PROVO -- A three-run rally by BYU in the sixth couldn't make up for an inauspicious first three innings as the Cougars suffered a big defeat to Southern Utah Tuesday, 11-4.

The Cougars put some runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth when they were able to string together three hits with two men on base. Blake Crosby, J.T. Musso and Seth Johnson all picked up an RBI to make the score 11-4 in favor of SUU.

In a pre-designated situation where seven BYU pitchers saw action, the committee of hurlers combined to strikeout 16 SUU hitters. Mitch Woolf struck out the side in the first, Matt Jensen followed with the same feat in the fifth, Anthony Bingham got three in the eighth and Joshua Barrett struck out three in the ninth.

"It was one of the most embarrassing experience I've had since I've been here at BYU," said BYU Coach Vance Law after the loss. With the loss BYU falls to 24-25 on the season while SUU improves to 23-22.

The Thunderbirds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first when they got two unearned runs off Woolf on an error to second base. The Cougars bounced back in the bottom of the frame and closed the score to 2-1 after Kent Walton doubled off the wall in left center with Austin Carter on second.

Starting senior hurler Woolf made an early exit in the top of the second as the Thunderbirds scored three runs on three hits to push their lead to 5-1. After the fourth inning things looked bleaker for the Cougars as they saw the SUU lead pushed to 11-1.

On Woolf, Coach Law said, "He's struggled with his confidence all year and it showed again tonight."

With the T-Birds cheating to the right side against Kasey Ko in the bottom of the fourth, the big lefty took an 0-1 offering from Noyes down the line in left field for a stand-up double. A wild pitch put Ko on third but a spinning throw by the SUU shortstop got Crosby out by a step at first to end the inning.

Jensen was finally able to blank the T-Birds in the top of the fifth as he retired the side on strikes, two looking. Clayton Barnes came in to pitch for the Cougars in the top of the sixth and picked up BYU's 10th strikeout before walking two T-Birds. A deep flyout to center made two outs with men on first and second before a ground out to third gave BYU its second scoreless inning of the game.

BYU's defense got Anthony Bingham out of a jam in the top of the seventh after an error at first and a single to left put two runners on with no outs. Dan Vargas got the fielder's choice at third before Blake Crsoby started a double play at third to end the inning with no harm done.

In the bottom half of the inning Austin Carter reached on a lead-off infield single, beating out the throw on a head-first slide into the bag. However, the Cougars were doubled up and weren't able to get a rally going in the inning, which ended with the score still 11-4. The T-Birds got a final run in the top of the ninth making the score 12-4.

"We've had so many base running mistakes in the last six weeks," said Coach Law. "It's cost us some games.

The T-Birds ended up with a tie in the season series 3-3 as they took two games in Provo and one in Cedar City.

BYU will face Tony Gwynn and the Aztecs of San Diego State at Miller Park on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The final home game of the season will be played Tuesday against Utah Valley State.

Southern Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
May 09, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Southern Utah 12 (23-22)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Hahl lf..................  2  2  1  1   1  0  0  0   0
 Wilson, C. ph/3b........  3  2  2  0   0  0  1  2   0
Dimick 2b................  6  1  2  3   0  2  3  3   2
Sotelo cf................  4  2  2  3   2  0  1  0   1
Burgess rf...............  4  1  2  0   1  1  5  0   0
Wright 1b................  6  0  1  0   0  4  8  0   0
Richards c...............  4  0  0  0   2  2  5  3   5
Oliverson dh.............  2  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   2
 Sanford dh..............  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   2
Marshall 3b/lf...........  2  2  1  0   2  1  2  0   0
 Jensen ph/lf............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Zablan ss................  4  1  1  2   1  1  2  2   0
Noyes p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Job p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Swenson p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Wittwer p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 41 12 13  9   9 16 27 11  12
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (24-25)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  5  0  1  0   0  2  0  0   2
CARTER, Austin lf........  4  1  2  0   1  0  0  0   1
WALTON, Kent rf..........  5  1  2  1   0  1  0  0   1
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  2  1  0  0   2  0  6  2   0
KO, Kasey dh.............  4  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   2
 VARGAS, Daniel ss.......  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  4  1  2  1   0  0  3  2   1
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  1  1   0  1 15  1   1
JOHNSON, Seth cf.........  2  0  1  0   1  0  1  0   0
 JOHNSON, Jason ph/cf....  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
WOOLF, Mitch p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 HIGHMARK, Chris p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 JENSEN, Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  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
 PLATT, James p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARRETT, Josh p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  4 11  3   4  6 27  7   8
Score by Innings                      R  H  E
---------------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 235 100 001 0 - 12 13  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 003 000 X -  4 11  3
---------------------------------------------
E - Wilson, C.; BANKS; SAYLOR; JENSEN. DP - SUU 2; BYU Cougars 1. LOB - SUU
12; BYU Cougars 8. 2B - Wilson, C.; Oliverson; Zablan; WALTON; KO. 3B -
Dimick; Sotelo. HR - Sotelo(3). HBP - Burgess. SB - Hahl 2; Burgess 3;
Wright. CS - JOHNSON, S..
Southern Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Noyes...............  5.0  4  1  1  3  5 17 20
Job.................  2.0  4  3  2  1  0 10 11
Swenson.............  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4
Wittwer.............  1.0  2  0  0  0  1  4  4
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WOOLF, Mitch........  1.1  2  5  3  4  3  7 11
HIGHMARK, Chris.....  1.1  5  4  4  1  1  9 10
JENSEN, Matt........  2.1  3  2  1  2  5 10 12
BARNES, Clayton.....  1.0  0  0  0  2  1  3  5
BINGHAM, Anthony....  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4
PLATT, James........  1.0  0  0  0  0  3  3  3
BARRETT, Josh.......  1.0  2  1  1  0  3  5  6
Win - Noyes (1-1).  Loss - WOOLF (0-3).  Save - None.
WP - Noyes; Swenson; BARRETT. HBP - by BARRETT (Burgess). BK - Swenson. PB -
MUSSO.
Umpires - HP: Kirk Knowles  1B: Pancho Flores  3B: Blyden Loutensock
Start: 7:05   Time: 3:00   Attendance: 1041
Game notes:
Final of six games between the two teams (BYU 3, SUU 3 in 2006 series)
Southern Utah at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
May 09, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                      R  H  E
---------------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 235 100 001 0 - 12 13  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 003 000 X -  4 11  3
---------------------------------------------
Southern Utah starters: 2/lf Hahl; 7/2b Dimick; 32/cf Sotelo; 20/rf Burgess; 12/1b
Wright; 27/c Richards; 10/dh Oliverson; 4/3b Marshall; 21/ss Zablan; 15/p Noyes;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 3/2b BANKS; 6/lf CARTER; 9/rf WALTON; 25/1b SAYLOR;
33/dh KO; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 30/3b CROSBY; 22/c MUSSO; 26/cf JOHNSON, S.; 18/p WOOLF;
Southern Utah 1st - Hahl walked. Hahl stole second. Dimick struck out
swinging. Sotelo walked. Burgess reached on a fielding error by 2b, advanced to
third; Sotelo scored, unearned; Hahl scored, unearned. Wright struck out swinging.
Richards walked. Oliverson struck out looking. 2 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - BANKS struck out swinging. CARTER walked. WALTON
doubled to left center, RBI; CARTER scored. SAYLOR walked. KO flied out to rf;
WALTON advanced to third. VILLEZCAS struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Southern Utah 2nd - Marshall walked. Marshall advanced to second on a passed
ball. Zablan doubled to left center, RBI; Marshall scored. Hahl singled, advanced to
second on the throw, RBI; Zablan scored. Hahl stole third. Dimick out at first 1b to
p, RBI; Hahl scored. HIGHMARK to p for WOOLF. Sotelo walked. Burgess singled to
shortstop; Sotelo advanced to third. Burgess stole second. Wright struck out
looking. Richards grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - CROSBY singled through the left side. MUSSO reached
on a fielder's choice; CROSBY out at second 2b to ss. MUSSO out at first c to 1b,
picked off. JOHNSON, S. singled, bunt. JOHNSON, S. out at second c to 2b, caught
stealing. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 3rd - Oliverson doubled down the lf line. Marshall singled,
bunt; Oliverson advanced to third. Zablan grounded out to ss, RBI; Marshall advanced
to second; Oliverson scored. Hahl grounded out to 1b unassisted; Marshall advanced
to third. Dimick singled, RBI; Marshall scored. Sotelo homered to right center, 2
RBI; Dimick scored. JENSEN to p for HIGHMARK. Burgess walked. Wright singled to
third base; Burgess advanced to second. Wright stole second; Burgess stole third.
Burgess scored on an error by p, unearned. Richards walked. Sanford to dh for
Oliverson. Sanford struck out looking. 5 runs, 5 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - BANKS struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b.
CARTER flied out to rf. WALTON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Southern Utah 4th - Marshall struck out swinging. Zablan out at first 1b to
p. Wilson, C. pinch hit for Hahl. Wilson, C. doubled down the rf line. Dimick
tripled, RBI; Wilson, C. scored. Sotelo grounded out to 1b unassisted. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - Wilson, C. to 3b. Marshall to lf. SAYLOR flied out
to cf. KO doubled down the lf line. KO advanced to third on a wild pitch. VILLEZCAS
popped up to ss. CROSBY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 5th - Burgess struck out swinging. Wright struck out looking.
Richards struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MUSSO struck out looking. JOHNSON, S. walked. BANKS
fouled out to 1b. CARTER flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 6th - BARNES to p for JENSEN. VARGAS to ss for VILLEZCAS.
Sanford struck out looking. Marshall walked. Zablan walked; Marshall advanced to
second. Wilson, C. flied out to cf. Dimick reached on a fielder's choice; Zablan
advanced to second; Marshall out at third 3b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - Job to p for Noyes. WALTON singled through the left
side. SAYLOR walked; WALTON advanced to second. KO flied out to lf. VARGAS flied out
to rf. CROSBY singled up the middle, RBI; SAYLOR advanced to third; WALTON scored.
MUSSO singled to center field, RBI; CROSBY advanced to second; SAYLOR scored.
JOHNSON, S. reached on a fielding error by 3b, advanced to second; MUSSO advanced to
third; CROSBY scored, unearned. BANKS grounded out to p. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error,
2 LOB.
Southern Utah 7th - BINGHAM to p for BARNES. Sotelo reached on a fielding
error by 1b. Burgess singled through the left side; Sotelo advanced to second.
Wright reached on a fielder's choice; Burgess advanced to second; Sotelo out at
third ss to 3b. Richards hit into double play 3b to 1b; Wright advanced to second;
Burgess out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - CARTER singled to first base. WALTON hit into
double play 3b to 2b to 1b; CARTER out on the play. SAYLOR flied out to lf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 8th - PLATT to p for BINGHAM. Sanford struck out swinging.
Jensen pinch hit for Marshall. Jensen struck out swinging. Zablan struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - Jensen to lf. Swenson to p for Job. KO singled down
the lf line. VARGAS reached on a fielder's choice; KO out at second ss to 2b. CROSBY
flied out to rf. VARGAS advanced to second on a wild pitch. VARGAS advanced to third
on a balk. MUSSO grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 9th - BARRETT to p for PLATT. Wilson, C. singled through the
left side. Wilson, C. advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dimick struck out
swinging. Sotelo tripled to right center, RBI; Wilson, C. scored. Burgess hit by
pitch. Wright struck out swinging. Burgess stole second. Richards struck out
looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - Wittwer to p for Swenson. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for
JOHNSON, S.. JOHNSON, J. struck out looking. BANKS singled to second base. CARTER
singled through the right side; BANKS advanced to second. WALTON hit into double
play 3b to 1b; CARTER advanced to second; BANKS out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits,
0 errors, 1 LOB.

Five final consecutive home games remain on BYU's baseball schedule, starting with Southern Utah on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The Cougars, 24-24, play the last of six games with SUU, 22-22, this season. The T-Birds have won two, while BYU has won three in this year's series.

Taking the mound for BYU will be senior Mitch Woolf (0-2, 10.61), for his third start of the year in 11 outings.

One of the hot bats for BYU is Ben Saylor, who has 17 homers. The senior has hit two homers in four different games this season: Southern Utah, Utah Valley State, Air Force and New Mexico. He has homered against every team this season except three, Pacific, Oregon State and Washington State.

Following Tuesday's game against SUU, BYU returns to league action in a first-of-the-season matchup with second-place San Diego State. The Aztecs also play on Tuesday against UC-Irvine.

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