ALBUQUERQUE -- A 10-run sixth inning Thursday afternoon highlighted by Doug Jackson's grand slam helped BYU to a 13-10 victory over New Mexico.

The Cougars, now 15-18-1 overall and 8-4 in the Mountain West Conference, were behind 8-1 until that big sixth inning.

"I have been trying to keep my bat flat and not get under pitches," said Jackson. "We didn't give up and got a good team effort today."

Jackson led off that inning with a double and the threat of his speed along with Cameron Coughlan, who had walked, led to a pair of balks. Then Dave Jensen belted a three-run homer.

BYU loaded the bases after Jensen's homer and Han Yi was hit by a pitch to bring in another run before Jackson's slam. Matt Carson, who batted twice in that inning, knocked BYU's third homer of that inning, a solo.

BYU picked up its first run in the third when Coughlan doubled in Jackson.

The Lobos, now 16-21 and 5-8, had a pair of four-run innings in the second and fifth innings off Cougar starter Jeff Mousser. While Mousser was on the bench after the fifth inning, his teammates picked up the pace which got him the win, improving his record to 6-2.

UNM got a lead-off solo homer from Anthony Lovato in the second when the Lobos hit for the cycle. Dusty Young also got a solo homer for UNM in the fifth, but Jackson made a leaping catch at the centerfield wall to put out Chris Alexander to give BYU some momentum. Another defensive gem was turned earlier in the day when Carson gunned down Matt Young as he tried to stretch a second-inning single to a double.

The Cougars had base-running troubles of their own, having five thrown out on the bases, two a home.

BYU came through when needed as Jason Garcia threw three great innings of relief, but struggled at the end as teammate James Ray came in for the save with two men on to end the game.

"It's nice to see us battle back as we didn't come out with a whole lot of intensity," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "DJ (Jackson) has really turned it on in conference play and given us that lead-.œ.0

Brigham Young at New Mexico
                 Apr 11, 2002 at Albuquerque, N.M. (Lobo Field)
Brigham Young 13 (15-18-1,8-4 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug cf.........  5  3  3  4   0  1  4  0   0
COUGHLAN, Cameron dh.....  4  1  1  1   1  2  0  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  4  3  3  2   0  0  1  1   1
JENSEN, Dave 1b..........  5  1  2  3   0  1 12  0   1
ITRI, Rob 2b.............  5  1  1  0   0  1  1  1   0
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  5  1  3  1   0  0  2  5   0
BILLS, Kevin 3b..........  3  1  0  0   1  1  0  3   0
 THURGOOD, Ryan 3b.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........  3  1  1  0   0  0  5  1   0
YI, Han lf...............  3  1  1  1   0  1  1  0   0
MOUSSER, Jeff p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 GARCIA, Jason p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37 13 15 12   2  7 27 13   2
New Mexico 10 (16-21,5-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Young, M. cf.............  5  0  2  0   0  1  3  1   1
Young, D. ss.............  5  1  1  1   0  1  2  2   0
Cairns 2b................  5  2  3  0   0  0  1  4   0
Alexander, C 1b..........  5  1  1  0   0  1  7  0   1
Lovato dh................  4  2  2  2   1  2  0  0   0
Stroud lf................  5  2  2  2   0  0  1  0   0
Mader 3b.................  5  1  3  2   0  0  3  2   0
Salas rf.................  4  1  2  1   0  0  1  1   2
Tajima c.................  3  0  0  0   0  1  8  3   3
Vermilyea p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McCready p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 41 10 16  8   1  6 27 13   7
Score by Innings                       R  H  E
----------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 001 00(10) 002 - 13 15  2
New Mexico.......... 040 040    002 - 10 16  1
----------------------------------------------
E - BILLS 2; Stroud. DP - BYU 1. LOB - BYU 2; UNM 7. 2B - JACKSON; COUGHLAN;
CARSON M.; WIENS; Stroud; Mader; Salas. 3B - Stroud. HR - JACKSON(3); CARSON
M.(6); JENSEN(7); Young, D.(2); Lovato(5). HBP - CARSON M.; BIRKELAND; YI;
Salas. SH - Tajima. SB - Mader; Salas. CS - WIENS; BIRKELAND; YI.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MOUSSER, Jeff.......  5.0 10  8  7  1  4 24 27
GARCIA, Jason.......  3.2  6  2  2  0  2 16 16
RAY, James..........  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Vermilyea...........  6.0 10 11 11  2  4 27 31
McCready............  3.0  5  2  2  0  3 10 11
Win - MOUSSER (6-2).  Loss - Vermilyea (5-6).  Save - RAY (3).
HBP - by Vermilyea (CARSON M.); by MOUSSER (Salas); by Vermilyea (YI); by
McCready (BIRKELAND). BK - Vermilyea 2. PB - BIRKELAND.
Umpires - HP: Jim Paronto  1B: Bill Boyd  3B: Rick Castorena
Start: 2:58 pm   Time: 2:41   Attendance: 276

Both New Mexico and BYU have occupied first place in the Mountain West Conference baseball and now the two teams meet in a three-game series starting Thursday at Albuquerque.

The Cougars, now 14-18-1 overall and 7-4 in the league, started out the season in first place tied with UNM. Then the Lobos, now 16-20 and 5-7, briefly were in first by themselves. Both teams are coming off non conference victories on Tuesday.

Jeff Mousser (5-2, 2.68), who was named MWC Pitcher of the Week and sports the lowest earned run average in the league, is scheduled to start Thursday's 3 p.m. game. On the hill for Friday afternoon's game will be Scott Koffman (2-2, 5.54). Saturday's probable starter is Paul Jacinto (2 1,7.71) as that contest starts at 1 p.m.

The Cougars are hopeful of a return of All-American outfielder Matt Carson. Carson missed the two non-league games with Southern Utah earlier this week to check out an injured left hand. Regardless, the Cougar outfield will need to be retooled as freshman centerfielder Ryan Chambers is out with a hamstring injured in the SUU series.

That could mean Doug Jackson returning to centerfield and Cameron Coughlan moving back to left field. With Coughlan out of the infield, Rob Itri may move back to second base or remain at third as Coach Vance Law weighs his options.

The BYU-UNM games will be broadcast live over KOVO Radio (960 AM), but none of the games are available this week on the Internet.