PROVO -- A seventh-inning rally that began with a lead-off triple by Collin Fanning led BYU to a 5-4 victory over Air Force on Thursday night.

BYU (23-16 overall, 8-5 in the Mountain West Conference) trailed 4-3 heading into the seventh when Fanning blasted a triple to right field to start the inning. Kent Walton was up next and hit a single in between third and short to bring in Fanning, which tied the game. The very next pitch Walton safely stole second. Apana Nakayama then hit a blooper single which enabled Walton to score on the ensuing error and put BYU up 5-4.

Matthew Jensen came in to replace Jordan Muir in the eighth and after giving up a leadoff walk, he proceeded to strike out the next three batters.

Jensen picked up in the ninth right where he left off in the eighth, striking out the first two batters he faced. After giving up a single, catcher J.T. Musso caught Air Force (7-34, 0-15) trying to steal to seal the victory for BYU.

"I felt pretty good after that first batter," Jensen said. "I felt in control and like I was hitting my spots."

Jensen picked up his first save of the season, while Muir, 5-3, picked up the win.

Muir started off the game strong striking out the leadoff batter and forcing the next batter to fly out, but then BYU began to break down defensively as it committed a costly outfield error that allowed Air Force to bring a run. Air Force added another run before the inning was over and BYU found itself facing an early 2-0 deficit.

The Cougar offense cut the lead to 2-1 in the first as Walton got on with one out and after a Nakayama single, BYU found itself with a man on first and third. Steve Parker was up next but wasn't able to capitalize as he popped out. Kasey Ko then stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered hitting a single to center to bring around Walton to score.

The BYU defense looked like it settled down in the second as it helped Muir retire the side. With two outs and no one on in the bottom frame, Dan Vargas came to the plate and ripped a triple off the left field wall, but that was all the offense the Cougars would get in the inning as the next batter was retired.

Walton led off the bottom of the third and delivered with a single, two pitches later Nakayama hit a double down the right field line to bring Walton around to score and knot things up at 2-2. Ko was up later in the inning, with no outs, and a man on first and third and hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Nakayama to score and give BYU its first lead of the game at 3-2.

Air Force came right back in the fourth and took the lead, 4-3, playing small ball and taking advantage of a balk and a walk issued by Muir.

In the fifth both AFA and BYU pitchers retired the side keeping the score at 4-3.

"The error really killed us and opened the door for them," said Coach Vance Law. "We can't give them extra outs. Fanning did a great job in the seventh to come in and hit that triple, it really gave us a lot of momentum."

Nakayama not only went 3-for-4 with an RBI today, but also graduated with his bachelor's degree. Ko was 1-for-2 with two RBI.

With the win BYU moves a half game ahead of Utah to claim sole possession of third place in the MWC standings. TCU remains in first place and SDSU is currently in second.

BYU and Air Force will face off again on Friday at 6 p.m. at Miller Park.

Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 26, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force Academy 4 (7-34,0-15 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DERBIGNY, Chay cf........  4  0  1  0   1  2  5  0   0
RANDHAWA, K.J. ss........  4  0  2  0   0  0  2  2   0
BOLT, Karl rf............  3  1  1  0   0  0  4  0   2
ALEXANDER, Matt dh.......  3  1  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
SALAZAR, Geno 2b.........  4  0  1  1   0  1  3  2   1
GENTRY, Addison 1b.......  3  1  1  0   1  1  8  0   0
AUSBUN, Ben 3b...........  3  0  0  0   1  1  0  1   3
HALL, Shea lf............  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
MEENTS, Josh c...........  4  0  1  1   0  2  2  0   0
ALLEN, Casey p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RUVOLO, Mike p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MILLER, David p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 32  4  9  3   4  8 24  6   6
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (23-16,8-5 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
FANNING, Collin rf.......  5  1  1  0   0  0  2  0   1
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  3  3  2  1   1  0  4  2   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  1  3  1   0  0  0  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  0  1  0   1  0  0  2   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  2  0  1  2   0  0  6  0   0
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   2
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   2
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  1  0   0  1  8  4   2
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  4  0  2  0   0  0  5  2   1
MUIR, Jordan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 JENSEN, Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  5 12  4   2  2 27 13   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 200 200 000 -  4  9  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 102 000 20X -  5 12  1
-------------------------------------------
E - SALAZAR(9); JOHNSON, L.(2). DP - AFA Falcons 1. LOB - AFA Falcons 6; BYU
Cougars 8. 2B - SALAZAR(9); NAKAYAMA(9). 3B - ALEXANDER(2); FANNING(3);
VARGAS(2). HBP - BOLT. SH - KO(2). SF - KO(3). SB - HALL(5); WALTON(9);
NAKAYAMA(4). CS - DERBIGNY(7); BOLT(5); HALL(2).
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ALLEN, Casey........  6.0 10  4  4  1  1 26 28
RUVOLO, Mike........  0.0  2  1  1  0  0  2  2
MILLER, David.......  2.0  0  0  0  1  1  5  7
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MUIR, Jordan........  7.0  8  4  2  3  3 26 30
JENSEN, Matt........  2.0  1  0  0  1  5  6  7
Win - MUIR (5-3).  Loss - RUVOLO (0-6).  Save - JENSEN (1).
HBP - by MUIR (BOLT). BK - MUIR 2(3). PB - MEENTS(5); MUSSO(7).
Umpires - HP: Ray Leible  1B: Ron Ridd  3B: Blyden Loutensock
Start: 7:07 pm   Time: 2:33   Attendance: 964
Game notes:
Game one of three
ALLEN faced 1 batter in the 7th.
RUVOLO faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Air Force Academy starters: 5/cf DERBIGNY; 1/ss RANDHAWA; 13/rf BOLT; 30/dh
ALEXANDER; 2/2b SALAZAR; 24/1b GENTRY; 15/3b AUSBUN; 4/lf HALL; 8/c MEENTS; 29/p
ALLEN;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 17/rf FANNING; 9/2b WALTON; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 5/3b
PARKER; 22/1b KO; 1/cf WELLS; 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 12/p
MUIR;
Air Force Academy 1st - DERBIGNY struck out swinging. RANDHAWA popped up to
ss. BOLT singled to right field. BOLT advanced to second on a passed ball. ALEXANDER
reached on a fielding error by lf; BOLT scored, unearned. ALEXANDER advanced to
second on a balk. SALAZAR doubled to right center, RBI; ALEXANDER scored, unearned.
GENTRY walked. AUSBUN popped up to 2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - FANNING flied out to rf. WALTON walked. NAKAYAMA
singled to right field; WALTON advanced to third. PARKER popped up to ss. KO singled
to right center, RBI; NAKAYAMA advanced to third; WALTON scored. WELLS popped up to
ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - HALL grounded out to p. MEENTS grounded out to 1b
unassisted. DERBIGNY struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - JOHNSON, L. flied out to cf. MUSSO flied out to rf.
VARGAS tripled to left field. FANNING grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - RANDHAWA singled, out at second ss to 2b. BOLT hit by
pitch. BOLT out at second c to ss, caught stealing. ALEXANDER tripled to right
center. SALAZAR grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WALTON singled to left center. NAKAYAMA doubled to
right field, RBI; WALTON scored. PARKER singled to center field; NAKAYAMA advanced
to third. KO fouled out to 1b, SF, RBI; NAKAYAMA scored. WELLS singled to center
field; PARKER advanced to second. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 2b; WELLS advanced to
second; PARKER advanced to third. MUSSO flied out to cf. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - GENTRY singled to right center. GENTRY advanced to
second on a balk. AUSBUN grounded out to 2b; GENTRY advanced to third. HALL singled
to center field, RBI; GENTRY scored. HALL stole second. MEENTS singled, out at
second lf to 3b to 2b, RBI; HALL scored. DERBIGNY walked. RANDHAWA singled to center
field; DERBIGNY advanced to third. BOLT reached on a fielder's choice; RANDHAWA out
at second ss to 2b. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - VARGAS singled through the right side. VARGAS
advanced to second on a passed ball. FANNING popped into double play 2b unassisted;
VARGAS out on the play. WALTON flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - ALEXANDER flied out to cf. SALAZAR flied out to rf.
GENTRY flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NAKAYAMA flied out to cf. PARKER grounded out to
2b. KO popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - AUSBUN walked. HALL reached on a fielder's choice;
AUSBUN out at second p to ss. MEENTS struck out swinging. HALL out at second c to
ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - WELLS grounded out to ss. JOHNSON, L. struck out
looking. MUSSO singled through the left side. VARGAS flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - DERBIGNY fouled out to c. RANDHAWA grounded out to
2b. BOLT flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - FANNING tripled down the rf line. RUVOLO to p for
ALLEN. WALTON singled through the left side, RBI; FANNING scored. WALTON stole
second. NAKAYAMA singled; WALTON advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by
2b. NAKAYAMA stole second. MILLER to p for RUVOLO. PARKER walked. KO grounded out to
p, SAC, bunt; PARKER advanced to second; NAKAYAMA advanced to third. WELLS grounded
out to 1b unassisted. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - JENSEN to p for MUIR. ALEXANDER walked. SALAZAR
struck out swinging. GENTRY struck out swinging. AUSBUN struck out looking. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - MUSSO struck out swinging. VARGAS flied out to rf.
FANNING flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 9th - HALL struck out swinging. MEENTS struck out swinging.
DERBIGNY singled to center field. DERBIGNY out at second c to ss, caught stealing.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Rotation for BYU's starting pitchers has changed as the Cougars ready to host the Air Force Academy this week.

Senior Jesse Craig (6-2, 3.43) will now be pitching on Saturday at 1 p.m.. He had been BYU's lead-off and middle pitcher in previous weeks, but will now return to the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday for games.

The Cougars take their 22-16 record (7-5 in the Mountain West) into this Thursday's three-game homestand against Air Force (7-33 and 0-14) in a contest that has been pushed back one hour to 7 p.m., because of Vice President Dick Cheney's graduation visit.

Cougar Apana Nakayama is the current team member who is graduating this semester. Nakayama, an outfielder, is graduating in sociology. Former BYU baseball players graduating include: Joshua Barrett, communications; Anthony Bingham, political science; Jeff Hiestand, health science; Adrian Molina, sociology; James Platt, exercise science; and Patrick Wells, health science.

Sophomore pitchers Jordan Muir (4-3, 6.38) will start Thursday's game and Jake Wortham (4-4, 5.44), a lefty,will start Friday's game at 6 p.m.

Shortstop Danny Vargas returned to the starting lineup last week after a month's absence from a knee injury. The Cougars are in a third-place tie with Utah in the Mountain West Conference standings.

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