PROVO -- Brandon Taylor homered twice and tallied four RBI as BYU took its second straight game against the Air Force Academy 10-4 Friday at Larry H. Miller Field.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third, the Cougars--now 19-7-1 (7-1, Mountain West Conference)--scored two in each of the next five innings and the Falcons (5-19, 0-5) couldn't keep up.

After torching Air Force for 25 runs on Thursday, BYU faced a tough right-hander in Paul Pratt. The Falcons got their lead on a RBI single off of Matt Ghigna's bat that scored Troy Jeffers who had a two-out double. The Cougars responded in their side of the third frame when Kory Knell led off the inning with a double and came around to score on an Adrian Molina bunt single and AFA throwing error. Molina was balked home from third to give BYU a 2-1 lead.

Air Force responded in the fourth, tying the game 2-2. In the Cougars side of the fourth inning, they took the lead for good. BYU head coach Vance Law said Taylor's hit was the turning point in the game.

"In my opinion they had their best pitcher going tonight," Law said. "But, fortunately for us, he hung Brandon [Taylor] a pitch and Brandon hit it."

Taylor hit it a long ways, carrying it well over the scoreboard in left field somewhere near 420 feet in Law's estimate. Taylor wasn't done. In the seventh, he came to bat with one aboard and two outs in the inning and hit another towering blast off the top of the scoreboard.

"I made a small adjustment before the game today," Taylor said. "I do better when I just react to the pitch and not anticipate it."

Apana Nakayama and Jeff Hiestand extended their team-leading hitting streaks in the game to 12 games. Sean McNaughton has now hit safely in 11 straight. Molina also had a good night going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs.

BYU will go for its second straight sweep of a conference opponent tomorrow night in the series finale. Game time is 8 p.m. at Larry H. Miller Field. The game will be carried live on radio KOVO 960 AM. Fans can also hear the game live on the Internet at www.byucougars.com.

Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 01, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force Academy 4 (5-19,0-5 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JEFFERS, Troy cf.........  5  1  1  1   0  1  3  0   0
GHIGNA, Matt 1b..........  4  0  2  1   0  0  9  0   0
DeROHAN, Nathan ss.......  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  1   2
 TITTLE, Brent ph/rf.....  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
 FERRERIA, Austin ss/3b..  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
BOLT, Karl dh............  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
PARAMORE, Price 3b.......  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  1   0
KASEL, Dale rf...........  2  0  0  0   1  1  1  0   0
SALAZAR, Geno 2b.........  4  0  1  1   0  0  1  3   2
POLSTON, Jon c...........  4  1  1  0   0  2  5  2   1
LAMSON, Reid lf..........  4  1  1  1   0  2  3  0   0
PRATT, Paul p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DePIERRE, Kyle p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 35  4  7  4   1 12 24  9   6
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (19-7-1,7-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  5  0  1  0   0  2  1  1   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  1  1  1   0  0  0  1   1
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  3  1  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
 SLOAN, Kevin lf.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  1  2  1   0  1  8  1   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  2  2  4   0  1  0  1   2
CHAMBERS, Ryan lf/p......  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
KNELL, Kory rf...........  4  2  1  0   0  1  3  0   1
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  4  3  3  0   0  1  2  0   0
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  4  0  1  2   0  0 12  0   0
CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon p...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARRETT, Joshua p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 37 10 13  8   1  7 27  4   4
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 001 100 200 -  4  7  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 002 222 20X - 10 13  2
-------------------------------------------
E - GHIGNA; PARAMORE; HIESTAND; CHAMBERS. LOB - AFA Falcons 6; BYU Cougars
4. 2B - JEFFERS; POLSTON; McNAUGHTON; KNELL; CLOWARD. HR - TAYLOR 2(9). HBP
- BOLT. SB - JEFFERS. CS - TAYLOR.
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PRATT, Paul.........  4.2  8  6  6  0  3 22 22
DePIERRE, Kyle......  3.1  5  4  4  1  4 15 16
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon  6.0  4  2  1  1  8 23 25
BARRETT, Joshua.....  2.0  3  2  2  0  2  9  9
CHAMBERS, Ryan......  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  3  3
Win - CHRISTIANSEN (3-0).  Loss - PRATT (2-6).  Save - None.
WP - DePIERRE 2; BARRETT. HBP - by CHRISTIANSEN (BOLT). BK - PRATT;
CHRISTIANSEN.
Umpires - HP: Jason Rogers  1B: Blyden Loutensock  3B: Mik Hendrickson
Start: 7:03 pm   Time: 2:48   Attendance: 1862
Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Apr 01, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 001 100 200 -  4  7  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 002 222 20X - 10 13  2
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy starters: 12/cf JEFFERS; 19/1b GHIGNA; 8/ss DeROHAN; 13/dh BOLT;
10/3b PARAMORE; 18/rf KASEL; 2/2b SALAZAR; 14/c POLSTON; 1/lf LAMSON; 5/p PRATT;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 22/lf CHAMBERS; 12/rf KNELL; 1/cf MOLINA; 9/c CLOWARD;
31/p CHRISTIANSEN;
Air Force Academy 1st - JEFFERS struck out swinging. GHIGNA grounded out to
ss. DeROHAN struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON flied out to lf. VILLEZCAS flied out to
lf. NAKAYAMA grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - BOLT grounded out to 1b unassisted. PARAMORE singled
up the middle. KASEL struck out looking. SALAZAR grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - HIESTAND struck out swinging. TAYLOR reached on a
throwing error by 3b. TAYLOR out at second c to ss, caught stealing. CHAMBERS struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - POLSTON struck out swinging. LAMSON grounded out to
1b unassisted. JEFFERS doubled to left center. GHIGNA singled to right field,
advanced to second on the throw, RBI; JEFFERS scored, unearned. DeROHAN struck out
swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - KNELL doubled to right center. MOLINA singled,
bunt, advanced to second on a throwing error by 1b; KNELL scored. CLOWARD grounded
out to 3b. McNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b; MOLINA advanced to third. MOLINA scored on
a balk. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 1b unassisted. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 0
LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - BOLT hit by pitch. BOLT advanced to second on a balk.
PARAMORE struck out swinging. KASEL grounded out to 1b unassisted; BOLT advanced to
third. SALAZAR singled to pitcher, RBI; BOLT scored. POLSTON flied out to cf. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b. HIESTAND singled to
left field. TAYLOR homered to left field, 2 RBI; HIESTAND scored. CHAMBERS flied out
to lf. KNELL flied out to rf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - LAMSON struck out swinging. JEFFERS reached on a
fielding error by 1b. JEFFERS stole second. GHIGNA flied out to cf. DeROHAN grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MOLINA singled to left center. CLOWARD grounded out
to 2b; MOLINA advanced to second. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS singled
to center field, RBI; MOLINA scored. NAKAYAMA singled to right field; VILLEZCAS
advanced to third. HIESTAND singled to pitcher, RBI; NAKAYAMA advanced to second;
VILLEZCAS scored. DePIERRE to p for PRATT. HIESTAND advanced to second; NAKAYAMA
advanced to third on a wild pitch. TAYLOR struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b.
2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - BOLT flied out to rf. PARAMORE struck out swinging.
KASEL walked. SALAZAR grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - CHAMBERS grounded out to 1b unassisted. KNELL
struck out swinging, reached first on a wild pitch. MOLINA singled to left center,
advanced to second on the throw; KNELL advanced to third. CLOWARD doubled down the
rf line, 2 RBI; MOLINA scored; KNELL scored. CLOWARD out at second p to 2b, picked
off. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - BARRETT to p for CHRISTIANSEN. POLSTON doubled down
the rf line. LAMSON singled to left field, advanced to second on a fielding error by
lf, advanced to third, RBI; POLSTON scored. JEFFERS out at first 1b to p, RBI;
LAMSON scored. GHIGNA singled to right field. TITTLE pinch hit for DeROHAN. GHIGNA
advanced to second on a wild pitch. TITTLE struck out swinging. BOLT struck out
swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - FERRERIA to ss for DeROHAN. PARAMORE to 3b for
FERRERIA. FERRERIA to 3b for PARAMORE. TITTLE to rf for KASEL. VILLEZCAS flied out
to cf. NAKAYAMA walked. HIESTAND flied out to cf. TAYLOR homered to left field, 2
RBI; NAKAYAMA scored. CHAMBERS singled to center field. KNELL grounded out to 3b.
2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - PARAMORE to 3b for FERRERIA. PARAMORE flied out to
rf. TITTLE popped up to 2b. SALAZAR grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - MOLINA struck out looking. CLOWARD flied out to cf.
McNAUGHTON doubled to center field. VILLEZCAS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 9th - SLOAN to lf for NAKAYAMA. CHAMBERS to p. /  for
BARRETT. POLSTON struck out looking. LAMSON struck out swinging. JEFFERS flied out
to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Baseball games Monday and Tuesday at Oregon State will be a showdown for BYU as it travels to Corvallis, Ore.

The Cougars, 17-5-1 overall and tied for first place with UNLV at 5-1 in the Mountain West Conference, have a pair of games against Oregon State, 19-4.

This is the second-best start for BYU in school history. BYU was 18-5 in 1980, 17-6 in 1983 (the year we were ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA Regionals), 15-6 in 1969, 15-6-2 in 1986 and 16-7 in 1972.

BYU has won its last six games in a row, 15 of its past 17 games, and had an eight-game win streak earlier in the season. OSU has won 10 of its last 12 games.

"This will give us a good indicator where we stand," said BYU Coach Vance Law, whose team has victories over nationally ranked UC Irvine, Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts thus far.

OSU is the highest-ranked team BYU has played to date. The Beavers are No. 14 in the NCBWA Poll, No. 18 in Baseball America, No. 23 in Sports Weekly/ESPN and No. 28 in Collegiate Baseball. BYU has not received votes in any of these national polls this season, but the Cougars are currently rated No. 14 by Boyd's World, a power-ranking system which has OSU at No. 2.

The Beavers open their Pac-10 Conference season this weekend when they host the University of California, starting on Friday. OSU moved up last Saturday's finale of a three-game series in Corvallis against Dallas Baptist to a Friday doubleheader which the Beavers swept.

The Cougars probable starters for the OSU games are juniors Matt Jensen (4-0, 5.03) and Mitch Woolf (1-0, 4.30), respectively for Monday's game at 5 p.m. (PST) and Tuesday's 1 p.m. (PST) tilt. Mainline starters David Horlacher (1-1), Brandon Christiansen (2-0) and Blake Torgerson (2-1) will not make the trip to Oregon in order to be rested for their usual weekend rotation as BYU prepares to host Air Force, 4-16 and 0-3, on Thursday.

Fans can follow the BYU-OSU games live on the Internet through live webcasts (free) and live audiocasts (fee-based) on links found on www.byucougars.com.

Both BYU and OSU swept the only common opponent between the two this season, New Mexico State. OSU won a pair of games against NMSU at a tournament in Arizona to start the season, while BYU swept the Aggies in a three-game series three weeks ago at Las Cruces.

OSU leads the series with BYU, 8-6 in a series that started in 1971. The Beavers won the last meeting in 1995 at a tournament in Spokane, Wash., 19-3. BYU won the previous meeting in 1991 at the Riverside Baseball Invitational in California, 5-1. The two teams have played one game away from tournament action in 1972, which BYU won, 5-2.

A multi-page release can be found by downloading the PDF file at the top of this story, which gives a detailed analysis of the Cougars.