GREELEY -- Apana Nakayama provided the offensive fireworks and James Platt pitched BYU to a victory over Northern Colorado, 6-2, Wednesday afternoon to ensure a 1-1 series split.

The victory improves BYU's record to 29-12-1 (14-4, Mountain West Conference) on the season. The 29 wins surpasses the Cougars' total of 28 from last season. The Bears drop to 16-27 with the loss.

The game started out like a home run derby. BYU's Nakayama hit a two-out solo homer in the top of the first. In the bottom of that inning, Matt Sutton and John Ray had solo shots to take an early 2-1 lead.

In the top of the third, the Cougars scored three runs to take the lead for good. Nakayama hit a RBI single. Nakayama scored when he was followed by a Jeff Hiestand two-run round-tripper. The homer extended Hiestand's hitting streak to 21 games.

Platt settled down for BYU and didn't give up another run. He scattered 10 hits over eight innings of work to earn the victory. Justin Su`a pitched a scoreless ninth for the Cougars. Platt got some defensive help in the fourth inning when UNC tried to score a base runner from third on a sacrifice fly. Adrian Molina caught the ball and threw out the Bears' base runner to end the threat.

BYU added runs in the top of the fourth and ninth innings. In the fourth, the Cougars manufactured a run when Ben Saylor led off the inning and was moved over to third and scored on a Molina sacrifice fly.

In the ninth frame, Molina got a one-out single and stole a base. Nakayama picked up another RBI with a single up the middle to score Molina. Nakayama finished the game going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

BYU travels to Colorado Springs to take on the Air Force Academy Thursday, Friday and Saturday; game times are 2, 2 and 1 p.m. (MDT), respectively. The three games will be carried live on KOVO radio 960 AM.

Brigham Young University 2005 Season
BYU at Northern Colorado
Apr 27, 2005 at Greeley, Colo. (Jackson Field)
BYU 6 (29-12-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  4  1  1  1   0  0  4  1   1
RELF, Brandon ss.........  5  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   2
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  2  3  3   1  0  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  1  2  2   1  0  6  1   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  5  0  0  0   0  2  0  3   3
SAYLOR, Ben lf...........  4  1  1  0   0  2  3  0   1
KNELL, Kory rf...........  1  0  0  0   2  0  2  0   0
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  8  0   1
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  3  1  0  0   0  2  3  3   0
PLATT, James p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 SU'A, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  6  8  6   4  6 27 10   8
Northern Colorado 2 (16-27)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Brockman cf..............  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  0   0
Sutton lf................  5  1  1  1   0  1  2  0   2
Delich 1b................  5  0  0  0   0  1  7  0   1
Ray c....................  3  1  1  1   1  0  7  0   0
Garr 3b..................  4  0  3  0   0  0  2  3   0
Chacon dh................  4  0  2  0   0  1  0  0   1
Gorman rf................  3  0  0  0   0  3  1  0   4
 Beaman ph...............  1  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
Troxell ss...............  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  4   2
Baker 2b.................  3  0  2  0   0  1  2  0   0
Pearson p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Lott p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  2 11  2   1  7 27  8  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 103 100 001 -  6  8  0
Northern Colorado... 200 000 000 -  2 11  0
-------------------------------------------
DP - BYU 2. LOB - BYU 8; No. Colorado 10. 2B - Chacon(7). HR - NAKAYAMA(7);
HIESTAND(7); Sutton(3); Ray(8). HBP - KNELL; LAW; Brockman; Baker. SH -
Brockman(4). SF - MOLINA(3). SB - MOLINA(3).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PLATT, James........  8.0 10  2  2  1  6 31 35
SU'A, Justin........  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
Northern Colorado      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Pearson.............  7.0  6  5  5  3  5 26 32
Lott................  2.0  2  1  1  1  1  8  9
Win - PLATT (3-1).  Loss - Pearson (5-2).  Save - None.
HBP - by Pearson (LAW); by Pearson (KNELL); by PLATT (Baker); by PLATT
(Brockman). BK - Lott(2).
Umpires - HP: Kirk Knowles  1B: Jeff Maxey  3B: Walt Neuser
Start: 2:01 pm   Time: 2:27   Attendance: 198
BYU at Northern Colorado - Play-by-Play
Apr 27, 2005 at Greeley, Colo. (Jackson Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 103 100 001 -  6  8  0
Northern Colorado... 200 000 000 -  2 11  0
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 1/cf MOLINA; 26/ss RELF; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR;
25/lf SAYLOR; 12/rf KNELL; 9/c CLOWARD; 6/2b LAW; 7/p PLATT;
Northern Colorado starters: 7/cf Brockman; 18/lf Sutton; 28/1b Delich; 17/c Ray;
35/3b Garr; 32/dh Chacon; 27/rf Gorman; 10/ss Troxell; 5/2b Baker; 26/p Pearson;
BYU 1st - MOLINA grounded out to 3b. RELF fouled out to c. NAKAYAMA homered
to left field, RBI. HIESTAND flied out to lf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northern Colorado 1st - Brockman flied out to rf. Sutton homered to left
center, RBI. Delich grounded out to 2b. Ray homered to left field, RBI. Garr singled
through the left side. Chacon singled up the middle; Garr advanced to second. Gorman
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - TAYLOR lined out to 3b. SAYLOR grounded out to ss. KNELL walked.
CLOWARD reached on a fielder's choice; KNELL out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 2nd - Troxell flied out to lf. Baker singled to center
field. Brockman flied out to cf. Sutton grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - LAW hit by pitch. MOLINA grounded out to 3b; LAW advanced to
second. RELF grounded out to p; LAW advanced to third. NAKAYAMA singled through the
right side, RBI; LAW scored. HIESTAND homered to left center, 2 RBI; NAKAYAMA
scored. TAYLOR struck out swinging. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northern Colorado 3rd - Delich out at first 1b to p. Ray walked. Garr singled
through the left side; Ray advanced to second. Chacon struck out swinging. Gorman
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - SAYLOR singled up the middle. KNELL hit by pitch; SAYLOR advanced
to second. CLOWARD singled to third base, bunt; KNELL advanced to second; SAYLOR
advanced to third. LAW struck out swinging. MOLINA flied out to lf, SF, RBI; SAYLOR
scored. RELF flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 4th - Troxell singled to left center. Baker hit by pitch;
Troxell advanced to second. Brockman grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Baker advanced
to second; Troxell advanced to third. Sutton flied into double play cf to c; Troxell
out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to 3b. HIESTAND singled to left center.
TAYLOR flied out to cf. SAYLOR struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Northern Colorado 5th - Delich struck out swinging. Ray flied out to cf. Garr
singled to third base. Chacon grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
BYU 6th - KNELL walked. CLOWARD flied out to cf. LAW struck out looking.
MOLINA popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 6th - Gorman struck out swinging. Troxell grounded out to
2b. Baker struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - RELF flied out to cf. NAKAYAMA walked. HIESTAND flied out to rf.
TAYLOR struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 7th - Brockman hit by pitch. Sutton flied out to rf. Delich
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Brockman out on the play. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - Lott to p for Pearson. SAYLOR struck out swinging. KNELL grounded
out to ss. CLOWARD grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northern Colorado 8th - Ray flied out to lf. Garr flied out to cf. Chacon
doubled to right field. Beaman pinch hit for Gorman. Beaman singled through the left
side; Chacon advanced to third. Troxell flied out to lf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 9th - Beaman to rf. LAW flied out to rf. MOLINA singled up the middle.
RELF popped up to 3b. MOLINA stole second. NAKAYAMA singled through the right side,
RBI; MOLINA scored. NAKAYAMA advanced to second on a balk. HIESTAND walked. TAYLOR
flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 9th - SU'A to p for PLATT. Baker singled to center field.
Brockman reached on a fielder's choice; Baker out at second 3b to 2b. Sutton struck
out looking. Delich popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

For the second consecutive week BYU's baseball team is on the road now that final exams are done.

This week the Cougars, 28-11-1 and 14-4 in the Mountain West Conference, are in Colorado. They play non-conference games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Greeley, Colo., before returning to league action at the Air Force Academy on Thursday.

Dave Horlacher (4-2, 3.84) is scheduled to start the three-game series in Thursday's 2 p.m., matchup. On Friday at 2 p.m., Brandon Christiansen (3-0, 4.58) is scheduled to take the hill. On Saturday, freshman Blake Torgerson (5-2, 5.77) will be on the mound for the game at 1 p.m.

The games at the University of Northern Colorado are the last non-league games outside Utah for the Cougars in the regular season. The Cougars are hopeful the next time they journey out of the Beehive State for non-league games will be in June's NCAA post-season tournament, but first they must take care of business to maintain a league-leading lead.

UNLV is now tied with BYU at 14-4 atop the MWC standings, so the three-game series at Air Force is important to the Cougars.

The Cougars are nursing some injuries, the latest of which is another thumb injury. This time it is Ryan Chambers, who jammed his thumb sliding into third base last week at Utah. Still out of the lineup is freshman Sean McNaughton, who didn't make the trip to Colorado because of his broken thumb.

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.