WACO -- Brandon Relf scored the winning run in the seventh and BYU pitchers struck out 10 Tuesday as the Cougars defeated Baylor, 7-5.

Relf was 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI as BYU, now 3-4, picked up its third straight victory before a crowd of 2,241, while Baylor dropped to a 4-4 record. Relf scored that winning sixth run when Alex Wolfe hit a two-out single.

Cougar starter Shawn Hardesty struck out five in as many innings before being relieved by freshman Chris Capper. Hardesty picked up his first win of the year.

"Our pitching was outstanding," said BYU coach Vance Law. "(Shawn) Hardesty really picked it up and threw well."

Bryce Ayoso drove in BYU’s initial run in the first inning. Teammate Austin Hall singled in the second, stole second, advanced to third and scored on groundouts to tie the game at 2-2.

Relf led off with a single in the third and scored on Ayoso’s two-out double down the leftfield line to regain the lead for BYU, 3-2.

Dane Nielsen led off the three-run seventh with a double down the leftfield line and scored off Relf’s two-out double that raced just inside the third base bag, putting BYU up 4-2. That chased the Baylor starter off the mound and Wolfe singled off the reliever to score Relf. Wolfe then scored off a dropped fly in rightfield to make it 6-2.

"That was a huge insurance run," said Law. "Wolfe could have easily coasted, but he ran hard the whole way."

Alex Hancock led off the ninth with another Cougar double down the leftfield line. Hancock advanced to third on a Sean McNaughton sac bunt and scored BYU’s seventh run on Relf’s single, his fourth hit of the game.

Kevin Sloan came in a save situation in the seventh to relieve Capper with two aboard as the Bears closed the gap, 6-3. Sloan had to give up that save to heat-throwing David McKnight with two out in the ninth as Baylor loaded the bases narrowed the margin to 7-5.

The Cougars had hits in all innings except the fourth and eighth had a runner on base every inning except the eighth.

BYU goes down the road to play at Texas A & M late Wednesday afternoon.

BYU at BAYLOR
Mar 02, 2010 at Waco, Texas (Baylor Ballpark)
BYU 7 (3-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0  .172
RELF, Brandon ss.........  5  3  4  2   0  0  1  1   0  .478
WOLFE, Alex 1b...........  4  1  2  1   1  2  7  0   0  .367
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  5  0  1  0   0  3  2  0   1  .333
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  5  0  2  2   0  0 10  0   3  .278
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  0  1  0   0  3  0  0   2  .381
HALL, Austin 3b..........  4  1  1  0   0  0  1  1   0  .190
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  4   0  .353
HANCOCK, Alex rf.........  3  1  1  1   0  1  3  0   1  .300
HARDESTY, Shawn p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0     -
 CAPPER, Chris p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
 SLOAN, Kevin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0  .000
 McKNIGHT, David p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
Totals................... 38  7 13  6   1 10 27  7   7
BAYLOR 5 (4-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB  Avg.
------------------------------------------------------------
Vick, Logan lf...........  4  3  2  0   1  1  0  1   0  .375
Hainsfurther, Joey 2b....  3  1  1  0   2  0  3  2   0  .235
Muncy, Max 1b............  5  1  3  1   0  0 11  0   0  .344
Evatt, Dan dh............  3  0  0  0   2  3  0  0   1  .231
 Ware, Landis pr.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0  .240
Campbell, Raynor 3b......  5  0  2  3   0  0  0  2   3  .375
Baker, Abel c............  5  0  0  0   0  2 10  1   2  .000
Slater, Chris rf.........  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   2  .286
Pinckard, Brooks cf......  4  0  1  0   0  2  1  0   1  .333
DalPorto, Steve ss.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  6   1  .000
 Gedwed, Kenton ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0  .500
Blank, Trent p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0     -
 Winter, Kevin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
 Filip, Tom p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0     -
 Bare, Crayton p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0     -
Totals................... 37  5 10  4   5 10 27 15  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 111 000 301 -  7 13  1
BAYLOR.............. 200 000 102 -  5 10  2
-------------------------------------------
E - McNAUGHTON(2); Campbell(4); Slater(1). DP - BU 1. LOB - BY 7; BU 10. 2B
- RELF(2); AYOSO(1); NIELSEN(2); HANCOCK(1). 3B - Pinckard(1). SH -
McNAUGHTON(1); HANCOCK(2). SB - HALL(2); Vick(2).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
HARDESTY, Shawn.....  5.0  6  2  2  2  5 21 23  95  8.22
CAPPER, Chris.......  1.1  0  1  1  2  2  4  6  28  5.68
SLOAN, Kevin........  2.1  4  2  2  1  3 11 12  47  2.35
McKNIGHT, David.....  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1   2  0.00
BAYLOR                 IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP   ERA
--------------------------------------------------------
Blank, Trent........  6.2 10  5  5  0  8 28 29  96  4.82
Winter, Kevin.......  0.2  1  1  0  0  1  4  4  10  0.00
Filip, Tom..........  1.0  2  1  1  0  0  4  5  16  5.40
Bare, Crayton.......  0.2  0  0  0  1  1  2  3  14     -
Win - HARDESTY (1-1).  Loss - Blank (1-1).  Save - McKNIGHT (1).
WP - HARDESTY(1). BK - SLOAN(1); Bare. Inherited runners/scored: SLOAN 2/1;
McKNIGHT 2/0; Winter 1/1; Bare 1/0. Pitches/strikes: HARDESTY 95/55; CAPPER
28/15; SLOAN 47/28; McKNIGHT 2/2; Blank 96/71; Winter 10/8; Filip 16/10; Bare
14/7.
Umpires - HP: Bruce Seagull  1B: Doug Williams  3B: David Wellman
Start: 6:33p   Time: 2:57   Attendance: 2241
Weather: Clear, 53 deg, wind NW 5-10
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b. RELF singled to shortstop.
WOLFE struck out swinging. CLUFF singled to center field; RELF advanced to
third. AYOSO singled through the left side, RBI; CLUFF advanced to second; RELF
scored. BERNAL struck out swinging. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BAYLOR 1st - Vick singled through the left side. Vick stole second.
Hainsfurther walked. Hainsfurther advanced to second on a wild pitch; Vick
advanced to third on a wild pitch. Muncy singled to center field, RBI;
Hainsfurther advanced to third; Vick scored. Evatt struck out looking. Campbell
singled to first base, bunt, RBI; Muncy advanced to second; Hainsfurther
scored. Baker struck out swinging. Slater struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - HALL singled to center field. HALL stole second. NIELSEN
grounded out to ss; HALL advanced to third. HANCOCK grounded out to 3b, RBI;
HALL scored. McNAUGHTON flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BAYLOR 2nd - Pinckard popped up to ss. DalPorto grounded out to 2b. Vick
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - RELF singled to center field. WOLFE struck out swinging. CLUFF
struck out swinging. AYOSO doubled down the lf line, RBI, out at second lf to
ss to c to 2b; RELF scored. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BAYLOR 3rd - Hainsfurther grounded out to 2b up the middle. Muncy flied
out to cf. Evatt walked. Campbell grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - BERNAL struck out swinging. HALL reached on a throwing error
by 3b, advanced to second on the error. NIELSEN grounded out to 1b unassisted;
HALL advanced to third. HANCOCK struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error,
1 LOB.
BAYLOR 4th - Baker flied out to rf. Slater flied out to cf. Pinckard
tripled to right center. DalPorto grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. RELF flied out to cf to left
center. WOLFE singled through the left side. CLUFF struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BAYLOR 5th - Vick struck out looking. Hainsfurther singled to center
field. Muncy singled to left center; Hainsfurther advanced to second, advanced
to third on a fielding error by lf. Evatt struck out swinging. Campbell flied
out to rf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 6th - AYOSO popped up to 2b. BERNAL singled up the middle. HALL
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; BERNAL out on the play. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BAYLOR 6th - CAPPER to p for HARDESTY. Baker flied out to lf to left
center. Slater grounded out to ss. Pinckard struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - NIELSEN doubled down the lf line. HANCOCK grounded out to p,
SAC, bunt; NIELSEN advanced to third. McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. RELF
doubled down the lf line, RBI; NIELSEN scored. Winter to p for Blank. WOLFE
singled to center field, RBI; RELF scored. CLUFF reached on a dropped fly by
rf, advanced to second on the error; WOLFE scored on the error, unearned. AYOSO
grounded out to ss. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BAYLOR 7th - DalPorto struck out swinging. Vick walked. Hainsfurther
walked; Vick advanced to second. SLOAN to p for CAPPER. Muncy flied out to rf
to right center; Vick advanced to third. Hainsfurther advanced to second on a
balk; Vick scored on a balk. Evatt struck out looking. 1 run, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - BERNAL struck out swinging. Filip to p for Winter. HALL
grounded out to p, bunt. NIELSEN grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
BAYLOR 8th - Campbell flied out to lf. Baker struck out swinging. Slater
singled to shortstop. Pinckard struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
BYU 9th - HANCOCK doubled down the lf line. McNAUGHTON grounded out to
p, SAC, bunt; HANCOCK advanced to third. RELF singled through the left side,
RBI; HANCOCK scored. Bare to p for Filip. RELF advanced to second on a balk.
WOLFE walked. CLUFF struck out swinging. AYOSO reached on a fielder's choice;
WOLFE out at second 2b to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BAYLOR 9th - Gedwed pinch hit for DalPorto. Gedwed grounded out to 2b.
Vick singled to center field. Hainsfurther flied out to lf. Muncy singled; Vick
advanced to second. Evatt walked; Muncy advanced to second; Vick advanced to
third. Campbell singled through the left side, 2 RBI; Evatt advanced to second;
Muncy scored; Vick scored. McKNIGHT to p for SLOAN. Ware pinch ran for Evatt.
Baker reached on a fielder's choice; Campbell advanced to second; Ware out at
third 3b unassisted. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Five straight days of baseball in Texas for BYU, with a 2-4 record, begins Tuesday evening at Baylor University (4-3).

After meeting the Bears, the Cougars have a contest at Texas A & M (5-2), followed by a three-game series at UT Arlington (2-4).

Shawn Hardesty (0-1, 16.88) gets the start on the mound for BYU against Baylor. Freshman lefty Mark Anderson starts for the Cougars at Texas A & M on Wednesday. Then BYU returns to its regular rotation at UT Arlington with righthanders Justin Shutt (0-1, 8.00), Matt Neil (1-0, 1.74) and Chunner Nyberg (0-1, 10.57).

“We are looking forward to playing quality programs,” said BYU Coach Vance Law. “These games will be a good measuring stick for our players.”

UT Arlington senior Jason Mitchell was named one of the national pitchers of the week for his 18-strikeout performance against Missouri State last Friday, a no-hitter for 8.2 innings.

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