SEATTLE -- Textbook execution and 13 strikeouts tallied Thursday night helped BYU’s baseball team record a 3-2 victory over the University of Washington.

Washington native Stephen Wells scored the first and third runs to lead BYU over the Huskies. In the ninth, Wells extended his team-leading hitting streak to five games with a lead-off single. He advance to second on a sac-bunt by Andrew Law and scored on Ryan Bernal’s single to left field.

Pitchers Chris Capper and Matthew Neil teamed up for 13 strikeouts. Capper recorded 10 in seven innings, while Neil earned his first victory of the year.

"Wells did a great job getting on, Andrew (Law) executed well to advance him and then we got the big knock by Ryan (Bernal) to score him," said BYU coach Vance Law. "We have the ability to do it a lot of different ways this season. We stranded a few, the win was blowing in, and it was extremely cold. Capper and Neil pitched well. We had to find a way to win."

Lead-off batter Wells was twice hit by pitches in consecutive innings to start the game. In the first inning, he scored BYU’s first run when Bernal hit a two-out double down the rightfield line. The Cougars’ second run of the game came in the first when Bernal scored off Dillon Robinson’s two-out single to right.

Capper retired the Huskies in order the first two innings. The sophomore righthander struck out the side in the second.

Capper threw a no-hitter through three-plus innings until he surrendered a single which loaded the bases in the fourth with one out. He then struck out the next two batters to increase his total to seven at that point.

Capper added an eighth strikeout victim to start the fifth before he ran into trouble. Washington rallied to tie the score 2-2 with a pair of unearned runs.

In the seventh inning BYU had Alex Wolfe and Bernal at third and second, respectively, with two out when Washington replaced its starter. The Husky reliever struck out pinch-hitter Brett Lopez to end the threat.

The victory improves BYU’s record to 5-3 as the Cougars ready for game two on Friday afternoon in the series of three contests. Friday's game time has been moved up to 3 p.m. from 5 p.m., because of the weather forecast.

Brigham Young Univ. at Washington
Mar 03, 2011 at Seattle, Wash. (Husky Ballpark)
Brigham Young Univ. 3 (5-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  2  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
LAW, Andrew ss...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  3   0
WOLFE, Alex c............  1  0  0  0   3  0 12  1   0
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  1  2  2   1  0  0  0   3
HALL, Austin 1b..........  5  0  0  0   0  3 10  2   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  3  0  2  1   0  0  0  1   1
 LOPEZ, Bret ph/3b.......  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   4
CALDWELL, Kelton lf......  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   2
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   1
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
CAPPER, Chris p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  1   0
 NEIL, Matthew p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  3  6  3   4  9 27 11  12
Washington 2 (1-6)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rogers lf................  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
C. Brown cf..............  4  0  1  1   0  1  3  0   0
Anselment c/rf...........  3  0  1  1   0  1  5  0   0
Lamb 3b..................  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  1   2
Peterson dh..............  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  0   0
Wiggins rf...............  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   3
 Santy c.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  4  0   0
 GardnerYoung ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Scott 1b.................  4  0  0  0   0  1  8  2   0
Afenir ss................  4  1  1  0   0  1  1  4   1
Jones 2b.................  3  1  0  0   0  2  2  1   0
Clem p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 G. Brown p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Brigham p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  2  5  2   0 13 27 10   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 200 000 001 -  3  6  1
Washington.......... 000 020 000 -  2  5  2
-------------------------------------------
E - LAW(2); Lamb(2); Scott(4). LOB - BYU 12; Washington 6. 2B - BERNAL(3);
BRUGMAN(2). HBP - WELLS 2; WOLFE; Rogers; Anselment. SH - LAW(3);
NIELSEN(2); Wiggins(1). SB - WELLS(2); BRUGMAN(1).
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CAPPER, Chris.......  7.0  5  2  0  0 10 26 29
NEIL, Matthew.......  2.0  0  0  0  0  3  6  6
Washington             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Clem................  6.2  4  2  1  3  4 25 32
G. Brown............  1.2  2  1  1  1  3  6  8
Brigham.............  0.2  0  0  0  0  2  2  2
Win - NEIL (1-0).  Loss - G. Brown (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - Clem 2(2). HBP - by Clem (WELLS); by Clem (WELLS); by CAPPER (Rogers); by
CAPPER (Anselment); by Clem (WOLFE).
Umpires - HP: Dave Natali  1B: Randy Sutton  3B: Chris Thomas
Start: 5:34 pm   Time: 2:51   Attendance: 216
Weather: 42, drizzling but clearing
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 18/c WOLFE; 10/dh BERNAL;
26/1b HALL; 3/3b ROBINSON; 12/lf CALDWELL; 16/2b NIELSEN; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 15/p
CAPPER;
Washington starters: 26/lf Rogers; 21/cf C. Brown; 11/c Anselment; 18/3b Lamb;
25/dh Peterson; 38/rf Wiggins; 32/1b Scott; 3/ss Afenir; 12/2b Jones; 24/p
Clem;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS hit by pitch. LAW flied out to lf. WOLFE
fouled out to rf. BERNAL doubled down the rf line, RBI; WELLS scored. HALL
reached on a throwing error by 3b; BERNAL advanced to third. ROBINSON singled
to right center, RBI; HALL advanced to second; BERNAL scored, unearned.
CALDWELL grounded out to 2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Washington 1st - Rogers lined out to ss. C. Brown grounded out to p.
Anselment out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - NIELSEN grounded out to ss. BRUGMAN doubled
down the lf line. WELLS hit by pitch. LAW struck out swinging; WELLS stole
second; BRUGMAN stole third. WOLFE walked. BERNAL lined out to cf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Washington 2nd - Lamb struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b.
Peterson struck out swinging. Wiggins struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HALL struck out swinging. ROBINSON singled
through the right side. CALDWELL struck out looking. ROBINSON advanced to
second on a wild pitch. NIELSEN popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Washington 3rd - Scott grounded out to 2b. Afenir struck out looking.
Jones struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - BRUGMAN popped up to cf. WELLS flied out to
cf. LAW grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 4th - Rogers hit by pitch. C. Brown grounded out to 3b;
Rogers advanced to second. Anselment hit by pitch. Lamb singled to shortstop;
Anselment advanced to second; Rogers advanced to third. Peterson struck out
swinging. Wiggins struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - WOLFE hit by pitch. BERNAL flied out to lf.
WOLFE advanced to second on a wild pitch. HALL struck out looking. ROBINSON
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Washington 5th - Scott struck out looking. Afenir singled to right
center. Jones reached on a fielding error by ss; Afenir advanced to second.
Rogers flied out to rf. C. Brown singled up the middle, advanced to second on
the throw, RBI; Jones advanced to third; Afenir scored, unearned. Anselment
singled to second base, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; C. Brown advanced
to third; Jones scored, unearned. Lamb grounded out to 2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1
error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - CALDWELL reached on a throwing error by 1b.
NIELSEN grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; CALDWELL advanced to second. BRUGMAN out
at first 1b to p; CALDWELL advanced to third. WELLS grounded out to p, bunt.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Washington 6th - Peterson singled up the middle. Wiggins grounded out to
1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; Peterson advanced to second. Scott grounded out to
ss. Afenir grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - LAW grounded out to ss. WOLFE walked. BERNAL
walked; WOLFE advanced to second. HALL grounded out to 3b; BERNAL advanced to
second; WOLFE advanced to third. G. Brown to p for Clem. LOPEZ pinch hit for
ROBINSON. LOPEZ struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Washington 7th - LOPEZ to 3b. Jones struck out swinging. Rogers out at
first 1b to p. C. Brown struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - Anselment to rf. Santy to c for Wiggins.
CALDWELL struck out looking. NIELSEN popped up to 2b. BRUGMAN struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 8th - NEIL to p for CAPPER. Anselment struck out swinging.
Lamb struck out swinging. Peterson grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - WELLS singled through the left side. LAW out
at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt; WELLS advanced to second. WOLFE walked. BERNAL
singled through the left side, RBI; WOLFE advanced to second; WELLS scored.
Brigham to p for G. Brown. HALL struck out swinging. LOPEZ struck out swinging.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Washington 9th - GardnerYoung pinch hit for Santy. GardnerYoung struck
out swinging. Scott flied out to lf. Afenir grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Artificial turf for the third straight week is the forage for BYU’s baseball team as it starts a three-game series at Washington on Thursday.

The Cougars, above .500 for the first time this year at 4-3, play Thursday and Friday nights at Washington, 1-5, concluding the series on Saturday afternoon.

Washington native Stephen Wells leads BYU’s team with a current four-game hitting streak and has one of the hottest bats, raising his average from .214 to .364. Wells, a centerfielder, was one of five teammates named to the all-tournament team last week in Texas. The other Cougars named to that honor were infielders Andrew Law and Ryan Bernal, and pitchers Matthew Neil and Taylor Cole.

Cole is scheduled to start Friday’s game and has a perfect 2-0 record with a 0.00 earned run average in 12 innings. Thursday’s starter is Chris Capper (0-1, 8.00) and southpaw Mark Anderson (1-0, 2.25) gets the nod for Saturday afternoon.

“We have had solid pitching, our hitters are going to continue to come around and I’m pleased we are playing hard,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We had limited practices this week because we are trying to get ahead in school with the long road trip.”

The Cougars remain in the Northwest following the Washington series for games at Portland and the University of Oregon next week.