SAN DIEGO-- A lack of offense and five errors led to the 9-1 BYU loss at San Diego State on Thursday night.

BYU (29-18, 12-7), began the day in second place in the Mountain West Conference two-and-a-half- games ahead of third place SDSDU (28-26, 12-10), with the loss the Cougars now are hanging on to a one-and-a-half-game lead. SDSU snapped its nine-game losing streak with the win.

Leon Johnson started things off for BYU in the top of the first drawing a leadoff walk. He then worked his way around the bases by stealing second and advancing to third on an errant throw. Stephen Wells then provided Johnson with the single he needed to come home and give the Cougars their only run of the game.

San Diego State responded in the bottom of the first by putting two runs of its own up on the board, thanks in large part to a two-run single by center fielder Brandon Glover.

One of the few bright spots for BYU was the play of catcher J.T. Musso who went two-for-three and had a stolen base on the day. Jordan Muir, 5-4, picked up the loss on the mound.

The second inning began just like the first with the leadoff man getting on courtesy of a Musso single. Dan Vargas then laid down a sacrifice bunt advancing Musso to second. After Johnson lined out to third base, Wells was once again up to bat with a man in scoring position, but he wasn't able to bring him in this time as he grounded out to short.

Muir made quick work of the Aztecs in the second retiring the side and keeping the score at 2-1 in favor of SDSU.

In the bottom of the third Glover delivered again for SDSU hitting a single that scored Frank Lonigro, who had just connected on a triple, giving them the 3-1 lead.

Trailing by two to begin the fourth BYU tried to get something going. After a Chase Frampton strikeout, Musso hit a single up the middle and then stole second. Vargas was then issued a walk, followed by a Johnson strikeout, as Aztec pitcher Bruce Billings continued to show great pitching prowess. That brought up Wells who flied out to center, keeping the score 3-1.

Muir retired SDSU in order to end the fourth, but in the bottom of the fifth the Aztecs came right back and scored three more runs off Muir sending him to the dugout. Brandon Michon came into pitch for Muir and got out of the fifth, but then in the sixth he gave up a two-run home run to Lonigro that gave SDSU a commanding 8-1 lead.

BYU and San Diego State will face off again on Friday at 6 p.m. Jake Wortham, 6-4, will be on the mound for the Cougars. The series will come to a close on Saturday at 1 p.m. with Jesse Craig, 9-2, pitching for BYU in a game that will be televised by the MTN.

BYU 100 000 000 1 7 5

SDSU 201 033 00X 9 12 1

Brigham Young at San Diego State

May 10, 2007 at San Diego, Calif. (Tony Gwynn Stadium)

Brigham Young 1 (29-18,12-7 MWC)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

JOHNSON, Leon rf......... 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0

WELLS, Stephen cf........ 5 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 3

NAKAYAMA, Apana lf....... 5 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

WALTON, Kent 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0

PARKER, Steve 3b......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 3 0

KO, Kasey 1b............. 3 0 1 0 1 0 9 0 1

FRAMPTON, Chase dh....... 3 0 1 0 1 2 0 0 3

MUSSO, J.T. c............ 3 0 2 0 1 0 8 0 0

VARGAS, Dan ss........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 4 4

MUIR, Jordan p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

MICHON, Brandon p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

WARD, Michael p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

PEREZ, Jacob p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 32 1 7 1 5 8 24 9 11

San Diego State 9 (28-26,12-10 MWC)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

HANZAWA ss............... 5 1 2 0 0 1 2 3 1

SPIERS 1b................ 4 1 1 0 1 0 6 1 1

ROMERO 3b................ 4 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 1

LONIGRO c................ 5 3 2 2 0 1 8 1 0

GLOVER cf................ 5 1 3 2 0 0 2 0 0

LUCAS dh................. 3 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0

CHASSE ph............... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

GREEN 2b................. 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 2

JOHNSON lf............... 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 1

DECKER lf............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

COLWELL rf............... 4 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 3

BILLINGS p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

KAUFMAN p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

KOONS p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals................... 38 9 12 7 4 7 27 8 9

Score by Innings R H E

-------------------------------------------

Brigham Young....... 100 000 000 - 1 7 5

San Diego State..... 201 033 00X - 9 12 1

-------------------------------------------

E - NAKAYAMA; WALTON; KO; MUSSO; MUIR; LONIGRO. DP - SDSU 1. LOB - BYU 11;

SDSU 9. 2B - LONIGRO. HR - LONIGRO(8). HBP - PARKER. SH - VARGAS. SB -

JOHNSON, L.; MUSSO; SPIERS; GLOVER; GREEN. CS - WALTON.

Brigham Young IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

MUIR, Jordan........ 4.2 8 6 2 3 5 24 27

MICHON, Brandon..... 1.0 2 3 2 1 0 5 6

WARD, Michael....... 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 6 6

PEREZ, Jacob........ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3

San Diego State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

BILLINGS............ 7.0 6 1 1 3 7 25 30

KAUFMAN............. 0.2 1 0 0 2 0 3 5

KOONS............... 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 4 4

Win - BILLINGS (4-3). Loss - MUIR (5-4). Save - None.

HBP - by BILLINGS (PARKER). BK - MUIR. PB - MUSSO.

Umpires - HP: Ray Belfiore 1B: Bill Van Raaphorst 3B: Ryan West

Start: 6:09 pm Time: 2:53 Attendance: 554

Brigham Young starters: 14/rf JOHNSON, L.; 1/cf WELLS; 24/lf NAKAYAMA; 9/2b WALTON;

5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 16/dh FRAMPTON; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 12/p MUIR;

San Diego State starters: 1/ss HANZAWA; 3/1b SPIERS; 5/3b ROMERO; 40/c LONIGRO;

24/cf GLOVER; 15/dh LUCAS; 6/2b GREEN; 11/lf JOHNSON; 10/rf COLWELL; 22/p BILLINGS;

Brigham Young 1st - JOHNSON, L. walked. JOHNSON, L. stole second, advanced to

third on an error by c. WELLS singled to left field, RBI; JOHNSON, L. scored.

NAKAYAMA popped up to 2b. WALTON reached on a fielder's choice; WELLS out at second

2b to ss. PARKER hit by pitch; WALTON advanced to second. KO walked; PARKER advanced

to second; WALTON advanced to third. FRAMPTON struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit,

1 error, 3 LOB.

San Diego State 1st - HANZAWA singled up the middle. HANZAWA advanced to

second on a throwing error by c. SPIERS grounded out to 2b; HANZAWA advanced to

third. ROMERO walked. LONIGRO struck out looking. GLOVER singled to right field,

RBI, advanced to second; ROMERO advanced to third, scored on an error by 2b,

unearned; HANZAWA scored. LUCAS walked. GREEN fouled out to 3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 2

errors, 2 LOB.

Brigham Young 2nd - MUSSO singled to left field. VARGAS grounded out to 1b

unassisted, bunt, SAC; MUSSO advanced to second. JOHNSON, L. lined out to 3b. WELLS

grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

San Diego State 2nd - JOHNSON fouled out to c. COLWELL fouled out to 1b.

HANZAWA singled through the left side. SPIERS grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit,

0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 3rd - NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. WALTON flied out to cf. PARKER

singled up the middle. KO flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

San Diego State 3rd - ROMERO grounded out to ss. LONIGRO doubled down the lf

line, advanced to third on an error by lf. GLOVER singled through the right side,

RBI; LONIGRO scored, unearned. LUCAS struck out looking. GREEN reached on an error

by p; GLOVER advanced to second. GREEN stole second; GLOVER stole third. JOHNSON

walked. COLWELL reached on a fielder's choice; JOHNSON out at second ss to 2b. 1

run, 2 hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB.

Brigham Young 4th - FRAMPTON struck out looking. MUSSO singled up the middle.

MUSSO stole second. VARGAS walked. JOHNSON, L. struck out looking. WELLS flied out

to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

San Diego State 4th - HANZAWA struck out swinging. SPIERS grounded out to ss.

ROMERO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Brigham Young 5th - NAKAYAMA struck out looking. WALTON singled up the

middle. PARKER struck out swinging, hit into double play c to ss; WALTON out on the

play, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

San Diego State 5th - LONIGRO reached on an error by 1b. GLOVER singled

through the left side; LONIGRO advanced to third. LUCAS singled through the left

side, RBI; GLOVER advanced to third; LONIGRO scored, unearned. LUCAS advanced to

second on a balk; GLOVER scored on a balk. GREEN struck out looking. JOHNSON flied

out to cf. COLWELL singled to left field, RBI; LUCAS scored, unearned. MICHON to p

for MUIR. HANZAWA grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 6th - KO grounded out to 2b. FRAMPTON singled to third base.

MUSSO fouled out to 3b. VARGAS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1

LOB.

San Diego State 6th - SPIERS walked. SPIERS stole second. ROMERO grounded out

to ss; SPIERS advanced to third. LONIGRO homered to center field, 2 RBI; SPIERS

scored. GLOVER flied out to cf. LUCAS singled up the middle. WARD to p for MICHON.

LUCAS advanced to second on a passed ball. GREEN singled to right field, RBI; LUCAS

scored, unearned. JOHNSON flied out to rf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 7th - JOHNSON, L. flied out to lf. WELLS struck out swinging.

NAKAYAMA struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

San Diego State 7th - COLWELL grounded out to p. HANZAWA grounded out to 3b.

SPIERS singled through the left side. ROMERO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit,

0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brigham Young 8th - DECKER to lf for JOHNSON. KAUFMAN to p for BILLINGS.

WALTON grounded out to ss. PARKER out at first 1b to p. KO singled to left center.

FRAMPTON walked; KO advanced to second. MUSSO walked; FRAMPTON advanced to second;

KO advanced to third. KOONS to p for KAUFMAN. VARGAS struck out swinging. 0 runs,

1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

San Diego State 8th - PEREZ to p for WARD. LONIGRO flied out to cf. GLOVER

flied out to rf. CHASSE pinch hit for LUCAS. CHASSE struck out looking. 0 runs, 0

hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Brigham Young 9th - JOHNSON, L. flied out to cf. WELLS grounded out to ss.

NAKAYAMA grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Jesse Craig is scheduled to pitch twice this week, starting with Tuesday's game when BYU, 28-17, hosts Southern Utah at Miller Park at 6 p.m.

Craig (8-2, 2.91) will face the T-Birds, 11-39, then again on Saturday at San Diego State in a game televised live by The Mountain at 1 p.m., PDT.

Going against Craig from Southern Utah is Kyle Melling (0-2, 5.47). SUU ended BYU's six-game winning streak last month with a 7-2 victory in Provo.

Following the game with SUU, the Cougars then bus to San Diego to start a three-game series with the Aztecs, who also have a Tuesday game against Long Beach State. Second place BYU is 12-6 in the Mountain West Conference, two-and-a-half games ahead of SDSU.

The Aztecs, 27-25 and 11-10 in the MWC, will first face BYU's Jordan Muir (5-3, 5.53), then lefty Jake Wortham (6-4, 4.66) in games that start on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m., PDT.

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