SAN -- A three-run homer by Corey Shimada gave Utah a 6-3 lead which held Saturday to defeat BYU in the Mountain West Conference Preseason Tournament.

Shimada, the number nine batter, knocked a homer down the line in the eighth inning after Anthony Bingham gave up consecutive singles.

The Cougars got aboard early when Ben Saylor hit a sacrifice fly to score Seth Johnson in the first inning. Johnson had a lead-off single, stole second and then advanced to third on a groundout to first by Marcos Villezcas.

Utah equaled the score in the second inning when Joe Mozeleski singled, advanced to second on a hit by pitch and crossed home on an error by the Cougar second baseman.

Two hit batsman and a walk helped the Cougars set the table for their second run in the game when Johnson drew an RBI walk to score Adrian Molina in the fifth, but they left the bases loaded.

Utah loaded the bases with a pair of walks and Ryan Khoury delivered a two-run double with two outs, giving the Utes a 3-2 lead and chased Brandon Christiansen from the mound in the sixth.

"Brandon pitched well and had a lot of success with the top of the lineup," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "The difficult thing is we are not giving enough lead support so our pitchers don't have to pitch with such stress.

Saylor hit a lead-off homer in the eighth to right field to tie the game at three-all.

BYU, now 10-17 overall and 1-3 in the MWC, hosts Southern Utah on Monday at 3 p.m.

Brigham Young vs Utah
Apr 1, 2006 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)
Brigham Young 3 (10-17,1-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Seth lf.........  4  1  1  1   1  0  2  0   1
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   1
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  3  1  1  2   0  1  2  0   3
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  0  0  0   0  1  9  0   0
KO, Kasey dh.............  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  3  1  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  1   1
 BANKS, Stetson ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  8  0   1
VARGAS, Daniel 2b........  1  0  0  0   2  0  1  3   0
CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon p...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 BINGHAM, Anthony p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 29  3  4  3   4  4 24  9   7
Utah 6 (13-12,2-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KHOURY ss................  4  0  1  2   1  0  1  2   3
KMETKO 2b................  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  2   2
BROSSMAN 1b..............  4  0  0  0   0  2  7  0   0
MALONE dh................  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   1
WELSH cf.................  4  0  0  0   0  1  4  0   0
KEMP 3b..................  4  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   2
MOZELESKI rf.............  4  3  4  0   0  0  2  0   0
FRANK c..................  2  2  1  0   1  1  5  0   0
SHIMADA lf...............  3  1  1  3   1  0  4  0   0
TRINNAMAN p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 AST p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  6  8  5   3  8 27  6   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 100 010 010 -  3  4  1
Utah................ 010 002 03X -  6  8  0
-------------------------------------------
E - VARGAS. LOB - BYU 7; Utah 8. 2B - KHOURY. HR - SAYLOR(5); SHIMADA(2).
HBP - MOLINA; VARGAS; MALONE; FRANK. SH - NELSON; KMETKO. SF - SAYLOR. SB -
JOHNSON, S.; KMETKO; SHIMADA.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CHRISTIANSEN,Brandon  6.0  5  3  2  3  6 23 29
BINGHAM, Anthony....  2.0  3  3  3  0  2  9  9
Utah                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TRINNAMAN...........  7.0  4  3  3  3  4 23 30
AST.................  2.0  0  0  0  1  0  6  7
Win - AST (1-1).  Loss - BINGHAM (0-1).  Save - None.
HBP - by CHRISTIANSEN (FRANK); by CHRISTIANSEN (MALONE); by TRINNAMAN (MOLINA);
by TRINNAMAN (VARGAS). BK - CHRISTIANSEN.
Umpires - HP: Rick Scarberry  1B: Keith Bailey  3B: Mike Gilmore
Start: 11:03 am   Time: 2:31   Attendance:
Brigham Young vs Utah - Play-by-Play
Apr 1, 2006 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 100 010 010 -  3  4  1
Utah................ 010 002 03X -  6  8  0
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 26/lf JOHNSON, S.; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR; 32/1b
HIESTAND; 33/dh KO; 1/cf MOLINA; 30/3b CROSBY; 8/c NELSON; 13/2b VARGAS; 31/p
CHRISTIANSEN;
Utah starters: 2/ss KHOURY; 29/2b KMETKO; 18/1b BROSSMAN; 39/dh MALONE; 1/cf WELSH;
16/3b KEMP; 22/rf MOZELESKI; 10/c FRANK; 3/lf SHIMADA; 20/p TRINNAMAN;
Brigham Young 1st - JOHNSON, S. singled to shortstop. JOHNSON, S. stole
second. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 1b unassisted; JOHNSON, S. advanced to third.
SAYLOR flied out to rf, SF, RBI; JOHNSON, S. scored. HIESTAND struck out swinging.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 1st - KHOURY walked. KMETKO grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; KHOURY
advanced to second. BROSSMAN flied out to lf. MALONE struck out swinging. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - KO singled up the middle. MOLINA popped up to ss. CROSBY
flied out to cf. NELSON popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 2nd - WELSH popped up to 2b. KEMP grounded out to p. MOZELESKI singled
to left center. FRANK hit by pitch; MOZELESKI advanced to second. SHIMADA reached on
an error by 2b; FRANK advanced to third; MOZELESKI scored, unearned. SHIMADA stole
second. KHOURY flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - VARGAS flied out to lf. JOHNSON, S. grounded out to ss.
VILLEZCAS flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 3rd - KMETKO singled up the middle. BROSSMAN struck out swinging; KMETKO
stole second. MALONE hit by pitch. WELSH struck out looking. MALONE advanced to
second on a balk; KMETKO advanced to third on a balk. KEMP grounded out to 2b. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - SAYLOR struck out swinging. HIESTAND flied out to cf. KO
flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 4th - MOZELESKI singled to shortstop. FRANK struck out looking. SHIMADA
flied out to cf. KHOURY grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - MOLINA hit by pitch. CROSBY walked; MOLINA advanced to
second. NELSON grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; CROSBY advanced to second; MOLINA
advanced to third. VARGAS hit by pitch. JOHNSON, S. walked, RBI; VARGAS advanced to
second; CROSBY advanced to third; MOLINA scored. VILLEZCAS struck out swinging.
SAYLOR flied out to cf. 1 run, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Utah 5th - KMETKO fouled out to 1b. BROSSMAN grounded out to 2b. MALONE
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - HIESTAND grounded out to 2b. KO fouled out to 3b. MOLINA
singled to center field. CROSBY struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Utah 6th - WELSH flied out to lf. KEMP flied out to rf. MOZELESKI singled to
left field. FRANK walked; MOZELESKI advanced to second. SHIMADA walked; FRANK
advanced to second; MOZELESKI advanced to third. KHOURY doubled, 2 RBI; SHIMADA
advanced to third; FRANK scored; MOZELESKI scored. KMETKO struck out looking. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - NELSON popped up to 2b. VARGAS walked. JOHNSON, S. fouled
out to c. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 7th - BINGHAM to p for CHRISTIANSEN. BROSSMAN struck out swinging.
MALONE struck out swinging. WELSH grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - SAYLOR homered, RBI. AST to p for TRINNAMAN. HIESTAND
flied out to lf. KO grounded out to 2b. MOLINA flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 8th - KEMP out at first p to ss to 1b. MOZELESKI singled to left field.
FRANK singled through the left side; MOZELESKI advanced to second. SHIMADA homered,
3 RBI; FRANK scored; MOZELESKI scored. KHOURY flied out to cf. KMETKO grounded out
to 2b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - BANKS pinch hit for CROSBY. BANKS grounded out to 3b.
NELSON popped up to 2b. VARGAS walked. JOHNSON, S. grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

A first-ever Mountain West Conference preseason baseball tournament in San Diego starts Wednesday for BYU.

The Cougars, 9-14 overall, have their first league game of the season against UNLV, 12-13, at 3 p.m. (PST) when they will start Matt Jensen (0-3, 8.78) on the mound.

The remaining BYU games in the tourney will all be played at 11 a.m. (PST). The probable BYU starters are Patrick Wells (3-3, 5.13) against TCU on Thursday, Jesse Craig (1-5, 3.40) against New Mexico on Friday and Brandon Christiansen (3-1, 5.60) against Utah on Saturday. The Cougars are the home team against UNLV and New Mexico.

"The coaches in the league wanted an extra four games for a more viable conference season, so that is why we opted to play this tournament when TCU joined this season," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "It's important for us to get off to a good start in league play. Right now I'm playing those who are hot, so our lineup isn't as defined."

Seniors Ben Saylor and Jeff Hiestand are some of the Cougars who are now starting to play better. Hiestand finally broke the Mendoza Line (.200) last week when he raised his batting average to .206. Hiestand had been at .083 after three games and Saylor was at .172 after nine games and is now batting.277. The Cougars are now batting .238, but broke the Mendoza Line a couple weeks ago.

New Mexico freshman Seth Johnson was one Cougar who most recently got the call to start in the outfield and sports a team-leading batting average of .538.

In this week's tourney, BYU doesn't play everyone in the MWC as it won't face Air Force or host San Diego State. However, the Cougars have lost the last game they have played against each of the teams they are scheduled to play this week--UNLV (twice to end their season in the MWC Tourney last year), newcomer TCU (the last two games of a 2003 series), New Mexico (the last two games in Provo in 2005), and Utah (a non-league game earlier this month in Provo).

All of this week's BYU games in San Diego will be carried live locally on KOVO Radio 960 AM with Brent Norton calling the play-by-play and will also be available for both live audio and livestats on the Internet www.byucougars.com.

Following the MWC Preseason Tourney, BYU returns home to host Southern Utah in a rematch on Monday afternoon (April 3) at 3 p.m., before returning to league action at UNLV in a nationally-televised game on April 6.

For more information on BYU's baseball team for this week, click on the PDF link at the top of this page.