NORTHRIDGE -- A pair of home runs and clutch pitching Tuesday by Nathan Bunch and Jake Wortham gave BYU a 6-5 victory over Cal State Northridge.

Wortham, a senior, earned his first save of the season, while Bunch, a freshman, picked up his second victory of the year. Bunch improved his record to 2-0 as BYU’s three freshmen starting pitchers are now 6-0 this season in helping the team to an 11-7 overall record.

Bunch settled down after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning and struck out seven Matadors in as many innings in the 91-degree weather. He left the game with a 6-4 lead thanks to the pair of two-run homers by Sean McNaughton and Steve Parker.

McNaughton belted his dinger in the seventh, his third of the season, scoring Chad Nacapoy to put BYU up, 6-3.

Steve Parker’s round-tripper, his fourth of the season, came in the third to put BYU ahead, 4-2. The Cougars tied the score when Kent Walton scored off a balk from a fake throw to third by the CSUN pitcher who then pivoted to first to try and pick off Andrew Law on first.

The Cougars now ready to start a three-game series at San Diego State on Thursday at 6 p.m., PDT. CSUN falls to 6-11.

BYU at Cal St. Northridge
Mar 17, 2009 at NORTHRIDGE, Calif. (Matador Stadium)
BYU 6 (11-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WALTON, Kent dh..........  4  1  1  0   0  2  0  0   1
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  4  1  2  0   1  1  2  3   0
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  1  2   0  0  2  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  5  2  2  2   0  1  0  3   0
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  0  0  0   1  2  3  1   3
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  0  1  1   0  0  9  1   2
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
BOWEN, Michael rf........  4  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  2  0  0  0   0  2  3  1   2
 NACAPOY, Chad c.........  2  1  1  0   0  0  4  1   0
BUNCH, Nathan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 WORTHAM, Jake p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 38  6 10  5   2  8 27 13   8
Cal St. Northridge 5 (6-11)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Pruitt cf................  1  3  0  0   2  1  4  0   0
Belanger rf..............  4  1  2  1   0  1  2  0   0
 Parham rf...............  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Eskelin pr..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Cates lf.................  5  0  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
Pineda dh................  5  0  0  1   0  0  0  0   1
D'Anna 1b................  4  0  1  0   0  1  7  1   5
Hannick c................  4  0  1  1   0  0  9  0   0
DeMarco 3b...............  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  1   2
Wright 2b................  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
 Swanson ph..............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Dabbs 2b................  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   1
Reed ss..................  4  1  2  0   0  0  0  3   0
Tate p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Tremlin p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McCarney p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 Rousey p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Slover p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  5 10  5   2  7 27  8   9
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 013 000 200 -  6 10  3
Cal St. Northridge.. 200 010 101 -  5 10  4
-------------------------------------------
E - PARKER(4); MUSSO(1); BUNCH(1); Wright(2); Reed 2(5); Tremlin(2). LOB -
BYU 8; CSUN 9. 2B - WALTON(3); LAW, An.(7). HR - McNAUGHTON(3); PARKER(4).
HBP - Pruitt. SH - WALTON(2); Pruitt(3); DeMarco(1). SB - McNAUGHTON(2);
BOWEN(2); Pruitt(9). CS - Reed(3). Reached on CI - D'Anna.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BUNCH, Nathan.......  7.0  8  4  3  1  7 27 31 113
WORTHAM, Jake.......  2.0  2  1  0  1  0  8 10  27
Cal St. Northridge     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Tate................  2.0  2  1  0  0  1  9  9  26
Tremlin.............  1.0  2  3  3  1  0  5  6  21
McCarney............  3.2  4  2  2  0  4 14 15  51
Rousey..............  0.2  1  0  0  1  0  3  4  10
Slover..............  1.2  1  0  0  0  3  7  7  28
Win - BUNCH (2-0).  Loss - Tremlin (2-1).  Save - WORTHAM (1).
HBP - by BUNCH (Pruitt). BK - Tremlin(1). CI - MUSSO. Pitches/strikes: BUNCH
113/75; WORTHAM 27/16; Tate 26/17; Tremlin 21/11; McCarney 51/35; Rousey 10/5;
Slover 28/22.
Umpires - HP: Paul Cohen  1B: Scott Keene  3B: Kent Jacobsen
Start: 2:10   Time: 2:50   Attendance: 215
Weather: 91 degrees, clear skies
Play-by-Play
BYU 1st - WALTON popped up to 1b (3-2). LAW, An. flied out to lf (1-0).
McNAUGHTON fouled out to 3b (1-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 1st - Pruitt hit by pitch (0-1). Pruitt stole second.
Belanger singled up the middle, RBI (3-2); Pruitt scored. Belanger advanced to
second on a throwing error by p. Cates lined out to ss (1-2). Pineda grounded
out to 2b (3-2). D'Anna reached on catcher's interference (2-2); Belanger
advanced to third. Hannick singled up the middle, RBI (0-0); D'Anna advanced to
second; Belanger scored, unearned. DeMarco flied out to lf to left center
(0-0). 2 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - PARKER reached on a throwing error by 2b, advanced to second.
RELF flied out to cf. KO singled up the middle, RBI (1-2); PARKER scored,
unearned. CLUFF singled through the left side (0-0); KO advanced to second.
BOWEN popped up to rf (1-1). MUSSO struck out swinging (2-2). 1 run, 2 hits,
1 error, 2 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 2nd - Wright struck out swinging (2-2). Reed popped
up to 2b (1-2). Pruitt struck out looking (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 3rd - Tremlin to p for Tate. WALTON doubled to right center (0-0).
WALTON advanced to third on an error by p. LAW, An. walked (3-1). LAW, An.
advanced to second on a balk; WALTON scored on a balk. McNAUGHTON lined out to
cf (1-0). PARKER homered, 2 RBI (1-0); LAW, An. scored. RELF popped up to 2b
(2-2). KO grounded out to ss (2-2). 3 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 3rd - Belanger struck out swinging (1-2). Cates
singled up the middle (0-0). Pineda grounded out to 3b (2-2). D'Anna struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - McCarney to p for Tremlin. CLUFF popped up to rf (0-0). BOWEN
singled through the left side (0-1). MUSSO struck out swinging (2-2). BOWEN
stole second. WALTON struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 4th - NACAPOY to c for MUSSO. Hannick grounded out to
ss (0-2). DeMarco struck out swinging (1-2). Wright struck out swinging (1-2).
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - LAW, An. singled to center field (0-0). McNAUGHTON fouled out
to 1b (1-0). LAW, An. picked off, out at second p to 1b to ss to p. PARKER
reached on an error by ss, advanced to second (1-1). RELF struck out swinging
(2-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 5th - Reed singled, bunt (0-0). Reed out at second c
to ss, caught stealing. Pruitt walked (3-1). Belanger singled through the left
side (1-2); Pruitt advanced to second. Cates singled, RBI (1-1); Belanger
advanced to third; Pruitt scored. Pineda reached on a fielder's choice (0-2);
Cates advanced to second; Belanger out at home p to c. D'Anna out at first 1b
to p (3-2). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 6th - KO flied out to lf (3-2). CLUFF popped up to c (2-2). BOWEN
flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 6th - Hannick flied out to lf (0-1). DeMarco struck
out swinging (2-2). Swanson pinch hit for Wright. Swanson grounded out to 2b
(1-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - Dabbs to 2b for Swanson. NACAPOY singled through the left side
(1-1). WALTON grounded out to p, SAC, bunt (0-0); NACAPOY advanced to second.
LAW, An. struck out looking (2-2). McNAUGHTON homered, 2 RBI; NACAPOY scored.
Rousey to p for McCarney. PARKER singled to right field (1-0). RELF walked
(3-2); PARKER advanced to second. KO grounded out to 2b (0-0). 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 7th - Reed singled to left field (1-0). Pruitt
grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt (1-0); Reed advanced to second. Belanger popped
up to 2b (1-0). Cates singled through the left side, RBI (0-0); Reed scored.
Pineda flied out to rf (3-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - CLUFF grounded out to 3b (0-0). Slover to p for Rousey. BOWEN
grounded out to ss (0-2). NACAPOY flied out to cf (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 8th - WORTHAM to p for BUNCH. D'Anna singled to left
field (0-0). Hannick flied out to rf (1-0). DeMarco grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt (0-1); D'Anna advanced to second. Dabbs grounded out to p (1-0). 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - WALTON struck out swinging (0-2). LAW, An. doubled to right
center (0-0). McNAUGHTON reached on a throwing error by ss (0-1); LAW, An.
advanced to third. PARKER struck out swinging (2-2). McNAUGHTON stole second.
RELF struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Cal St. Northridge 9th - Reed flied out to cf (2-1). Pruitt walked
(3-1). Parham to rf for Belanger. Parham singled through the left side (2-2);
Pruitt advanced to second. Eskelin pinch ran for Parham. Cates reached on a
fielder's choice; Eskelin out at second 2b to ss; Pruitt advanced to third.
Pineda reached on an error by 3b, RBI (1-1); Cates advanced to second; Pruitt
scored, unearned. D'Anna grounded out to 3b (0-1). 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2
LOB.

This week’s four-game series in California is the first extended road trip since the beginning of the season for BYU’s baseball team.

The Cougars, now 10-7, have a single game on Tuesday afternoon at Cal State Northridge, 6-10, before returning to Mountain West Conference action on Thursday at San Diego State. BYU is 2-1 in MWC action, while SDSU is 3-0.

Freshman Nathan Bunch (1-0, 4.70) is the likely starter for BYU against the CSUN Matadors.

For the two evening games at San Diego State, the Cougar probable starters are Jeremy Toole (3-1, 3.58) and Blake Torgerson (1-2, 7.71) on Thurssday and Friday, respectively. Saturday afternoon’s probable BYU starter is freshman Adam Miller (2-0, 0.84). All of the BYU-SDSU games will be broadcast live locally over KSRR Radio (1400 AM).

Freshmen Bunch, Miller and Marc Oslund are a combined 5-0 thus far.

Following the California trip the Cougars return to host Utah Valley University on March 24.

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