SAN DIEGO -- A slim BYU lead vanished in the nine-run fourth as San Diego State’s baseball team ignited Thursday night for an eventual 14-6 victory.

The Aztecs, now 18-32 overall and 8-11 in the Mountain West Conference, took the initial lead on a balk in the second inning.

Then Jaycob Brugman golfed a curve for a two-run, two-out homer in the fourth to give BYU a brief 2-1 lead. Brugman’s homer scored Dane Nielsen who picked up the Cougars’s first hit of the game just prior to the dinger.

They exploded on us and with two outs we just didn’t make a play that would stop the bleeding,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “It was one of those games that boils down to the one inning that we needed to minimize. I was proud of the way we battled back. “

Brugman drove in the first of BYU’s two runs in the fifth to close the deficit to 10-4.

BYU, now 25-23 and 7-10, plays game two of the series on Friday night in San Diego.

Brigham Young Univ. at San Diego State
May 12, 2011 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)
Brigham Young Univ. 6 (25-23,7-10 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  0  0  0   1  1  3  0   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  1  2  1   1  2  0  1   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  5  1  2  3   0  1  4  0   0
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  0  2  1   1  0  0  0   0
WOLFE, Alex c............  4  0  0  0   1  1  8  0   4
HALL, Austin 1b..........  3  1  0  0   2  2  5  2   3
CALDWELL, Kelton lf......  3  0  0  0   1  1  1  0   2
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  3  1  0  0   1  1  1  0   0
LAW, Andrew ss...........  3  2  2  0   1  1  1  2   0
CAPPER, Chris p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 POULSON, Desmond p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PARRY, David p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SHUTT, Justin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MILLER, Jared p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  6  8  5   9 10 24  6   9
San Diego State 14 (18-32,8-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SMITH, Cody cf...........  6  2  2  1   0  3  1  0   1
COLWELL, Pat 3b..........  5  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   1
MEREDITH, Brandon rf.....  3  1  1  0   2  2  4  0   0
TORRES, Jomel 1b.........  4  2  2  3   1  1  6  0   1
WILSON, Chris c..........  4  1  1  0   0  0 10  0   2
VASKO, Ben dh............  4  3  2  3   0  1  0  0   1
ZIER, Tim 2b.............  5  3  3  1   0  0  1  2   0
BRYANT, Dillon lf........  3  1  2  1   2  0  3  0   0
POTTER, Evan ss..........  5  1  2  2   0  0  2  1   2
BLACK, Corey p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WYNVEEN, Ryan p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RASMUSSEN, Craig p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 WALBY, Philip p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HAYNAL, Austin p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39 14 15 11   5  8 27  6   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 221 001 -  6  8  2
San Diego State..... 010 922 00X - 14 15  1
-------------------------------------------
E - WOLFE; LAW; WYNVEEN. LOB - BYU 9; SDSU 8. 2B - BERNAL; VASKO; POTTER. HR
- BRUGMAN(5); TORRES(3). HBP - WILSON; VASKO. SB - SMITH 2; VASKO; ZIER;
BRYANT; POTTER.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CAPPER, Chris.......  3.2  7  7  7  4  3 18 22
POULSON, Desmond....  0.0  2  3  2  1  0  2  4
PARRY, David........  1.1  4  4  4  0  1  8  9
SHUTT, Justin.......  2.0  1  0  0  0  3  7  7
MILLER, Jared.......  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
San Diego State        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BLACK, Corey........  4.0  2  3  3  3  7 14 17
WYNVEEN, Ryan.......  1.0  2  2  2  3  0  5  8
RASMUSSEN, Craig....  3.0  3  0  0  0  3 10 10
WALBY, Philip.......  0.1  1  1  1  3  0  2  5
HAYNAL, Austin......  0.2  0  0  0  0  0  2  2
Win - RASMUSSEN (2-4).  Loss - CAPPER (3-4).  Save - None.
WP - RASMUSSEN. HBP - by POULSON (WILSON); by PARRY (VASKO). BK - CAPPER; PARRY
2.
Umpires - HP: Ray Belfiore  1B: Tom Chandler  3B: John Deluca
Start: 6:06 pm   Time: 3:20   Attendance: 448
Weather: Clear, mild
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 16/2b NIELSEN; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 10/dh
BERNAL; 18/c WOLFE; 26/1b HALL; 12/lf CALDWELL; 3/3b ROBINSON; 6/ss LAW; 15/p
CAPPER;
San Diego State starters: 32/cf SMITH; 10/3b COLWELL; 0/rf MEREDITH; 8/1b
TORRES; 5/c WILSON; 22/dh VASKO; 12/2b ZIER; 18/lf BRYANT; 14/ss POTTER; 3/p
BLACK;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS flied out to rf. NIELSEN struck out
looking. BRUGMAN struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 1st - SMITH struck out looking. COLWELL out at first 1b
to p. MEREDITH walked. TORRES flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - BERNAL flied out to lf. WOLFE struck out
looking. HALL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - WILSON fouled out to 3b. VASKO struck out
swinging. ZIER singled to center field. BRYANT singled to right field; ZIER
advanced to third. BRYANT advanced to second on a balk; ZIER scored on a balk.
POTTER grounded out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - CALDWELL struck out looking. ROBINSON struck
out swinging. LAW struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - SMITH struck out swinging. COLWELL flied out to
rf. MEREDITH singled to right center. TORRES walked; MEREDITH advanced to
second. WILSON flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - WELLS flied out to rf. NIELSEN singled to left
center. BRUGMAN homered to right field, 2 RBI; NIELSEN scored. BERNAL grounded
out to 2b. WOLFE walked. HALL walked; WOLFE advanced to second. CALDWELL flied
out to rf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 4th - VASKO singled to right field. ZIER flied out to
lf. VASKO stole second. BRYANT walked. POTTER singled down the rf line, RBI;
BRYANT advanced to third; VASKO scored. SMITH singled to pitcher, bunt, RBI;
POTTER advanced to second; BRYANT scored. SMITH stole second; POTTER stole
third. COLWELL grounded out to ss. MEREDITH walked. TORRES singled to
shortstop, RBI, advanced to second on a throwing error by ss; MEREDITH advanced
to third; SMITH scored; POTTER scored. POULSON to p for CAPPER. WILSON hit by
pitch. VASKO doubled to left center, 3 RBI; WILSON scored; TORRES scored;
MEREDITH scored. ZIER singled up the middle, RBI; VASKO scored. BRYANT walked;
ZIER advanced to second. PARRY to p for POULSON. BRYANT stole second, advanced
to third on an error by c; ZIER stole third, scored, unearned. POTTER grounded
out to p. 9 runs, 6 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - ROBINSON walked. WYNVEEN to p for BLACK. LAW
singled to pitcher, advanced to second on a throwing error by p; ROBINSON
advanced to third. WELLS grounded out to 1b unassisted. NIELSEN walked. BRUGMAN
reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; NIELSEN out at second ss to 2b; LAW
advanced to third; ROBINSON scored. BERNAL singled up the middle, RBI; BRUGMAN
advanced to third; LAW scored. WOLFE grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1
error, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - SMITH singled up the middle. COLWELL fouled out to
1b. SMITH stole second. MEREDITH struck out looking. SMITH advanced to third on
a balk. TORRES homered to right field, 2 RBI; SMITH scored. WILSON flied out to
rf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HALL walked. CALDWELL walked; HALL advanced to
second. RASMUSSEN to p for WYNVEEN. ROBINSON flied out to cf; HALL advanced to
third. CALDWELL out at first p to 1b, picked off. HALL scored on a wild pitch.
LAW singled to right field. LAW out at first p to 1b, picked off. 1 run, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 6th - VASKO hit by pitch. ZIER singled to center field;
VASKO advanced to second. ZIER advanced to second on a balk; VASKO advanced to
third on a balk. BRYANT singled to left field, RBI; ZIER advanced to third;
VASKO scored. SHUTT to p for PARRY. POTTER reached on a fielder's choice, RBI;
BRYANT out at second 1b to ss; ZIER scored. SMITH flied out to cf. COLWELL
struck out looking. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WELLS struck out swinging. NIELSEN struck out
swinging. BRUGMAN singled to right field. BERNAL doubled to right field;
BRUGMAN advanced to third. WOLFE grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - MEREDITH struck out swinging. TORRES struck out
swinging. WILSON singled to left field. VASKO flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - HALL struck out swinging. CALDWELL flied out
to rf. ROBINSON flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 8th - MILLER to p for SHUTT. ZIER flied out to cf.
BRYANT grounded out to 2b. POTTER doubled down the lf line. SMITH struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - WALBY to p for RASMUSSEN. LAW walked. WELLS
walked; LAW advanced to second. NIELSEN singled to left field, RBI; WELLS
advanced to second; LAW scored. BRUGMAN flied out to lf. BERNAL walked; NIELSEN
advanced to second; WELLS advanced to third. HAYNAL,A. to p for WALBY. WOLFE
popped up to ss. HALL lined out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

A three-game series starting Thursday at San Diego State marks the first time this month for BYU’s baseball team to play a league game.

The Cougars, now 25-23 and 7-9 in the Mountain West Conference, return to league play after seven-consecutive non-MWC games produced a record of 5-2, including an upset at No. 6 Arizona State.

BYU closed out its home season with a record of 11-6 and now readies for seven straight road games to close out the regular season before they return to San Diego for the MWC Tournament the end of May.

SDSU, now 17-32 and 7-11, will face three Cougar right-handers as starters on the mound this weekend. Sophomores Chris Capper (3-3, 3.77) and Taylor Cole (4-4, 3.45) will start Thursday and Friday’s games at 6 p.m. PT, respectively. On Saturday BYU will start Matthew Neil (4-4, 2.22) in the game at 1 p.m. PT.

“Being at home and having the win at Arizona State really pumped us up,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “Our players started to believe what us coaches have been telling them all year long.”

The BYU-SDSU series will be broadcast live locally on Radio 960 AM, 1280 AM and 104.7 FM as well as on the Internet through BYU Radio.

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