SAN DIEGO -- Lance Beus pitched BYU to a 4-3 victory over San Diego State in a Thursday night pitchers dual.

Beus struck out nine, while only giving up two earned runs in 7 2/3 innings of work. The win is the fourth straight for the Cougars who improve their record to 37-16-1 and 21-8 in Mountain West Conference play. BYU remains a half-game behind UNLV, which beat Utah 10-4. The Aztecs fell to 22-33 and 16-13.

The game appeared as though it would be a pitchers' dual as neither team managed to get a hit through the first two innings. In fact, SDSU pitcher Bruce Billings struck out the first five batters he faced.

In the top of the third the Cougars drew first blood scoring one run on two hits in the inning. Kory Knell scored on a throwing error by the Aztecs' Sam Pepper on a double play attempt.

Pitching once again settled in. Beus didn't allow a legitimate scoring threat until the bottom of the fifth when San Diego State got runners on first and third with only one out in the inning. Beus got SDSU's James Guerrero to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and the threat.

BYU head coach Vance Law said that Beus is showing a quick comeback from shoulder surgery.

"He [Beus] pitched great for us tonight," Law said. "I had shoulder surgery at almost the same time as he did and I still have a hard time even throwing the ball."

The Cougars added three runs in the top of the sixth frame to open a 4-0 lead. Jeff Hiestand led off the inning with a triple. Adrian Molina pinch ran for Hiestand and scored when Brandon Taylor hit a RBI double. Taylor scored on a RBI single by Ben Saylor who later scored on a fielder's choice.

The Aztecs got their first run of the game. They scored on an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth inning. The run came on a RBI bloop single by Tim O'Brien.

Beus cruised through the seventh then got two outs in the eighth before the Aztecs loaded the bases in the ninth without allowing a hit. Justin Su`a came in relief for Beus and gave up a two-run single by Jordan Swaydan. Su`a struck out pinch hitter Joseph Scaperotta to end the SDSU threat in the eighth.

Su`a pitched a perfect ninth against the top of San Diego State's batting order to earn his third save on the season.

BYU will go for the series sweep in Friday's regular-season finale. The game is slated for 2 p.m. (PDT) start. Fans can tune in to KOVO radio 960 AM for play-by-play coverage.

Brigham Young Univ. at San Diego State
May 19, 2005 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn)
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (37-16-1,21-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  5  0  1  0   0  1  4  3   1
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  0  2  0   0  1  0  4   2
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  3  0  0  0   2  2  0  0   2
HIESTAND, Jeff rf........  3  0  2  0   0  1  1  0   0
 MOLINA, Adrian pr/cf....  2  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  3  1  1  1   2  1  0  2   0
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  3  1  1  1   1  0 10  0   2
KNELL, Kory lf...........  1  1  1  0   2  0  0  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf/rf.....  3  0  1  1   1  1  2  0   2
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  0  0  0   0  1 10  1   0
 CLOWARD, Casey c........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
BEUS, Lance p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 SU'A, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  4  9  3   8  9 27 12  10
San Diego State 3 (22-33,16-13 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BERRY, Quintin cf........  5  0  1  0   0  2  1  0   0
GUERRERO, James ss.......  4  0  0  0   1  1  3  3   3
MCLINTOCK, Jake rf.......  3  1  1  0   1  0  2  0   0
UNGRICHT, Brock dh.......  3  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
ZAWADZKI, Lance 3b.......  4  0  0  0   0  3  1  2   0
O'BRIEN, Tim 1b..........  2  1  1  1   2  1  6  1   0
MENDOZA, Curt lf.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   3
 PERRY, Kasey pr.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PERRY, Kevin 2b.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
SWAYDAN, Jordan c........  4  0  3  2   0  1  9  3   0
PEPPER, Sam 2b...........  2  0  1  0   0  0  3  2   0
 SCAPEROTTA, Joseph ph/lf  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   2
BILLINGS, Bruce p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 COON, Ben p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SUWYN, Jared p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 31  3  7  3   5 10 27 12   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 001 003 000 -  4  9  1
San Diego State..... 000 001 020 -  3  7  2
-------------------------------------------
E - CHAMBERS; MCLINTOCK; PEPPER. DP - BYU Cougars 1; SDS Aztecs 2. LOB - BYU
Cougars 10; SDS Aztecs 9. 2B - TAYLOR. 3B - HIESTAND. HBP - KNELL;
MCLINTOCK; MENDOZA. SH - NELSON; PEPPER. SB - McNAUGHTON. CS - GUERRERO.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BEUS, Lance.........  7.2  6  3  0  5  9 26 34   -
SU'A, Justin........  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  5  5   -
San Diego State        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BILLINGS, Bruce.....  6.0  7  4  3  4  7 23 28   -
COON, Ben...........  1.0  2  0  0  3  0  4  7   -
SUWYN, Jared........  2.0  0  0  0  1  2  4  6   -
Win - BEUS (2-1).  Loss - BILLINGS (5-5).  Save - SU'A (3).
WP - BEUS 2. HBP - by BEUS (MCLINTOCK); by BILLINGS (KNELL); by BEUS (MENDOZA).
Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Phil Gonzales  1B: Dan Weikle  3B: Bruce Bayne
Start:   Time:   Attendance:
COON faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Brigham Young Univ. at San Diego State - Play-by-Play
May 19, 2005 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 001 003 000 -  4  9  1
San Diego State..... 000 001 020 -  3  7  2
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/rf HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 25/1b SAYLOR; 12/lf KNELL; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 8/c NELSON;
14/p BEUS;
San Diego State starters: 23/cf BERRY; 1/ss GUERRERO; 15/rf MCLINTOCK; 25/dh
UNGRICHT; 5/3b ZAWADZKI; 20/1b O'BRIEN; 24/lf MENDOZA; 12/c SWAYDAN; 3/2b PEPPER;
22/p BILLINGS;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS struck
out swinging. NAKAYAMA struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 1st - BERRY struck out looking. GUERRERO walked. GUERRERO out
at second c to 2b, caught stealing. MCLINTOCK walked. UNGRICHT grounded out to ss.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - HIESTAND struck out swinging. TAYLOR struck out
swinging. SAYLOR popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - ZAWADZKI struck out swinging. O'BRIEN struck out
looking. MENDOZA grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - KNELL walked. CHAMBERS singled to center field;
KNELL advanced to second. NELSON struck out looking. McNAUGHTON reached on a
fielder's choice; CHAMBERS out at second 3b to 2b; KNELL advanced to third, scored
on an error by 2b, scored on the throw. VILLEZCAS singled to right field; McNAUGHTON
advanced to second. NAKAYAMA out at first 1b to p. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - SWAYDAN struck out looking. PEPPER singled to first
base. BERRY struck out swinging. PEPPER advanced to second on a wild pitch. GUERRERO
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HIESTAND singled up the middle. TAYLOR grounded
into double play ss to 2b to 1b; HIESTAND out on the play. SAYLOR walked. KNELL
walked; SAYLOR advanced to second. CHAMBERS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 4th - MCLINTOCK hit by pitch. UNGRICHT flied out to rf.
ZAWADZKI struck out swinging. O'BRIEN walked; MCLINTOCK advanced to second. MENDOZA
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NELSON flied out to lf. McNAUGHTON singled to right
field. VILLEZCAS flied out to rf. McNAUGHTON stole second. NAKAYAMA walked.
McNAUGHTON out at second c to ss, picked off. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - SWAYDAN singled to right field. PEPPER grounded out to
p, SAC, bunt; SWAYDAN advanced to second. BERRY singled to second base; SWAYDAN
advanced to third. GUERRERO grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; BERRY out on
the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HIESTAND tripled to left center. MOLINA pinch ran
for HIESTAND. TAYLOR doubled to shortstop, RBI; MOLINA scored. SAYLOR singled to
right field, advanced to second on the throw, advanced to third on an error by rf,
RBI; TAYLOR scored. KNELL hit by pitch. CHAMBERS reached on a fielder's choice, RBI;
KNELL out at second ss to 2b; SAYLOR scored, unearned. NELSON flied out to rf.
McNAUGHTON flied out to cf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 6th - MOLINA to cf. CHAMBERS to rf. MCLINTOCK singled through
the right side. UNGRICHT flied out to rf; MCLINTOCK advanced to second on a throwing
error by rf. ZAWADZKI grounded out to 2b; MCLINTOCK advanced to third. O'BRIEN
singled to right center, RBI; MCLINTOCK scored, unearned. MENDOZA struck out
swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - COON to p for BILLINGS. VILLEZCAS singled to left
field. NAKAYAMA walked; VILLEZCAS advanced to second. MOLINA grounded into double
play c to ss to 1b; NAKAYAMA out on the play. TAYLOR intentionally walked. SAYLOR
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - SWAYDAN singled up the middle. PEPPER flied out to rf.
BERRY reached on a fielder's choice; SWAYDAN out at second 3b to 2b. GUERRERO
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - KNELL singled to left field. CHAMBERS walked; KNELL
advanced to second. SUWYN to p for COON. NELSON grounded out to p, SAC, bunt;
CHAMBERS advanced to second; KNELL advanced to third. McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b.
VILLEZCAS grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 8th - MCLINTOCK grounded out to 2b. UNGRICHT walked. ZAWADZKI
struck out swinging. UNGRICHT advanced to second on a wild pitch. O'BRIEN walked.
MENDOZA hit by pitch; O'BRIEN advanced to second; UNGRICHT advanced to third. SU'A
to p for BEUS. SWAYDAN singled to center field, 2 RBI; MENDOZA advanced to second;
O'BRIEN scored, unearned; UNGRICHT scored, unearned. PERRY,KAS pinch ran for
MENDOZA. SCAPEROTTA pinch hit for PEPPER. SCAPEROTTA struck out swinging. 2 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - PERRY,KEV to 2b for PERRY,KAS. SCAPEROTTA to lf.
NAKAYAMA struck out looking. MOLINA struck out swinging. TAYLOR walked. TAYLOR out
at second c to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 9th - CLOWARD to c for NELSON. BERRY grounded out to ss.
GUERRERO popped up to 2b. MCLINTOCK grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Three games are critical for BYU and San Diego State as they start a three-game baseball series Wednesday in San Diego.

The Aztecs are three games behind BYU, who stands alone in second place, one game behind UNLV.

If BYU can win three games in the season finale at SDSU, and have Utah upset UNLV once, then the Cougars could tie for first place and claim the No. 1 league tournament seed. The tiebreaker favors BYU against UNLV, but it all hinges on the Cougar-Aztec series.

The Cougars have a 2-1 advantage in the SDSU series last month at Provo and bring a 35-16-1 overall record and a 19-8 Mountain West Conference mark into this week's action. The Aztecs are 22-31 and 16-11.

These games are moved up a day from the rest of the conference teams who also finish a day earlier than normal. BYU's series at San Diego begins on Wednesday because of finals and graduation at SDSU. Game times are 6 p.m. (PDT) for Wednesday and Thursday, and 1 p.m., on Friday.

Starting for BYU on the mound to open the series is Dave Horlacher (5-2, 4.13). Lefty Lance Beus (1-1, 6.99) and James Platt (3-1, 6.41) are scheduled to start Thursday and Friday's games for BYU.

Among those to keep an eye on for the Cougars are Jeff Hiestand and Brandon Taylor. Hiestand just had his hitting streak stopped at 29 games, but has been on base the past 32 games. Taylor is currently ranked second nationally in RBI with an average of 1.49; seventh nationally in home runs per game, averaging .37; 12th nationally in slugging, averaging .735; and 40th nationally in runs per game with an average of 1.18.

All of the BYU-SDSU games can be heard live locally on KOVO Radio (960 AM) or live on the Internet through links at www.byucougars.com.

The Cougars bused to San Diego, but will return to Utah on Saturday for next week's MWC Tournament in Salt Lake City.

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.