AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Desmond Poulson fanned eight Falcons Friday to give BYU a 4-1 victory and help the Cougars rebound from a 4-3 loss to the Air Force Academy.

The freshman righthander allowed only four hits on hitter-friendly Falcon Field as he threw 99 pitches and walked none in a complete nine-inning game to improve his record to 5-0. BYU improved to 28-25 and 10-12 in the Mountain West Conference, while the Academy fell to 19-35 and 4-19 in the shortest game of the Cougar season, an hour and 36 minutes.

“This is a glimpse of what we have to look forward to with Desmond (Poulson),” said BYU coach Vance Law. “He showed a lot of courage and maintained composure pitching lights out the entire game.”

Poulson got good defensive support and enough offensive firepower to help the Cougars recoup from a loss in the game suspended from yesterday.

The biggest blast was a two-run double with two out in the eighth inning by Ryan Bernal to left-centerfield, the direction the wind was blowing, to improve on the 2-1 lead BYU had built in the second and seventh innings.

The Cougars brought a 2-0 advantage from Thursday’s suspended game into the afternoon, but lost it on a three-run AFA rally in the eighth inning. In that loss BYU took its 2-0 lead on a fourth-inning homer before snow, hail and lightning forced the suspension.

The two teams conclude the four-game series at the Academy at noon on Saturday.

Game One (completion of suspended game)
Brigham Young Univ. at Air Force Academy (Game 2)
May 19, 2011 at USAF Academy, Colo. (Falcon Field)
Brigham Young Univ. 3 (27-25,9-12 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  1  2  0   0  1  1  1   1
LAW, Andrew ss...........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  4  1  1  0   0  2  0  0   1
BERNAL, Ryan 1b..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  9  0   0
WOLFE, Alex dh...........  4  1  3  3   0  0  0  0   0
GUENTHER, Wes c..........  4  0  1  0   0  0 11  0   3
CALDWELL, Kelton lf......  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
 HALL, Austin ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  1   1
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  5   0
COLE, Taylor p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 CAPPER, Chris p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 34  3  8  3   1  6 24 10   6
Air Force Academy 4 (19-34,4-18 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BAST, Alex lf............  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   0
LOBO, Patrick rf.........  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  0   3
CUSTONS, Garrett c.......  4  2  3  1   0  1  6  0   0
CARTER, Nathan cf........  3  0  0  0   1  1  2  0   0
McMAHON, Jon dh..........  4  1  1  0   0  2  0  0   2
THORNE, Matt 3b..........  3  0  0  0   1  3  0  1   1
MAYO, Parker 1b..........  4  1  1  1   0  1 13  0   1
SCHIERHOLTZ, Vai ss......  2  0  0  0   2  0  1  6   0
ROBERTS, Matthew 2b......  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
 KRAMER, Ryan ph.........  1  0  1  2   0  0  0  0   0
 ROBERTS, Blair 2b.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WHITE, Cameron p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DORLAC, Luke p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 COLANGELO, Stephen p....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  4  8  4   4 10 27 11   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 100 010 -  3  8  0
Air Force Academy... 000 001 03X -  4  8  1
-------------------------------------------
E - SCHIERHOLTZ(17). DP - Falcons 1. LOB - BYU 6; Falcons 8. 2B -
BRUGMAN(16); WOLFE(9); CUSTONS(20). HR - WOLFE(9); CUSTONS(5). HBP - BAST.
SH - LAW(10).
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
COLE, Taylor........  4.2  2  0  0  2  5 16 19
CAPPER, Chris.......  3.1  6  4  4  2  5 15 17
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WHITE, Cameron......  5.0  5  2  1  0  4 20 21
DORLAC, Luke........  3.0  3  1  1  0  1 12 12
COLANGELO, Stephen..  1.0  0  0  0  1  1  2  3
Win - DORLAC (3-2).  Loss - CAPPER (3-5).  Save - COLANGELO (7).
WP - DORLAC(6). HBP - by COLE (BAST). BK - WHITE(2).
Umpires - HP: Ray Belfiore  1B: Marc Lewis  3B: Jon Wolfe
Start: 2:50   Time: 1:56   Attendance: 68
Weather: 50 degrees, cloudy, light wind
Game notes:
Hail delay at 3:51
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 10/1b BERNAL;
18/dh WOLFE; 9/c GUENTHER; 12/lf CALDWELL; 3/3b ROBINSON; 16/2b NIELSEN; 8/p
COLE;
Air Force Academy starters: 20/lf BAST; 11/rf LOBO; 4/c CUSTONS; 5/cf CARTER;
40/dh McMAHON; 7/3b THORNE; 31/1b MAYO; 15/ss SCHIERHOLTZ; 14/2b ROBERTS, M.;
28/p WHITE;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS singled to center field. LAW grounded
out to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; WELLS advanced to second. BRUGMAN struck out
looking. BERNAL reached on a throwing error by ss; WELLS advanced to third.
WOLFE singled up the middle, RBI; BERNAL advanced to second; WELLS scored,
unearned. GUENTHER grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 1st - BAST lined out to 3b. LOBO singled up the
middle. CUSTONS struck out swinging. CARTER walked; LOBO advanced to second.
McMAHON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - CALDWELL grounded out to 1b unassisted.
ROBINSON flied out to cf. NIELSEN grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - THORNE struck out swinging. MAYO grounded out to
1b unassisted. SCHIERHOLTZ grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WELLS struck out swinging. LAW grounded out to
ss. BRUGMAN struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - ROBERTS, M. grounded out to 2b. BAST struck out
looking. LOBO grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - BERNAL flied out to lf. WOLFE homered to right
field, RBI. GUENTHER singled to second base. GUENTHER advanced to second on a
balk. CALDWELL struck out swinging. ROBINSON grounded out to ss. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - CUSTONS doubled to left field. CARTER flied out
to cf. McMAHON grounded out to 2b; CUSTONS advanced to third. THORNE struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NIELSEN flied out to rf. WELLS singled through
the right side. LAW flied out to cf. BRUGMAN grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - MAYO grounded out to p. SCHIERHOLTZ walked.
ROBERTS, M. flied out to lf. BAST hit by pitch; SCHIERHOLTZ advanced to second.
CAPPER to p for COLE. LOBO lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - DORLAC to p for WHITE. BERNAL grounded out to
2b. WOLFE flied out to rf. GUENTHER grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - CUSTONS homered to left field, RBI. CARTER
grounded out to p, bunt. McMAHON struck out swinging. THORNE walked. MAYO
struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - CALDWELL struck out swinging. ROBINSON singled
down the lf line. ROBINSON advanced to second on a wild pitch. NIELSEN grounded
out to ss. WELLS flied out to rf to right center. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - SCHIERHOLTZ grounded out to 2b. ROBERTS, M.
grounded out to 1b unassisted. BAST singled to third base. LOBO struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - LAW grounded out to 3b. BRUGMAN doubled to
right center. BERNAL grounded out to ss; BRUGMAN advanced to third. WOLFE
doubled down the lf line, RBI; BRUGMAN scored. GUENTHER flied out to lf. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - CUSTONS singled to pitcher. CARTER struck out
swinging. McMAHON singled through the right side; CUSTONS advanced to third.
THORNE struck out looking. MAYO singled to left field, RBI; McMAHON advanced to
third; CUSTONS scored. SCHIERHOLTZ walked; MAYO advanced to second. KRAMER
pinch hit for ROBERTS, M.. KRAMER singled to center field, 2 RBI; SCHIERHOLTZ
advanced to third, out at home cf to 3b to 2b to c; MAYO scored; McMAHON
scored. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - ROBERTS, B. to 2b for KRAMER. COLANGELO to p
for DORLAC. HALL pinch hit for CALDWELL. HALL struck out swinging. ROBINSON
walked. NIELSEN lined into double play ss to 1b; ROBINSON out on the play. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Game Two
Brigham Young Univ. at Air Force Academy
May 20, 2011 at USAF Academy, Colo. (Falcon Field)
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (28-25,10-12 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  1  1  0   0  2  5  0   2
LAW, Andrew ss...........  4  1  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
BERNAL, Ryan lf..........  4  0  1  2   0  1  1  0   1
WOLFE, Alex dh...........  3  1  0  0   1  1  0  0   1
HALL, Austin 1b..........  3  1  2  0   0  0  8  0   0
GUENTHER, Wes c..........  4  0  1  1   0  0  7  1   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  2  0  0  0   1  0  3  4   0
POULSON, Desmond p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 32  4  6  3   2  4 27 10   4
Air Force Academy 1 (19-35,4-19 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BAST, Alex lf............  4  0  1  1   0  0  1  0   1
CARTER, Nathan cf........  4  0  0  0   0  2  3  0   0
CUSTONS, Garrett c.......  4  0  0  0   0  2  4  0   1
McMAHON, Jon rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
KRAMER, Ryan dh..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
THORNE, Matt 3b..........  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  1   0
MAYO, Parker 1b..........  3  0  1  0   0  1 13  3   1
SCHIERHOLTZ, Vai ss......  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  5   0
ROBERTS, Matthew 2b......  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  7   0
 LOBO, Patrick ph........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ABRECHT, Evan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  3  1   0
Totals................... 30  1  5  1   0  8 27 17   3
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 010 000 120 -  4  6  0
Air Force Academy... 000 001 000 -  1  5  1
-------------------------------------------
E - SCHIERHOLTZ. DP - BYU 1; Falcons 1. LOB - BYU 4; Falcons 3. 2B -
BRUGMAN(17); BERNAL(14); GUENTHER(5); BAST(21); SCHIERHOLTZ(5). SH -
HALL(4); ROBERTS, M.(4). SB - HALL(18).
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
POULSON, Desmond....  9.0  5  1  1  0  8 30 31
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ABRECHT, Evan.......  9.0  6  4  2  2  4 32 35
Win - POULSON (5-0).  Loss - ABRECHT (5-8).  Save - None.
WP - ABRECHT(8).
Umpires - HP: Marc Lewis  1B: Jon Wolfe  3B: Ray Belfiore
Start: 1:30 pm   Time: 1:36   Attendance: 155
Weather: Mid 60's, sunny
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 10/lf BERNAL;
18/dh WOLFE; 26/1b HALL; 9/c GUENTHER; 3/3b ROBINSON; 16/2b NIELSEN; 19/p
POULSON;
Air Force Academy starters: 20/lf BAST; 5/cf CARTER; 4/c CUSTONS; 40/rf
McMAHON; 6/dh KRAMER; 7/3b THORNE; 31/1b MAYO; 15/ss SCHIERHOLTZ; 14/2b
ROBERTS, M.; 30/p ABRECHT;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS struck out looking. LAW grounded out to
ss. BRUGMAN doubled to left center. BERNAL out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 1st - BAST flied out to cf. CARTER struck out looking.
CUSTONS grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WOLFE popped up to 2b. HALL singled to right
field. HALL stole second. GUENTHER doubled down the lf line, RBI; HALL scored.
ROBINSON flied out to cf; GUENTHER advanced to third. NIELSEN walked. WELLS
struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - McMAHON flied out to rf down the rf line. KRAMER
singled to shortstop. THORNE singled up the middle; KRAMER advanced to second.
MAYO grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; THORNE out on the play. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - LAW grounded out to 2b. BRUGMAN grounded out
to 2b. BERNAL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - SCHIERHOLTZ popped up to 2b down the rf line.
ROBERTS, M. grounded out to 2b. BAST flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - WOLFE out at first 1b to p. HALL singled
through the left side. GUENTHER grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; HALL
out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - CARTER flied out to rf. CUSTONS struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b. McMAHON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - ROBINSON grounded out to ss. NIELSEN grounded
out to ss. WELLS fouled out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - KRAMER grounded out to 2b. THORNE struck out
looking. MAYO struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - LAW flied out to cf. BRUGMAN grounded out to
ss. BERNAL grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - SCHIERHOLTZ doubled to left center. ROBERTS, M.
out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; SCHIERHOLTZ advanced to third. BAST doubled to
right center, RBI; SCHIERHOLTZ scored. CARTER struck out swinging. CUSTONS
grounded out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WOLFE walked. HALL grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt; WOLFE advanced to second. GUENTHER out at first 1b to p; WOLFE advanced
to third. WOLFE scored on a wild pitch. ROBINSON grounded out to 2b. 1 run,
0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - McMAHON flied out to cf to right center. KRAMER
flied out to lf. THORNE flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - NIELSEN flied out to cf. WELLS singled up the
middle. LAW reached on a fielding error by ss; WELLS advanced to second.
BRUGMAN flied out to rf. BERNAL doubled to left center, 2 RBI; LAW scored,
unearned; WELLS scored, unearned. WOLFE struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits,
1 error, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - MAYO singled up the middle. SCHIERHOLTZ struck
out looking. LOBO pinch hit for ROBERTS, M.. LOBO flied out to cf. BAST flied
out to cf to right center. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - ROBERTS, M. to 2b for LOBO. HALL grounded out
to 3b. GUENTHER grounded out to 2b. ROBINSON grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 9th - CARTER grounded out to ss. CUSTONS struck out
swinging. McMAHON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

This weekend’s four-game series at the Air Force Academy put BYU’s baseball team more in focus for next week’s Mountain West Conference Tournament.

The Cougars, now 26-24 and 8-11 in the MWC, can climb back into third place in the league standings as they position their pitching rotation against Air Force.

“These games can affect our seed and we want to create momentum going into the tournament,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “They (AFA) put up stiff competition.”

Senior Matthew Neil (5-4, 2.25) is scheduled to start the seven-inning first game on Thursday at noon, followed by Taylor Cole (4-5, 3.33) in the nightcap which will be broadcast live locally by Radio 960 AM and BYU radio on the Internet. The Cougars will be the home team in game one, which is a make-up game for a rain-out last month in Provo.

Freshman Desmond Poulson (4-0, 5.23) will start Friday afternoon’s game, while sophomore southpaw Mark Anderson (3-2, 4.50) starts the final game of the regular season on Saturday at the Academy.

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