SAN JOSE -- A strikeout in the ninth inning gave San Jose State a 4-3 come from behind win over BYU on Thursday.

The Cougars (2-10) were unable to hold a 3-0 seventh inning lead over the Spartans (4-3-1). After the Spartans tied the game in the seventh inning, the score remained tied at three going into the bottom of the ninth inning. San Jose State's David Pierson walked to lead off the inning, stole second and then reached third on a throwing error by BYU. Brandon Fromm then struck out, but the ball went passed the catcher, allowing Pierson to score the winning run.

Matt Durkin, a 2004 Baseball America Third-team Preseason All-American, started the game for the Spartans. Ranked No. 18 among college juniors by Baseball America, Durkin (2-0) picked up his second win, throwing a complete game three hitter.

Nick Lemon (0-1) picked up his first loss of the season in relief of starter Patrick Wells (1-2) who received a no-decision.

Ben Saylor gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the fourth inning. The long ball is Saylor's first of the year. The sophomore UVSC transfer who came to BYU after serving a Church mission has now hit safely in 11 of BYU's first 12 games.

The Cougars scored two more runs in the seventh inning, giving them a 3-0 lead. Rob Itri hit an RBI double, and Kory Knell had an RBI single in the inning. The RBI is Itri's 100th BYU career RBI.

After going the first six innings with only two hits, San Jose State tied the game in the seventh. Led by a RBI triple from Travis Becktel, the Spartans scored three runs off Wells.

The same two teams will battle it out again in game two of the three-game series on Friday at 6 p.m. (PST) Game three will be on Saturday at 1 p.m. (PST). None of the games are available for live stats or web casts.

BYU at SJSU
Feb 19, 2004 at San Jose, CA (Municipal Stadium)
BYU 3 (2-10)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WIENS, Ranger dh.........  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   0
 HIESTAND, Jeff ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
TAYLOR, Brandon ss.......  3  1  0  0   1  3  1  7   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
ITRI, Rob 3b.............  3  1  1  1   0  0  1  2   0
KNELL, Kory lf...........  3  0  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  2  0  0  0   1  1  3  0   0
LAW, Tim 1b..............  3  0  0  0   0  0 11  2   0
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  2   0
VEST, Wade 2b............  3  0  0  0   0  1  3  1   0
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 LEMON, Nick p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 28  3  3  3   2 11 24 16   0
SJSU 4 (4-3-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Frandsen 2b..............  4  0  1  0   0  0  2  2   0
Contreras ss.............  4  1  1  0   0  1  1  3   0
Becktel rf...............  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
Anderson dh..............  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   2
Sales lf.................  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Pierson 2b..............  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
Fromm 1b.................  4  0  2  0   0  1 10  1   0
Martinez 3b..............  3  0  1  1   0  0  1  2   1
Bautista c...............  3  0  0  0   0  1 11  1   1
Jolliff cf...............  3  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
 Ponza cf................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Durkin p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Totals................... 31  4  8  3   1  6 27 11   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 100 200 -  3  3  1
SJSU................ 000 000 301 -  4  8  0
-------------------------------------------
Note: None out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - CLOWARD(2). DP - SJSU 1. LOB - SJSU 5. 2B - ITRI(2). 3B - Becktel(3). HR
- SAYLOR(1). SH - Sales(1). SB - TAYLOR(2); Frandsen(1); Contreras(2);
Pierson(1). CS - KNELL(2); Fromm(1).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  7.1  8  3  3  0  3 28 29
LEMON, Nick.........  0.2  0  1  0  1  3  3  4
SJSU                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Durkin..............  9.0  3  3  3  2 11 28 30
Win - Durkin (2-1).  Loss - LEMON (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - LEMON(1).
Umpires - HP: Moore  1B: Payne  3B: Navarro
Start: 6:02   Time: 2:11   Attendance: 658
Play-by-Play 
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 100 200 -  3  3  1
SJSU................ 000 000 301 -  4  8  0
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 8/dh WIENS; 3/ss TAYLOR; 25/rf SAYLOR; 21/3b ITRI; 12/lf
   KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 1/1b LAW; 9/c CLOWARD; 5/2b VEST; 4/p WELLS;
SJSU starters: 3/2b Frandsen; 4/ss Contreras; 16/rf Becktel; 26/dh Anderson;
   36/lf Sales; 42/1b Fromm; 8/3b Martinez; 10/c Bautista; 29/cf Jolliff;
   20/p Durkin;
BYU - inning 1
   WIENS struck out looking. TAYLOR struck out swinging. SAYLOR struck out
   swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 1
   Frandsen flied out to cf. Contreras struck out swinging. Becktel flied
   out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 2
   ITRI grounded out to 3b. KNELL struck out looking. CHAMBERS fouled out to
   3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 2
   Anderson grounded out to ss. Sales flied out to ss. Fromm singled to
   center field. Martinez reached on a fielder's choice; Fromm out at second
   ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 3
   LAW lined out to ss. CLOWARD flied out to 1b. VEST grounded out to ss. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 3
   Bautista grounded out to ss. Jolliff struck out swinging, out at first c
   to 1b. Frandsen grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 4
   WIENS struck out looking. TAYLOR struck out swinging. SAYLOR homered,
   RBI. ITRI grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 4
   Contreras out at first 1b to p. Becktel flied out to cf. Anderson
   grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 5
   KNELL grounded out to p. CHAMBERS walked. LAW grounded into double play
   ss to 2b to 1b; CHAMBERS out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
   LOB.
SJSU - inning 5
   Sales grounded out to p. Fromm singled to right field. Fromm out at
   second c to 2b, caught stealing. Martinez grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1
   hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 6
   CLOWARD grounded out to 2b. VEST grounded out to p. WIENS struck out
   looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 6
   Bautista grounded out to ss. Jolliff grounded out to 3b. Frandsen
   grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 7
   TAYLOR walked. SAYLOR flied out to cf. TAYLOR stole second. ITRI doubled,
   RBI; TAYLOR scored. KNELL singled to right field, RBI; ITRI scored. KNELL
   out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. CHAMBERS struck out. 2 runs, 2
   hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 7
   Contreras singled to left field. Becktel tripled to right center, RBI;
   Contreras scored. Anderson singled to left field, RBI; Becktel scored.
   Sales out at first 3b to 2b, SAC; Anderson advanced to second. Fromm
   grounded out to 2b; Anderson advanced to third. Martinez singled to right
   field, RBI; Anderson scored. Bautista struck out swinging. 3 runs, 4
   hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 8
   LAW grounded out to ss. CLOWARD fouled out to 1b. VEST struck out
   swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 8
   Jolliff singled to left field. Frandsen singled to third base; Jolliff
   advanced to second. Contreras reached on a fielder's choice; Frandsen
   advanced to second; Jolliff out at third 1b to 3b. LEMON to p for WELLS.
   Contreras stole second; Frandsen stole third. Becktel struck out
   swinging. Anderson struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU - inning 9
   HIESTAND pinch hit for WIENS. HIESTAND struck out swinging. Frandsen to
   lf. Pierson to 2b for Sales. Ponza to cf for Jolliff. TAYLOR struck out
   swinging. SAYLOR out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
SJSU - inning 9
   Pierson walked. Pierson stole second. Pierson advanced to third on an
   error by c. Fromm struck out, reached first on a wild pitch; Pierson
   scored on a wild pitch, unearned. 1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Looking to end a three-game skid, BYU begins a three-game series at San Jose State University on Thursday.

The Cougars (2-9) return to California for the third time after being swept by UC Riverside last week. Head coach Vance Law said he's surprised by the slow start but isn't worried. In 2002, BYU began the season 2-10, but it ended up winning the conference tournament and making a strong appearance in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Los Angeles.

"We have the personalities who are capable of doing well," Law said. "We've played teams that if we played the way we can play, we should've won."

Probable pitching starters for the San Jose series are Patrick Wells (1-2, 5.59) on Thursday, Paul Jacinto (0-4, 7.33) on Friday and Justin Su'a (1-1, 5.73) on Saturday. Game times are 6 p.m. (PST) on Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. (PST) on Saturday.

Su'a earned the Cougars' lone win last week in a relief appearance against Santa Clara. He then started his first collegiate game on Feb. 13, taking a 4-2 loss to UC Riverside.

Three Cougars currently have a batting average over .300. Rob Itri leads the pack with his .316 average. Ben Saylor had a 10-game hitting streak snapped in the final game against Riverside last Saturday. The longest current hitting streak now belongs to Jeff Hiestand who is at five games.

Hiestand and Brandon Taylor both made impressive offensive strides last week. Hiestand increased his batting average from .143 to .300. In games against Santa Clara and UC Riverside, Hiestand went 5-for-13 with three RBI.

Riding his offensive showcase in an 11-10 win over Santa Clara last week, Taylor had a .682 slugging percentage for the week. The sophomore's two-homer game on Feb. 10 doubled his 2001 freshman total at UVSC in 52 games.

San Jose State started its season 3-3-1. The Spartans are coming off a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara where they one two of three. The Cougars are 6-7 all-time against their former Western Athletic Conference opponent. BYU last played San Jose in a three-game series at Provo in 1999 where the Cougars won two out of three.

None of the games in the series are available for live stats or web casts.