA advanced to third.
RIVERA fouled into double play rf to c (3-0); PENA out on the play. 0 runs,
2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - ANDERSON grounded out to p (2-2). WELLS grounded out to 3b
(1-2). RELF flied out to cf (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 4th - HOLADAY singled to third base (1-0). COATS
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b (3-1); HOLADAY out on the play. CURRY
flied out to lf (2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - NIELSEN popped up to 1b (0-1). WOLFE homered to left center,
RBI (0-1). AYOSO struck out swinging (1-2). BERNAL doubled down the rf line
(0-0). CLUFF struck out swinging (3-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 5th - ELANDER fouled out to 1b (0-1). FEATHERSTON
grounded out to 3b (0-1). PENA walked (3-0). PENA out at second c to 2b, caught
stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - HALL struck out swinging (2-2). ANDERSON grounded out to ss
(2-1). WELLS walked (3-2). RELF grounded out to 3b (2-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 6th - SCHULTZ walked (3-1). WITTE flied out to cf
(2-2). SCHULTZ out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. RIVERA doubled down the
rf line (3-2). HOLADAY singled to left field, advanced to second on the throw,
RBI (2-1); RIVERA scored. COATS flied out to cf (0-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - NIELSEN walked (3-2). WOLFE struck out looking (1-2). AYOSO
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b (1-1); NIELSEN out on the play. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 7th - CURRY singled to left field (0-0). CURRY advanced
to second on a wild pitch. ELANDER grounded out to 3b (2-2). FEATHERSTON walked
(3-2). PENA flied out to cf (1-1); CURRY advanced to third. CURRY scored on a
throwing error by p. FEATHERSTON advanced to second on a wild pitch. SCHULTZ
struck out swinging, reached first on a wild pitch (2-2); FEATHERSTON advanced
to third. PARRY to p for HARDESTY. SCHULTZ stole second. WITTE struck out
swinging (1-2). 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 7th - BERNAL flied out to lf (1-1). CLUFF flied out to rf (0-0).
HALL reached on a throwing error by ss, advanced to second (1-1). ANDERSON
walked (3-2). WELLS grounded out to 2b (1-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 8th - RIVERA struck out swinging (0-2). HOLADAY flied
out to cf (2-1). COATS flied out to lf (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 8th - RELF fouled out to 2b (3-2). NIELSEN grounded out to ss (0-1).
WOLFE out at first 1b to p (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU Horned Frogs 9th - CURRY flied out to lf (0-0). ELANDER hit by pitch
(1-1). ELANDER advanced to second on a wild pitch. FEATHERSTON singled up the
middle (1-0); ELANDER advanced to third. PENA singled to right field, RBI
(0-0); FEATHERSTON advanced to third; ELANDER scored. VonTUNGELN pinch hit for
SCHULTZ. VonTUNGELN struck out looking (0-2). WITTE doubled to right field, 2
RBI (1-0); PENA scored; FEATHERSTON scored. RIVERA singled up the middle (1-1);
WITTE advanced to third. PHARR pinch hit for HOLADAY. PHARR flied out to cf
(1-1). 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 9th - PHARR to c. JORDAN to lf for COATS. VonTUNGELN to cf. MILLER
to p for WINKLER. AYOSO struck out looking (2-2). BERNAL grounded out to 2b
(2-1). CLUFF walked (3-1). HALL struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.

Prior to hosting No. 11 TCU, BYU’s baseball team first hosts Kansas State in a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Cougars, now 14-16 overall and 4-5 in the Mountain West Conference, hosts KSU, 23-6, on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and again on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Wednesday’s game is free admission for BYU students with ID due to Reading Day for Final Exams.

The probable BYU pitcher for Tuesday is southpaw Mark Anderson (1-0, 5.85), who showed significant improvement last week when he threw 124 pitches against Washington State in a win at Provo. He will face righthander Kayvon Bahramzadeh (0-1, 5.52). The starters for Wednesday’s games are yet to be announced.

Following the series with the Wildcats, BYU returns to league action in a three-game series against TCU starting Thursday. All of the BYU-TCU games will be televised live nationally by BYUtv with Jarom Jordan and Gary Sheide.

The Cougars are in a logjam with TCU, UNLV, Utah and San Diego State who are separated by one game in the standings. The defending champion Horned Frogs, who started the week at 23-7 overall and 5-3 in the MWC, won two of the three games last month in Ft. Worth when they were ranked No. 4.

BYU is currently batting .321, up from last week’s .318 and .306 when it started league play last month in Provo, after being at .318 going into the first meeting with TCU.

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