SALT LAKE -- Jeremy Toole twirled a three-hitter Thursday as BYU won the opening game of Mountain West Conference play in a 4-1 victory over rival Utah.

Toole threw 134 pitches, striking out nine Utes, now 6-7 overall and 0-1 in the MWC, in a complete game, his first of the season. The Cougars, now 9-6, have won six in a row as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in league play at Franklin Covey Field.

“This is really big for us,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “It gets us off on the right foot for what should prove to be a whale of a conference race.

“Jeremy (Toole) is the guy we’re looking to help us. He throws his breaking ball for strike two and that gives him effective command of two pitches."

The Utes took advantage of a high Toole pitch for the initial lead in the first inning when Rick Cornu hit a home run just inside the right-field foul pole.

“I had to refocus and go back to work after that,” said Toole. “I challenged them and went after them from that point on.”

Toole soon got the support he needed.

Brandon Relf’s two-run double to right center scored BYU’s first runs in the second inning to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead in what proved to be the game-winning RBI.

BYU had advanced a runner to second in each of the first five innings. It paid off again in the fifth when Kent Walton and Steve Parker scored. Walton led off the inning with a single, then stole second and scored off a single by Sean McNaughton. Parker walked between Walton and scored on Kasey Ko’s double off the left-field wall.

In the fifth and sixth innings BYU closed the frame with catcher J.T. Musso throwing out Utes trying to steal second which gave Toole four consecutive innings setting them down in order. Toole had a two-hitter going through seven innings, striking out a Ute in all but the first, sixth and eighth innings.

“Musso did a good job behind the plate and in throwing out those guys at second,” said Toole. Double plays also helped Toole in the sixth and eighth frames.

The Cougars and Utes now ready for games two and three of the series which continue in Provo at Larry H. Miller Field on Friday and Saturday at 6 and 1 p.m., respectively. Both games will be televised live on BYUTV and over KSRR Radio (1400 AM).

Friday's game is Throwback Day featuring 1958 prices like 25-cent popcorn in honor of the BYU squad that was denied a chance to play in the College World Series because of the NCAA Sunday play policy.

BYU at Univ. of Utah
Mar 12, 2009 at Salt Lake City, Utah (Franklin Covey Field)
BYU 4 (9-6,1-0 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BANKS, Stetson rf........  5  0  0  0   0  2  2  0   0
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  5  0  1  0   0  1  1  4   4
WALTON, Kent dh..........  4  1  1  0   1  1  0  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  1  1  0   1  2  2  2   1
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  1  2  1   0  0  0  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  4  1  0  0   0  2  2  0   2
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  0  2  1   0  0  8  0   0
 VARGAS, Dan pr..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BILLS, Thomas 1b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  0  2  2   0  1  2  3   1
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  2  0   1  1  8  3   0
TOOLE, Jeremy p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36  4 11  4   3 10 27 12   8
Univ. of Utah 1 (6-7,0-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BELTRAN, Michael ss......  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  6   0
CORNU, Rick rf...........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
SHIMADA, Corey 2b........  4  0  0  0   0  1  4  5   0
CRON, C.J. dh............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
JONES, Austin 1b.........  2  0  0  0   1  2  9  0   0
KUROCZKO, Nick 3b........  2  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   1
BLANC, Cooper cf.........  3  0  1  0   0  2  2  0   0
WALKER, Devin c..........  2  0  0  0   0  1  7  1   1
 YAGI, Tyler ph..........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SHARRAR, Jo Jo c........  0  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0
JONES, Zach lf...........  1  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
 GREEN, Gavin ph/lf......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
BUDROW, Brian p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 KRAUSE, Greg p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27  1  3  1   3  9 27 13   2
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 020 020 000 -  4 11  1
Univ. of Utah....... 100 000 000 -  1  3  1
-------------------------------------------
E - TOOLE(1); BELTRAN(3). DP - Cougars 2; UT 2. LOB - Cougars 8; UT 2. 2B -
KO(4); RELF(2). HR - CORNU(4). SB - LAW, An.(9); WALTON 2(5). CS - CLUFF(2);
CORNU(2); KUROCZKO(1).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
TOOLE, Jeremy.......  9.0  3  1  1  3  9 27 30 134
Univ. of Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BUDROW, Brian.......  7.0 10  4  3  3  6 30 33 111
KRAUSE, Greg........  2.0  1  0  0  0  4  6  6  27
Win - TOOLE (3-1).  Loss - BUDROW (2-1).  Save - None.
WP - BUDROW(1). Pitches/strikes: TOOLE 134/85; BUDROW 111/71; KRAUSE 27/19.
Umpires - HP: Ray Leible  1B: Rich Padilla  3B: Randy Upton
Start: 3:03 pm   Time: 2:10   Attendance: 237
Play-by-Play
BYU 1st - BANKS grounded out to ss (1-0). LAW, An. singled to left field
(2-2). LAW, An. stole second. WALTON popped up to 2b (2-2). PARKER struck out
swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 1st - BELTRAN flied out to rf (2-1). CORNU homered to
right field, RBI (0-2). SHIMADA lined out to 3b (2-2). CRON grounded out to 2b
(0-1). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - McNAUGHTON singled up the middle (1-1). CLUFF reached on a
fielding error by ss (0-0); McNAUGHTON advanced to second. KO grounded out to p
(1-0); CLUFF advanced to second; McNAUGHTON advanced to third. RELF doubled to
right center, 2 RBI (0-0); CLUFF scored, unearned; McNAUGHTON scored. MUSSO
walked (3-1). BANKS grounded out to 2b (0-0); MUSSO advanced to second; RELF
advanced to third. LAW, An. flied out to cf (0-0). 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error,
2 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 2nd - JONES, A. struck out swinging (2-2). KUROCZKO
singled to right center (0-1). BLANC struck out looking (1-2). WALKER grounded
out to ss (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - WALTON walked (3-2). WALTON stole second. PARKER struck out
looking (2-2). McNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b (0-0); WALTON advanced to third.
CLUFF struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 3rd - JONES, Z. struck out swinging (2-2). BELTRAN
grounded out to ss (0-1). CORNU struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b
(0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - KO grounded out to 2b (1-1). RELF singled up the middle (1-0).
MUSSO singled to left field (0-0); RELF advanced to second. BANKS struck out
looking (0-2). LAW, An. reached on a fielder's choice (0-0); MUSSO out at
second 2b unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 4th - SHIMADA flied out to rf (3-2). CRON grounded out to
ss (2-2). JONES, A. struck out looking (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 5th - WALTON singled to right field (0-0). WALTON stole second.
PARKER walked (3-2). McNAUGHTON singled to left field, RBI (0-1); PARKER
advanced to second; WALTON scored. CLUFF reached on a fielder's choice (0-0);
McNAUGHTON out at second ss to 2b; PARKER advanced to third. CLUFF out at
second c to ss, caught stealing. KO doubled to left field, RBI (2-0); PARKER
scored. RELF struck out swinging (3-2). 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 5th - KUROCZKO walked (3-2). BLANC struck out swinging
(1-2). WALKER struck out swinging (0-2). KUROCZKO out at second c to ss, caught
stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - MUSSO singled to left field (1-2). BANKS grounded into double
play ss to 2b to 1b (0-1); MUSSO out on the play. LAW, An. grounded out to ss
(0-0). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 6th - JONES, Z. walked (3-1). BELTRAN lined into double
play 3b to 1b (0-1); JONES, Z. out on the play. CORNU reached on a fielding
error by p (0-0). CORNU out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0
hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - WALTON grounded out to ss (2-2). PARKER singled to left field
(3-1). PARKER advanced to second on a wild pitch. McNAUGHTON flied out to cf
(1-1). CLUFF struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 7th - SHIMADA grounded out to 2b (0-0). CRON struck out
looking (1-2). JONES, A. walked (3-2). KUROCZKO grounded out to 1b unassisted
(2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - KRAUSE to p for BUDROW. KO singled to left field (2-2). VARGAS
pinch ran for KO. RELF grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b (1-2); VARGAS
out on the play. MUSSO struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Univ. of Utah 8th - BILLS to 1b for VARGAS. BLANC singled to third base
(3-2). YAGI pinch hit for WALKER. YAGI grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b
(1-0); BLANC out on the play. GREEN pinch hit for JONES, Z.. GREEN grounded out
to 2b (0-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 9th - SHARRAR to c for YAGI. GREEN to lf. BANKS struck out swinging
(1-2). LAW, An. struck out swinging (1-2). WALTON struck out looking (2-2).
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 9th - BELTRAN flied out to cf (1-1). CORNU flied out to cf
(2-1). SHIMADA struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.

Another unique twist to the BYU-Utah baseball rivalry in 2009 has a split in both of the home-and-home three-game series this season, starting Thursday.

The Cougars, now 8-6, travel to Salt Lake City against Utah, 6-6, to open Mountain West Conference action on Thursday at 3 p.m. with Jeremy Toole (2-1, 4.82) getting the start on the mound for BYU. That game also marks the start of BYU radio broadcasts for league games by veteran announcer Brent Norton on KSRR (1400 AM).

On Friday and Saturday, the series moves to Provo where Blake Torgerson (1-2, 5.40) and Adam Miller (1-0, 1.26) take the hill for BYU at 6 and 1 p.m., respectively. The games in Provo will also be telecast live by BYUTV.

"It's always a big series with Utah, I don't have to tell our guys that,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We've got to keep improving. We have to get a better offensive approach in our middle innings.

“I'm surprised we are not scoring more runs that we have. We have a deep bench and that is a nice problem to have. If our pitchers can throw strikes then we can set ourselves up for big innings."

The two teams meet again on April 16 in Provo, followed by two games the following days at Franklin-Covey Field in Salt Lake City.

For more information please download the multi-page PDF at the top of this page.