ALBUQUERQUE -- Jason Fernandez went the distance for the second time this season as New Mexico defeated BYU 9-3 on Thursday at Isotopes Park.

Although the Cougars knocked out 10 hits off Fernandez (3-3), including four doubles, they were only able to score three runs off the junior transfer.

"He just pounded the strike zone on us and kept us guessing," said BYU head coach Vance Law. "When a guy is able to throw more than one pitch for a strike, it makes it real difficult for any hitter."

Fernandez struck out five in the game for his third victory of the season while only walking one. A double play with one out in the sixth after back-to-back singles by Rob Itri and Jeff Hiestand helped end one of BYU's scoring threats and preserve the win for New Mexico.

"I think he spotted the ball well," Ryan Chambers said. "He kept the ball down a lot. For the most part, we hit the ball well, but he changes speed a lot. Things didn't fall for us today."

Hiestand led the Cougars with a perfect night, belting two doubles in a 4-for-4 performance. Hiestand finished with two RBI and a run scored. He gave BYU a 2-1 lead in the fourth, knocking in Itri with a double.

The Cougars' 2-1 lead didn't last past the fifth inning as the Lobos scored three runs off BYU starter Patrick Wells (4-3). Having loading the bases with no outs, the southpaw looked like he would get out of the inning with minimal damage after a run-scoring double play. But Ryan Barba hit a two-run home run, his third of the year, giving New Mexico a 4-2 advantage.

After pitching a complete-game victory over Utah last week, Wells struggled to get ahead of the batters. A three-run shot by Salas sealed the Lobos' victory in the seventh, knocking Wells out of the game. The junior transfer allowed eight runs off 10 hits while only striking out one.

"He wasn't as sharp today," Law said. "I know he will bounce back. You can always count on Pat competing. He continues to battle even if he doesn't have his stuff. I admire that in any pitcher."

Salas led New Mexico with a 2-for-4 performance, knocking in four runs with a double and a home run as the Lobos improved to 8-16-1 and 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The Cougars fell to 13-20 and 3-4 in the MWC.

The Cougars and Lobos battle it out again on Friday at 6 p.m. in game two of the three-game series. The match-up can be listened to live on KOVO 960 AM and live stats are available through the baseball schedule page at www.byucougars.com.

BYU at New Mexico
Apr 01, 2004 at Albuquerque, N.M. (Isotopes Park)
BYU 3 (13-20,3-4 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
VEST, Wade 2b............  4  1  0  0   0  1  2  3   0
ITRI, Rob dh.............  4  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff lf........  4  1  4  2   0  0  0  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
TAYLOR, Brandon ss.......  4  0  2  0   0  1  3  5   0
WIENS, Ranger 3b.........  3  0  0  1   1  1  0  2   1
LAW, Tim 1b..............  4  0  0  0   0  0 11  1   2
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  3  0  0  0   0  2  4  1   1
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  4   0
 LEMON, Nick p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  3 10  3   1  5 24 16   5
New Mexico 9 (8-16-1,4-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
YOUNG cf.................  5  1  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
BARBA 2b.................  5  1  1  2   0  1  0  2   2
MADER ss.................  3  1  0  0   1  0  6  4   0
SALAS dh.................  4  1  2  3   0  1  0  0   0
MURRAY lf................  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  2   0
STOVALL 1b...............  4  0  1  0   0  1  8  1   1
SPITALERI c..............  3  1  1  0   1  0  5  0   2
DABBS rf.................  1  3  1  0   2  0  2  0   0
 HAYMORE ph..............  1  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
FOOTE 3b.................  2  0  1  0   1  0  1  3   0
FERNANDEZ p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 32  9 11  7   5  4 27 14   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 010 100 010 -  3 10  1
New Mexico.......... 001 030 41X -  9 11  0
-------------------------------------------
E - LAW. DP - BYU 1; New Mexico 1. LOB - BYU 5; New Mexico 5. 2B - ITRI;
HIESTAND 2; TAYLOR; YOUNG(5); SALAS(6). HR - BARBA(3); SALAS(3). SH -
FOOTE(1). SB - YOUNG(7); MURRAY(1).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  6.2 10  8  8  3  1 27 31
LEMON, Nick.........  1.1  1  1  1  2  3  5  7
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FERNANDEZ...........  9.0 10  3  3  1  5 34 35
Win - FERNANDEZ (3-3).  Loss - WELLS (4-3).  Save - None.
WP - LEMON.
Umpires - HP: Dan Weikle  1B: Ted Bergquist  3B: Ron McCall
Start: 6:04 pm   Time: 2:14   Attendance: 794
Game notes:  Game 1 of 3
Play-by-Play
BYU starters: 22/cf CHAMBERS; 5/2b VEST; 21/dh ITRI; 16/lf HIESTAND; 25/rf
   SAYLOR; 3/ss TAYLOR; 8/3b WIENS; 1/1b LAW; 9/c CLOWARD; 4/p WELLS;
New Mexico starters: 5/cf YOUNG; 6/2b BARBA; 4/ss MADER; 10/dh SALAS; 17/lf
   MURRAY; 34/1b STOVALL; 9/c SPITALERI; 29/rf DABBS; 12/3b FOOTE; 28/p
   FERNANDEZ;
BYU - inning 1
   CHAMBERS flied out to cf. VEST grounded out to 3b. ITRI flied out to lf.
   0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 1
   YOUNG grounded out to 2b. BARBA grounded out to 3b. MADER flied out to
   cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 2
   HIESTAND singled up the middle. SAYLOR flied out to rf. TAYLOR doubled
   down the lf line; HIESTAND advanced to third. WIENS grounded out to 2b,
   RBI; TAYLOR advanced to third; HIESTAND scored. LAW grounded out to 3b. 1
   run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 2
   SALAS struck out swinging. MURRAY grounded out to ss. STOVALL singled to
   second base. SPITALERI reached on a fielder's choice; STOVALL out at
   second 2b to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 3
   CLOWARD popped up to ss. CHAMBERS lined out to ss. VEST grounded out to
   ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 3
   DABBS walked. FOOTE out at first 1b to p; DABBS advanced to second. YOUNG
   doubled down the lf line, RBI; DABBS scored. YOUNG out at second p to 2b,
   picked off. BARBA grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 4
   ITRI doubled down the lf line. HIESTAND doubled down the lf line, RBI;
   ITRI scored. SAYLOR flied out to cf; HIESTAND advanced to third. TAYLOR
   struck out swinging. WIENS grounded out to p. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
   LOB.
New Mexico - inning 4
   MADER grounded out to ss. SALAS doubled to left center. MURRAY grounded
   out to ss. STOVALL grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 5
   LAW flied out to lf. CLOWARD struck out swinging. CHAMBERS grounded out
   to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 5
   SPITALERI singled to center field. DABBS singled through the right side;
   SPITALERI advanced to third. FOOTE singled, bunt; DABBS advanced to
   second. YOUNG grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; FOOTE out on the
   play; DABBS advanced to third; SPITALERI scored. BARBA homered to left
   field, 2 RBI; DABBS scored. MADER flied out to cf. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0
   errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 6
   VEST struck out looking. ITRI singled to second base. HIESTAND singled to
   left field; ITRI advanced to second. SAYLOR grounded into double play 2b
   to ss to 1b; HIESTAND out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 6
   SALAS popped up to ss. MURRAY singled to center field. STOVALL flied out
   to cf. MURRAY stole second. SPITALERI grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
   errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 7
   TAYLOR singled, out at second lf to 1b to ss. WIENS walked. LAW grounded
   out to 3b; WIENS advanced to second. CLOWARD struck out swinging. 0 runs,
   1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 7
   DABBS walked. FOOTE grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; DABBS advanced to
   second. YOUNG singled, bunt; DABBS advanced to third. YOUNG stole second;
   DABBS scored on a throwing error by 1b. BARBA fouled out to c. MADER
   intentionally walked. SALAS homered to right field, 3 RBI; MADER scored;
   YOUNG scored. LEMON to p for WELLS. MURRAY struck out looking. 4 runs, 2
   hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 8
   CHAMBERS singled to right field. VEST reached on a fielder's choice;
   CHAMBERS out at second p to ss. ITRI flied out to rf. HIESTAND doubled,
   out at third lf to ss to 3b, RBI; VEST scored. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
   LOB.
New Mexico - inning 8
   STOVALL struck out looking. SPITALERI walked. HAYMORE pinch hit for
   DABBS. HAYMORE reached on a fielder's choice; SPITALERI out at second ss
   to 2b. HAYMORE advanced to second on a wild pitch. FOOTE walked. YOUNG
   singled up the middle, RBI; FOOTE advanced to second; HAYMORE scored.
   BARBA struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 erro
BYU - inning 9
   MURRAY to rf. HAYMORE to lf. SAYLOR singled to left field. TAYLOR lined
   out to rf. WIENS struck out swinging. LAW lined out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit,
   0 errors, 1 LOB.

After playing a game's worth of extra innings last week, BYU's baseball team continues its road travels with a three-game series at New Mexico.

The Cougars, 13-19 overall and 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference, start the series on Thursday at 6 p.m., against New Mexico, who began the week with a 6-16-1 overall mark and also 3-3 in the league. With both teams tied for third place, the series is pivotal.

"We need to maintain our momentum going into New Mexico and keep our ground with UNLV coming up next week," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "Last week was important for us to get back on track and win close ball games. We learned a lot about ourselves against Utah."

BYU won a 17-inning marathon against Utah in a rain-delayed contest, the longest in school and conference history. That win was preserved by "the catch," made by a diving Ben Saylor in right field with two-out and the bases loaded.

The Cougars followed that victory with another one-run defeat of Utah in 10 innings to complete a three-game sweep. Utah's lone league victory came in its second game at New Mexico.

New Mexico, who hosted rival New Mexico State on Tuesday, won its middle game against second-place San Diego State last week in Albuquerque.

Lefty Patrick Wells (4-2, 4.76) follows up on his complete-game victory last week by starting the series Thursday at Isotopes Park. Friday's BYU starter at 6 p.m., is Paul Jacinto (0-6, 6.32), who last won a year ago in Albuquerque against the Lobos. Sophomore Justin Su`a (2-1, 4.41) will pitch the noon game on Saturday.

All of the games will be broadcast live locally over KOVO Radio (960 AM). All of the games will be available on the Internet through livestats and live audio via links on www.byucougars.com.www.byucougars.com.

The Cougars do not play a home game again until April 15 versus SDSU.