New Cougar Field
University Parkway Provo UT 84602
PROVO -- Just when BYU was hoping to extinguish a UNLV bases-loaded rally Thursday, Brad Beasley hit a grand slam to give the Rebels a 12-6 victory.
The UNLV catcher hit the third pitch over the left field wall with one out in the ninth inning after BYU had intentionally walked Adam Manley, hoping to force a double play. Beasley's homer wasn't the only slam of the day.
BYU freshman Matt Carson brought the Cougars back in the game with a first-pitch, no-out grand slam in the sixth inning to close the game to 7 5. The Cougars received their initial run off a lead-off solo homer by Kainoa Obrey in the fifth inning.
UNLV got a three-run homer in the first inning off Jeff Stone by Trent Kitsch in the battle of the southpaws. Kitsch, the reigning Mountain West Conference player of the week, belted his second homer of the game again over right field, and has homered in the past four UNLV games.
The Rebels, the hottest team in the league right now with a four-game win-streak, got out of the MWC cellar now with a 4-10 league record and an 11-25 overall mark. BYU remains in second place with a 10-6 conference record and stands 22-18 overall.
"It was one of those kind of days," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We got off ot a rocky start because Stone got started late and wasn't entirely warmed up. The balls that went out of here were legitimate, there weren't any cheap ones today."
The Cougars host UNLV at 2 p.m. on Friday and on Saturday at noon.
The Automated ScoreBookUNLV Rebels at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 13, 2000 at Provo, Utah (Cougar Field)
UNLV Rebels 12 (11-25,4-10 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
OKUDA, Cody 2b........... 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 5 1
CRUZ, John cf............ 5 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
KITSCH, Trent 1b......... 5 4 4 4 0 0 17 0 0
KAUP, Nate dh............ 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
MANLEY, Adam rf.......... 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
BEASLEY, Brad c.......... 4 2 2 5 0 1 6 0 1
MALOFF, Brad ss.......... 5 2 2 1 0 1 1 8 1
SEYBERT, Denny lf........ 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
STRONG, Zach 3b.......... 4 0 2 1 1 0 0 3 1
OLSON, Ryan p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
ANDERSON, Luke p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
McCULLOCH, Andy p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 41 12 16 12 2 3 27 18 6
Brigham Young Univ. 6 (22-18,10-6 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
COUGHLAN, Cameron dh..... 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
WHITLEY, Aaron ph....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
JACKSON, DJ cf........... 4 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 0
DAY, Nick lf............. 5 1 0 0 0 1 3 0 0
DAVIES, Michael c........ 5 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 1
CARSON, Matt rf.......... 5 2 2 4 0 1 4 0 2
OBREY, Kainoa 3b......... 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 5 0
WIRRICK, Michael 1b...... 2 0 0 0 2 1 11 2 0
KING, Seth ss............ 4 0 2 1 0 0 2 2 0
MATHIS, Nate 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1
STONE, Jeff p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
REX, Matt p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FERNLEY, Nate p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 38 6 10 6 3 5 27 12 8
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
UNLV Rebels......... 301 102 104 - 12 16 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 014 010 - 6 10 4
-------------------------------------------
E - MALOFF; KING; MATHIS 2; STONE. LOB - UNLV 6; BYU Cougars 8. 2B - MANLEY;
BEASLEY; MALOFF; JACKSON; CARSON. HR - KITSCH 2(9); BEASLEY(2); CARSON(5);
OBREY(7). SH - SEYBERT. SF - BEASLEY. SB - DAY; MATHIS. CS - OKUDA.
UNLV Rebels IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
OLSON, Ryan......... 7.0 7 5 4 2 4 29 31
ANDERSON, Luke...... 0.1 1 1 1 1 1 2 3
McCULLOCH, Andy..... 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 7 7
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
STONE, Jeff......... 5.2 11 7 7 1 1 26 28
REX, Matt........... 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 4 4
FERNLEY, Nate....... 2.2 3 4 4 1 2 11 13
Win - OLSON (3-1). Loss - STONE (7-4). Save - McCULLOCH (2).
WP - OLSON; McCULLOCH. BK - REX.
Umpires - Home:Dale Luker 1st:Ray Belfiore 3rd:Mike Andrews
Start: 2:01 Time: 2:26 Attendance: 517
Game notes:
Game one of three in Provo
Half of the league baseball season is complete, so now BYU plays host to UNLV in a three-game series starting this Thursday.
The Cougars, 22-17 overall and 10-5 in the Mountain West Conference, remain in second place. UNLV, 10-25 and 3-10, just won its first three games in league play with a sweep over San Diego State.
The probable BYU pitching rotation will be Jeff Stone (7-3, 5.29) in Thursday's 2 p.m. game; Micah Mangrum (5-5, 4.24) in Friday's 2 p.m. game; and James Ray (3-2, 4.88) in Saturday's game at noon.
"I've always thought UNLV was a decent team," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We played them in a couple of games that could have gone either way.
"Our bats are coming around now and our pitching has done a nice job for us, but we need to improve our concentration later in games. With some strong teams now making the trip to our ballpark, we have a chance to improve."
The BYU batting average soared to a season-high .334 following the 20-2 opening victory at New Mexico, but tapered to .331 after losing the next two to the Lobos.
BYU's Matt Carson had a 19-game hitting streak stopped in that final loss at UNM. The current BYU hitting streak leader is Cameron Coughlan at six games, followed by Kainoa Obrey and Shane Belliston each with four-game streaks.
Leading the Cougar batters for the first time this season is All-America candidate Nick Day at .398. Day is second on the team with 45 hits even though he has missed eight games, while Carson leads with 48 hits.
Junior shortstop Seth King and sophomore first baseman Michael Wirrick could be back in the lineup this week following lengthy delays because of wrist injuries.
