LAS -- It's BYU versus Utah on Wednesday after both teams won first round games Tuesday in the Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament.

The Cougars, now 31-26, defeated the Air Force Academy, 7-5, after Utah upset San Diego State earlier in the day. It sets up the fourth meeting in less than a week between the Cougars and Utes after BYU swept Utah in three games last week at Salt Lake City.

The BYU-Utah game time will be Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., PDT, in a matchup that can be heard live on KOVO Radio (960 AM) or live via links on www.byucougars.com.

"They pitched and played well," said BYU Coach Vance Law of Air Force's play on Tuesday. "We played well enough to preserve a lot of our pitching staff.

"Utah swung the bats well in their game (San Diego State, 8-5) and it will be a huge game for us against them."

But first BYU had to get past the pesky Falcons who avoided a lopsided defeat in their 21st consecutive loss.

The battle plan for Air Force was to pitch its three normal starters three innings apiece.

With two out and two on in the second, AFA took a two-run lead off Jon Polston's double which rolled past a diving Saylor in right field. The Falcons were able to capitalize that inning when Jason Griggs got aboard on a rare Marcos Villezcas throwing error which could have closed the inning.

BYU tied the game, two-all in the bottom of the second off a sacrifice fly by Casey Nelson which scored lead-off batter Kasey Ko and a fielder's choice by Stetson Banks to bring in Kent Walton. Walton hit a gap single to left center and Blake Crosby walked to load the bases.

Saylor gave BYU it's first lead, 4-2 in the third, with a two-run home run off a changeup to right field, his 20th of the season.

Saylor was robbed of a run-scoring hit in the fourth because the Academy shifted its second baseman to mid-right-center well onto the outfield grass for a couple Cougars. BYU scored its lead-off batter for the third inning in a row when Crosby singled and scored of a groundout by Carter.

Geno Salazar, the Falcon shortstop was put to the turf prior to the Cougars' sixth-inning at bat on an infield warmup throw to second. He remained in the game after a delay of several minutes. Walton scored with two outs from first base off a hard liner by Crosby, with the game-winning RBI, giving BYU a 6-2 lead.

The Falcons loaded the bases to start the sixth off a hit batsman, a walk and by beating out a sacrifice bunt attempt, then scored a run off Clay Derbinay's single. AFA's fourth run came off a double play. Polston's single up the middle scored the fifth run and chased James Platt from the mound in favor of Anthony Bingham with a 6-5 lead.

Banks advanced to second in the sixth when the throw from the outfield off his single was behind him and allowed him to advance to second. He was stranded as the first lead-off batter not to score since the first.

After a leaping flyout to Carter as the first of two outs, Bingham had a hit glance off his leg. AFA brought in a pinch hitter, so Coach Vance Law countered by bringing in lefty Cortland Andrews to pitch. Andrews got AFA to ground out to him on the first pitch.

Walton knocked an insurance homer, his fifth, a solo in the seventh to left field to make the score, 7-5. Andrews then slammed the door retiring AFA in order then final two innings.

That helped Platt get his first victory of the season in 18 appearances, while Andrews earned his second save of the year in 20 outings.

Air Force at BYU
May 23, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Air Force 5 (10-37)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GRIGGS, Jason 2b.........  5  1  1  0   0  0  2  3   0
POLSTON, Jon lf..........  4  0  2  3   0  1  1  0   0
SALAZAR, Geno ss.........  5  0  2  0   0  0  2  2   2
BOLT, Karl 1b............  5  0  0  0   0  0  7  0   0
PARAMORE, Price dh.......  3  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
MADISON, Brad rf.........  2  1  1  0   1  1  3  0   3
ADAMS, Billy 3b..........  2  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
 MEENTS, Josh ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 FERRERIA, Austin 3b.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
CARPENTER, Bob c.........  4  2  1  0   0  0  5  1   0
DERBIGNY, Chay cf........  4  0  1  1   0  0  4  0   0
ALLEN, Casey p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BROWN, Mitch p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PETRO, Jake p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  5  8  4   3  2 24  7   8
BYU 7 (31-26)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CARTER, Austin lf........  5  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   1
 JOHNSON, Seth lf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  4  1  1  0   1  1  2  2   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  3  1  1  2   2  0  3  0   2
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  3  0  0  0   1  1  9  1   3
KO, Kasey dh.............  3  1  0  0   1  2  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent cf..........  4  3  2  1   0  0  5  0   0
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  3  1  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
 VARGAS, Daniel 3b.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  0  1  1   0  0  2  0   1
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  4  0  2  1   0  0  3  2   1
PLATT, James p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 BINGHAM, Anthony p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 ANDREWS, Cortland p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 32  7  9  6   6  5 27  9   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force........... 020 003 000 -  5  8  2
BYU................. 022 110 10X -  7  9  1
-------------------------------------------
E - MADISON(1); ADAMS(8); VILLEZCAS(18). DP - BYU 1. LOB - AFA 8; BYU 8. 2B
- POLSTON(9); BANKS(4). HR - SAYLOR(20); WALTON(5). HBP - MADISON. SH -
POLSTON(5). SF - NELSON(5). SB - POLSTON(11). CS - CARTER(2).
Air Force              IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ALLEN, Casey........  3.0  4  4  4  3  1 11 15
BROWN, Mitch........  3.0  3  2  1  3  2 13 16
PETRO, Jake.........  2.0  2  1  1  0  2  8  8
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PLATT, James........  5.2  7  5  3  3  1 24 29
BINGHAM, Anthony....  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4
ANDREWS, Cortland...  2.1  0  0  0  0  1  7  7
Win - PLATT (1-1).  Loss - ALLEN (1-7).  Save - ANDREWS (2).
HBP - by PLATT (MADISON).
Umpires - HP: Blake Jensen  1B: Michael Gilmore  2B: Chad McCardle  3B: Bruce
Bayne  Start: 3:00 pm   Time: 2:42   Attendance: 182
Air Force at BYU - Play-by-Play
May 23, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force........... 020 003 000 -  5  8  2
BYU................. 022 110 10X -  7  9  1
-------------------------------------------
Air Force starters: 17/2b GRIGGS; 14/lf POLSTON; 2/ss SALAZAR; 13/1b BOLT;
10/dh PARAMORE; 20/rf MADISON; 31/3b ADAMS; 30/c CARPENTER; 25/cf DERBIGNY;
29/p ALLEN;
BYU starters: 6/lf CARTER; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR; 32/1b HIESTAND; 33/dh
KO; 9/cf WALTON; 30/3b CROSBY; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS; 7/p PLATT;
Air Force 1st - GRIGGS singled to right field. POLSTON grounded out to
p, bunt, SAC; GRIGGS advanced to second. SALAZAR singled to shortstop. BOLT
flied out to cf. PARAMORE walked; SALAZAR advanced to second; GRIGGS advanced
to third. MADISON struck out. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
BYU 1st - CARTER singled to left field. CARTER out at second c to ss,
caught stealing. VILLEZCAS grounded out to ss. SAYLOR walked. HIESTAND struck
out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 2nd - ADAMS flied out to cf. CARPENTER singled to right field.
DERBIGNY popped up to 2b. GRIGGS reached on a throwing error by ss, advanced to
second; CARPENTER advanced to third. POLSTON doubled to right field, 2 RBI;
GRIGGS scored, unearned; CARPENTER scored, unearned. SALAZAR flied out to rf.
2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - KO walked. WALTON singled to left field; KO advanced to
second. CROSBY walked; WALTON advanced to second; KO advanced to third. NELSON
flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; WALTON advanced to third; KO scored. BANKS reached
on a fielder's choice, RBI; CROSBY out at second ss to 2b; WALTON scored.
CARTER flied out to cf. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force 3rd - BOLT flied out to rf. PARAMORE flied out to cf. MADISON
walked. ADAMS popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - VILLEZCAS singled to center field. SAYLOR homered to right
field, 2 RBI; VILLEZCAS scored. HIESTAND flied out to cf. KO lined out to 1b.
WALTON flied out to lf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 4th - CARPENTER grounded out to 2b. DERBIGNY grounded out to
ss. GRIGGS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - BROWN to p for ALLEN. CROSBY singled to second base. NELSON
flied out to rf. BANKS doubled to right field; CROSBY advanced to third. CARTER
grounded out to 2b, RBI; BANKS advanced to third; CROSBY scored. VILLEZCAS
walked. SAYLOR grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force 5th - POLSTON flied out to lf. SALAZAR singled to center
field. BOLT popped up to 2b. PARAMORE popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - HIESTAND walked. KO struck out. WALTON reached on a fielder's
choice; HIESTAND out at second 2b to ss. CROSBY reached on an error by 3b,
advanced to second; WALTON scored, unearned. NELSON flied out to rf. 1 run,
0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Air Force 6th - MADISON hit by pitch. ADAMS walked; MADISON advanced to
second. CARPENTER reached on a fielder's choice; ADAMS advanced to second;
MADISON advanced to third. DERBIGNY singled through the left side, RBI;
CARPENTER advanced to second; ADAMS advanced to third; MADISON scored. GRIGGS
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; DERBIGNY out on the play; CARPENTER
advanced to third; ADAMS scored. POLSTON singled to center field, RBI;
CARPENTER scored. BINGHAM to p for PLATT. POLSTON stole second. SALAZAR flied
out to cf. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - BANKS singled to right field, advanced to second on an error
by rf. CARTER popped up to 1b, bunt. VILLEZCAS struck out. SAYLOR intentionally
walked. HIESTAND flied out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Air Force 7th - BOLT flied out to lf. PARAMORE out at first 1b to p.
MADISON singled. MEENTS pinch hit for ADAMS. ANDREWS to p for BINGHAM. MEENTS
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - FERRERIA to 3b for MEENTS. PETRO to p for BROWN. KO struck
out. WALTON homered to left field, RBI. CROSBY grounded out to 3b. NELSON
singled to right field. BANKS flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Air Force 8th - VARGAS to 3b for CROSBY. CARPENTER grounded out to 3b.
DERBIGNY flied out to cf. GRIGGS lined out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
BYU 8th - CARTER struck out looking. VILLEZCAS flied out to rf. SAYLOR
grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force 9th - JOHNSON, S. to lf for CARTER. POLSTON struck out.
SALAZAR grounded out to 3b. BOLT popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.

Second-seeded BYU's baseball team plays the Air Force Academy on Tuesday at 3 p.m., PDT, in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Las Vegas.

BYU, 30-26 overall and 14-8 in the MWC, earned the No. 2 seed by finishing in a second-place tie with San Diego State and won the tiebreaker (won two of three games in head-to-head). Air Force, 10-36 and 1-21, lost all three of its games against BYU this season, having only beaten New Mexico in the Preseason Tournament.

However, the Cougars are wary of AFA, a team that eliminated them in a 5-3 upset in 2004, the last time the tourney was held in Las Vegas. Nevertheless, BYU is grateful to face the Falcons again.

"We don't want to deplete our staff if we can somehow get by Air Force," said BYU Coach Vance Law of his pitchers. "By facing Air Force in the first round, it frees up our pitching staff a bit more."

Law will start senior James Platt (0-1, 8.00), from Cedar City, who has 17 appearances this season. He pitched one inning against the Falcons in a 17-4 victory last month.

BYU has won 14 of its last 18 games, including a three-game sweep over the Falcons last month at Colorado Springs.

"We are now playing our best baseball of the year. We knew we were talented, but young and inexperienced," said Law.

"The turning point was when we got Ben Saylor off the mark, then Jeff Hiestand and Casey Nelson got on board and helped build the confidence of our young team. It has been a wonderful thing to witness how bad we were at the start to get to where we are now."

Saylor now is one of the nation's leaders with 19 homers and leads the team with a .353 batting average, 61 RBI and a .702 slugging percentage. Hiestand is second on the team with 12 homers. Nelson, who has caught in 48 of BYU's 56 games, is one of five Cougars batting over .300.

BYU started the season at 0-8, then improved slightly to a 3-11 record. The Cougars didn't hit the .500 mark until winning the final game at Air Force last month. BYU crossed the Mendoza Line (.200) in early March and is now batting .293, leading the league in MWC games only at .338. BYU holds the series advantage this season over all MWC opponents except TCU.

The Cougars were picked to finish fourth in the MWC Preseason Poll and start as many as five freshmen on a given day, sometimes finishing games with six freshmen on the field. The ages on this year's team range from 25-year-old Anthony Bingham, who is one of a dozen seniors on this year's team, to 18-year-old Jordan Muir, who has posted a 6-0 record on the mound.

A victory over AFA puts BYU in a Wednesday game at 12:30 p.m. PDT, against the winner of Utah and San Diego State. If the Falcons prevail Tuesday, then BYU faces the loser of the Ute-Aztec game on Wednesday at 9 a.m.

All of BYU's games will be broadcast live locally over KOVO Radio (960 AM) and live over the Internet on links via www.byucougars.com.

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

Corrected Schedule for this week
Tuesday
Game 1-- No. 6 Utah vs. No. 3 San Diego St., 11 a.m., PDT
Game 2-- No. 2 BYU vs. No. 7 Air Force, 3 p.m., PDT
Game 3-- No. 4 UNLV vs. No. 5 New Mexico, 7 p.m., PDT
Wednesday
Game 4--Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 a.m., PDT
Game 5--Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 12:30 p.m., PDT
Game 6--Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, , 4 p.m., PDT
Game 7--No. 1 TCU vs. Winner Game 3, 7:30 p.m., PDT
Thursday
Game 8--Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7, 12:30 p.m., PDT
Game 9--Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7, 4 p.m., PDT
Game 10--Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8, 7:30 p.m., PDT
Friday
Game 11--Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m., PDT
Saturday
Game 12--Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 11, 3 p.m., PDT
Game 13--If necessary, 7 p.m., PDT