PROVO -- Troy Cairns deep single to right field in the eighth inning Thursday broke a five-all deadlock and gave New Mexico the lead in its 7-5 victory over BYU.

That tie was the third in the game as Chris Cooper of New Mexico and Jeff Stone of BYU each threw over 110 pitches before relievers took over. Cairns' single drove in Donny Sevieri, who avoided the tag off the throw from Matt Carson.

Conference champion New Mexico scored a second run in the eighth when Stone fielded Jared Kitamura's hit and threw home. But umpire Kevin Newby ruled Dusty Young safe on the tag and Stone was replaced in the game.

Earlier BYU tied the score at one-all when Matt Carson hit a solo homer in the second. Nick Day's high solo homer in the sixth tied the score at three-all. The Cougars again tied the score at five-all in the seventh when Ty Haguewood doubled in Michael Davies, then scored off a wild pitch from releiver Joe Abell.

The Lobos stopped Cougar hopes in the third when Casey Cloward was caught stealing, when they turned a double play to end the fourth inning, in the sixth when Carson was caught stealing, and in the ninth with two aboard when Abell got Aaron Whitley to fly out to end the game.

UNM took the initial lead when leadoff batter Aaron Stanley scored off Jake Little's sac-fly in the first inning after Stone loaded the bases. Stanley scored again in the fifth when Scott Candelaria's single was fielded by Nick Day who overthrew the cutoff. Candelaria's seventh-inning double to right center scored Kitamora to break the three-all deadlock.

BYU, now 26-26 overall and 14-14, hosts UNM, now 33-18 and 21-7, again on Friday at 2 p.m. and on Saturday at noon when it will officially break ground in pre-game ceremonies for a new baseball/softball complex.

UNM   100   020   220--7 9 0
BYU    010   011   200--5 12 1
Cooper, Abell (7) and Little.  Stone, Crump (8) and Cloward.  WP-Abell, 2 1.  LP-Stone, 9-5.  2B-UNM, Sisk, Candelaria; BYU, Davies, Haguewood 2.  HR-BYU Carson (7), Day (5).  A-215

Conference champion New Mexico is BYU's final opponent of the regular season as the Cougars host them in a three-game series starting Thursday.

The third-place Cougars, 26-25 overall and 14-13 in the Mountain West Conference, host the Lobos, 32-18 and 20-7.

The probable pitching rotation is Jeff Stone (9-4, 6.21)on Thursday at 2 p.m., and Micah Mangrum (7-7, 4.70) on Friday at 2 p.m. The Cougar hurler for Saturday's noon game is pending, but ground-breaking for BYU's new softball/baseball complex precedes the first pitch.

"If we make a good showing against New Mexico it will help our confidence going into the conference tournament," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "I like the way we've been playing defense for the most part and I'm pleased with a couple of our relievers. I don't want our guys to ever quit. I think we've been competing. "

Leading the Cougar charge is freshman Matt Carson who returned to the team batting lead after raising his average from . 376 to .393. Carson is battling UNM sophomore Donny Sevieri for the lead in batting average (.449 to .414) and slugging (.745 to .721).

"Matt has played beyond my expectations," said Law. "I knew he was good, but I didn't know he would be playing to this level."

Lefty Stone is making a bid to become the third Cougar in school history to post a pair of double-figure victories in a season, behind Scott Nielsen and Peter Kendrick. Combined with his 11-1 record before his mission, Stone currently is tied for the ninth-best record in career wins at 20-5.

The Cougars continue to be among the nation's leaders with a .335 team batting average, while the Lobos are batting .334. BYU and UNM are also among the top two in the league in runs scored, doubles, total bases, hits and RBI.

Michael Davies is the new hitting streak leader for BYU with nine consecutive games.

Admission is $3 for students/faculty/staff, $5 for general general public, $10 for a family pass, or with Cougar Cards or BYU All Sport Cards.

Next week the Cougars play on Wednesday (May 17) in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Two other factors have been finalized thus far for that tourney in Las Vegas--UNM is the number one seed and host UNLV will play in the evening game regardless of its final seeding.