PROVO (May 6, 2006) Stetson Banks was one of the few BYU players who didn't seem to be out of gas after the Cougars' earlier doubleheader sweep of New Mexico as they lost Saturday to the Lobos 15-4.

Banks collected two RBI while batting a perfect 4-for-4. In the three-game series the Cougar second baseman hit 6-for-10 while getting three RBI. Lobos starter Danny Ray Herrera (9-0) was ahead of just about all the rest of the Cougars' hitters as he struck out eight through eight innings while allowing three runs on nine hits. Herrera was able to effectively work the corners while keeping the hitters off-balance with his changing speeds.

"He's just a crafty left-hander," said BYU Coach Vance Law on Herrera. "He does an unbelievable job of commanding his fastball and throwing his changeup effectively."

Multiple miscues in the field and on the basepath certainly didn't help the Cougars' cause, as they were three-hit through six before making some noise in the bottom of the seventh while using five different pitchers. With the loss BYU falls to 24-24 (9-7 Mountain West Conference) while UNM improves to 28-20 (10-6 in conference).

"It's tough to make up that much ground after spotting them seven runs in the second inning," said Coach Law.

Down 15-0, things started to work for BYU when Kent Walton reached on an error and moved to second on Dan Vargas' single. Both runners moved up on a sac fly to center by Casey Nelson with Daniel Vargas making a nifty wrap-around slide into second. After fouling a pitch off of his knee, Banks singled to the gap in right center allowing both Walton and Vargas to score, cutting the Lobo lead to 15-2.

Patrick Wells (5-5, 5.77) breezed through the meat of the UNM order in the top of the first inning after allowing a lead off walk to Jordan Pacheco. He retired three straight in the inning, getting some help from the likes of Ben Saylor with a catch on the warning track in right center. Saylor, who extended his team-leading hitting streak to 14 games, showed some speed after getting behind 0-2 Herrera in the bottom of the inning. The big Cougar lefty sneaked a double down the left field line but wasn't able to score.

Trouble struck for Wells when he allowed UNM to load the bases in the top of the second. The situation went sour for the Cougar southpaw when he got himself into 3-1 counts against three straight hitters before collecting his first strikeout of the afternoon. The base runners proved costly, however, as the Lobos gave themselves a 7-0 lead while collecting five hits in the inning.

"Pat got the ball up and when he gets the ball up hitters get big hits," said Coach Law. "In that inning he made some quality pitches. You have to give the credit to New Mexico, they are a good offensive team."

The Lobos continued swinging the bat at an amazing pace against James Platt as they collected four runs in the top of the third on five hits before being retired. Clayton Barnes came in to relieve in the top of the fourth and held the Lobos at bay, retiring three in a row while getting some sharp play at shortstop from Marcos Villezcas. After three complete the lead was 11-0.

The top of the fifth held more of the same for UNM, as they increased their lead to 14-2 after getting three runs on three hits.

BYU had a chance for a bases-loaded situation with Saylor coming to bat in the bottom of the fifth after Nelson led off with a single before moving to second on a single by Banks. With two outs and the runners going, Villezcas single to right, potentially loading things up for BYU. Nelson was stopped up at third by Law, but Banks kept coming and the two runners both found themselves on third. Nelson tried for home, but it was to no avail and the chance was over for the Cougars.

"You can't make those kinds of mistakes on the basepaths," said Coach Law. "With two outs you can't assume I'm going to send a slower runner home on that play. At that point those outs are more precious to us than one run."

BYU did add runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but not nearly enough to overcome the early Lobo output.

BYU will be in action at again Miller Park on Tuesday against the T-Birds of Southern Utah before playing a three-game series against San Diego State on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ.
May 06, 2006 at Provo, Utgah (Larry H.Miller Field)
New Mexico 15 (28-20,10-6 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
PACHECO 2b...............  4  3  2  2   2  0  4  4   0
RUSSELL lf...............  6  3  2  2   0  1  0  0   0
STOVALL 1b...............  5  1  4  4   0  0  9  0   0
CARLSON dh...............  5  1  1  2   0  1  0  0   2
FOOTE cf.................  5  1  1  0   0  2  1  0   2
DABBS rf.................  5  1  1  0   0  2  2  1   0
McDONALD c...............  4  2  1  0   1  1 10  0   0
HAMILTON 3b..............  5  1  1  1   0  1  0  6   1
BARBA ss.................  5  2  2  3   0  0  1  3   0
HERRERA p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HEWETT p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 44 15 15 14   3  8 27 14   5
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (24-24,9-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Seth cf.........  5  1  0  0   0  2  2  1   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  0  2  0   0  0  2  5   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  5  0  2  1   0  2  3  0   2
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  1  0  0   1  3 11  1   2
KO, Kasey dh.............  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent lf..........  4  1  0  1   0  0  0  0   1
VARGAS, Daniel 3b........  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  6   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  7  1   2
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  4  0  4  2   0  0  1  0   0
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PLATT, James p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARNES, Clayton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BINGHAM, Anthony p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HIGHMARK, Chris p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 39  4 11  4   1  9 27 14   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico.......... 074 030 100 - 15 15  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 000 211 -  4 11  3
-------------------------------------------
E - PACHECO; HAMILTON 2; VILLEZCAS; VARGAS; BANKS. DP - UNM 1. LOB - UNM 5;
BYU Cougars 9. 2B - PACHECO; RUSSELL; STOVALL; DABBS; HAMILTON; SAYLOR 2;
KO. 3B - BARBA. HR - CARLSON(19).
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HERRERA.............  8.0  9  3  2  1  8 34 35
HEWETT..............  1.0  2  1  1  0  1  5  5
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  1.2  6  7  7  2  1 11 13
PLATT, James........  1.1  5  4  4  0  2  9  9
BARNES, Clayton.....  2.0  3  3  3  1  1  8  9
BINGHAM, Anthony....  2.0  1  1  0  0  1 10 10
HIGHMARK, Chris.....  2.0  0  0  0  0  3  6  6
Win - HERRERA (9-0).  Loss - WELLS (5-5).  Save - None.
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Keith Bailey  3B: Michael Gilmore
Start: 1:08 pm   Time: 2:55   Attendance: 1167
Game notes:
Game 3 of 3-game series
New Mexico at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
May 06, 2006 at Provo, Utgah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico.......... 074 030 100 - 15 15  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 000 211 -  4 11  3
-------------------------------------------
New Mexico starters: 1/2b PACHECO; 3/lf RUSSELL; 34/1b STOVALL; 35/dh CARLSON; 12/cf
FOOTE; 29/rf DABBS; 19/c McDONALD; 9/3b HAMILTON; 6/ss BARBA; 2/p HERRERA;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 26/cf JOHNSON, S.; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR;
32/1b HIESTAND; 33/dh KO; 9/lf WALTON; 13/3b VARGAS; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS; 4/p
WELLS;
New Mexico 1st - PACHECO walked. RUSSELL flied out to cf. STOVALL flied out
to rf. CARLSON popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, S. grounded out to 3b. VILLEZCAS grounded
out to 2b. SAYLOR doubled down the lf line. HIESTAND struck out swinging. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 2nd - FOOTE singled up the middle. DABBS doubled to right field;
FOOTE advanced to third. McDONALD walked. HAMILTON struck out swinging. BARBA
tripled down the rf line, 3 RBI; McDONALD scored; DABBS scored; FOOTE scored.
PACHECO doubled to left field, RBI; BARBA scored. RUSSELL grounded out to ss;
PACHECO advanced to third. STOVALL doubled down the rf line, RBI; PACHECO scored.
CARLSON homered to left field, 2 RBI; STOVALL scored. PLATT to p for WELLS. FOOTE
struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 7 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - KO struck out swinging. WALTON grounded out to 3b.
VARGAS reached on a throwing error by 3b. NELSON reached on a fielder's choice;
VARGAS out at second 3b to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 3rd - DABBS struck out swinging. McDONALD singled up the middle.
HAMILTON doubled down the rf line, RBI; McDONALD scored. BARBA grounded out to 3b.
PACHECO singled to center field, RBI; HAMILTON scored. RUSSELL doubled to right
center, advanced to third on the throw, RBI; PACHECO scored. STOVALL singled up the
middle, RBI; RUSSELL scored. CARLSON grounded out to 3b. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - BANKS singled to left field. JOHNSON, S. lined into
double play 2b to 1b; BANKS out on the play. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 3b. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 4th - BARNES to p for PLATT. FOOTE grounded out to ss. DABBS
grounded out to ss. McDONALD popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - SAYLOR struck out. HIESTAND reached on a fielding
error by 2b. KO struck out swinging. WALTON reached on a fielder's choice; HIESTAND
out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 5th - HAMILTON grounded out to 3b. BARBA singled to left field.
PACHECO walked; BARBA advanced to second. RUSSELL singled to center field, advanced
to second on the throw, RBI; PACHECO advanced to third; BARBA scored. STOVALL
singled, out at second cf to ss to 2b, 2 RBI; RUSSELL scored; PACHECO scored.
CARLSON struck out swinging. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - VARGAS flied out to rf. NELSON singled to left
field. BANKS singled to right field; NELSON advanced to second. JOHNSON, S. struck
out swinging. VILLEZCAS singled, advanced to second; BANKS advanced to third; NELSON
advanced to third, out at home rf to 3b to c. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
New Mexico 6th - BINGHAM to p for BARNES. FOOTE reached on a throwing error
by 3b, advanced to second. DABBS flied out to cf. McDONALD flied out to rf; FOOTE
advanced to third. HAMILTON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - SAYLOR struck out swinging. HIESTAND struck out
swinging. KO grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico 7th - BARBA grounded out to 3b. PACHECO grounded out to 3b.
RUSSELL reached on a throwing error by 2b. STOVALL singled down the rf line; RUSSELL
advanced to third. CARLSON reached on a fielding error by ss; STOVALL advanced to
second; RUSSELL scored, unearned. FOOTE struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 2
errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WALTON reached on a throwing error by 3b. VARGAS
singled to right field; WALTON advanced to second. NELSON flied out to cf; VARGAS
advanced to second; WALTON advanced to third. BANKS singled to right center, 2 RBI;
VARGAS scored; WALTON scored, unearned. JOHNSON, S. struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS
singled through the left side; BANKS advanced to second. SAYLOR fouled out to ss.
2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
New Mexico 8th - HIGHMARK to p for BINGHAM. DABBS struck out swinging.
McDONALD struck out swinging. HAMILTON out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - HIESTAND walked. KO doubled to left field; HIESTAND
advanced to third. WALTON grounded out to ss, RBI; HIESTAND scored. VARGAS grounded
out to 2b; KO advanced to third. NELSON grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico 9th - BARBA flied out to rf. PACHECO grounded out to 3b. RUSSELL
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - HEWETT to p for HERRERA. BANKS singled, bunt.
JOHNSON, S. reached on a fielder's choice; BANKS out at second ss to 2b. VILLEZCAS
flied out to rf. SAYLOR doubled down the rf line, RBI; JOHNSON, S. scored. HIESTAND
struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

A four-game conference win-streak is what BYU's baseball team brings into the three-game series which starts with New Mexico on Thursday in Provo at 7 p.m.

The Cougars have a 22-23 overall record and a 7-6 league mark for fourth place in the Mountain West Conference, while UNM is in second place with a 9-4 record and 27-18 overall. The Lobos have lost their past five games, all in non-conference action on the heels of a pair of consecutive league victories over Utah.

The pitching matchups feature BYU freshman Jordan Muir (5-0, 2.25) against Nate Melek (5-5, 7.00) on Thursday, Cougar junior Jesse Craig (4-6, 4.38) against Jesse Perez (2-1, 8.42) on Friday at 7 p.m., and lefties Patrick Wells (5-4, 4.82) against Danny Ray Herrera (8-0, 2.26) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Saturday's game will be televised live by both KBYU-TV and nationally by BYUTV with Jay Monsen and Gary Sheide.

Two Cougars are ranked in this week's NCAA statistics: Ben Saylor is 16th in home runs, averaging 0.36 and he is ranked 47th in slugging percentage at 0.677. Muir is ranked 53rd in earned run average at 2.25. New Mexico is leading the nation in double plays at 1.31 and has six individuals ranked in the national statistics, among who are Chris Carlson, fith in home runs, ninth in RBI and 26th in slugging. Jordan Pacheco is fifth in runs scored.

A season-best six-game winning streak came to an end earlier this week for BYU in the loss at Utah Valley State.

Promotionals for the three-game series are Throwback Thursday, a Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on Friday and Autograph Day on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to bring inflatables to Saturday's game as well as cookout grilles to an 11:30 a.m. gathering which features the Cosmobile.

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