PROVO -- Mike Albers held BYU to four hits Friday to lead New Mexico to an 8-3 victory.

Albers, a lefty from Gilbert, Ariz., threw 128 pitches in a complete nine inning game to improve his record to 9-3. The senior got great support from teammates Aaron Sisk and Scott Candelaria.

Sisk hit a pair of two-run homers in the first and sixth innings to improve his tally to 23, which ranks third-best in the nation. Candelaria hit a two-run homer in the second.

Two of the four hits surrendered by Albers were to BYU freshman Matt Carson. Carson hit a two-fence, two-run homer in the second to bring in Michael Davies who had singled. Davies' single kept his hitting streak alive at 11 games.

Carson scored in the seventh after a double to right centerfield. The only other hit was a double in the sixth inning by Ty Haguewood.

"He kept us off-balance and pitched most of our guys backwards," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "He did a good job of pitching."

The Cougars got six strikeouts from their starting pitcher Micah Mangrum in just over five innings, including his first strikeout of the game with the bases loaded to end the first inning. In beginning of the fifth inning Mangrum got out of a jam with a critical 5-4-3 doubleplay.

New Mexico turned in some defensive gems as well in the outfield with plays like a diving ice-cream-cone catch by Mark Okano in the fourth to deny Carson getting on base in every frame.

"They made several nice, diving plays that took away our momentum," said Law. "They are one of the finest executing teams I've coached against."

The Lobos, now 34-18 overall and 22-7 atop the Mountain West Conference, play a final game on Saturday following a noon groundbreaking ceremony for the new Larry and Gail Miller Softball/Baseball Complex.

The Cougars, now below .500 for the first time since early March, are 26 27 overall and 14-15 in the league going into the final game on Cougar Field. BYU has tallied a record of 502-123-2 (.802) since playing on the current Cougar Field when it opened in 1969.

The Automated ScoreBook
                       New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ.
                   May 12, 2000 at Provo, Utah (Cougar Field)
New Mexico 8 (34-18,22-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
STANLEY, Aaron lf........  6  2  2  0   0  0  2  0   4
CANDELARIA, Scott ss.....  3  2  2  2   1  1  2  1   0
SISK, Aaron 3b...........  5  2  4  4   0  0  2  0   0
DENNIS, Dee 1b...........  5  1  2  0   0  1  3  1   0
LITTLE, Jake dh..........  5  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   2
SEVIERI, Donny rf........  4  1  3  1   0  1  7  0   0
OKANO, Mark cf...........  4  0  2  0   0  0  2  0   1
CAIRNS, Troy 2b..........  5  0  2  1   0  2  2  0   3
TAJIMA, Scott c..........  4  0  0  0   1  0  6  0   1
ALBERS, Mike p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 41  8 17  8   2  6 27  3  11
Brigham Young Univ. 3 (26-27,14-15 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, DJ cf...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 GREENE, Nick cf.........  0  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b.........  4  0  1  0   0  3 13  1   0
DAY, Nick lf.............  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   2
DAVIES, Michael c........  4  1  1  0   0  0  6  1   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  3  2  2  2   1  0  1  0   0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  3   0
KING, Seth ss............  4  0  0  1   0  1  1  3   1
ROCK, David dh...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
PERRY, Tyler 2b..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  5   0
MANGRUM, Micah p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 REX, Matt p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 31  3  4  3   3  6 27 16   4
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico.......... 220 003 001 -  8 17  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 000 100 -  3  4  3
-------------------------------------------
E - CAIRNS; DAY; OBREY; REX. DP - Cougars 2. LOB - Lobos 11; Cougars 4. 2B -
SISK; DENNIS; SEVIERI; HAGUEWOOD; CARSON. HR - CANDELARIA(8); SISK 2(23);
CARSON(8). HBP - SEVIERI; OKANO. SH - CANDELARIA. SB - SISK; OKANO.
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ALBERS, Mike........  9.0  4  3  3  3  6 31 34
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MANGRUM, Micah......  5.1 12  7  6  2  6 26 31
REX, Matt...........  3.2  5  1  1  0  0 15 15
Win - ALBERS (9-3).  Loss - MANGRUM (7-8).  Save - None.
HB - MANGRUM 2.
Umpires - Home:John Cortez  1st:R. Franceschiello  3rd:Kevin Newby
Start: 2:03   Time: 2:17   Attendance: 257
Game notes:
Game two of three in Provo