Falcons Even Series

PROVO -- A wild finish of the BYU-Air Force Academy baseball game Friday night came out in favor of the Falcons, 10-8.

The Air Force rallied to tie the score in the seventh inning at 6-6 after losing a 2-0 lead early in the game to the Cougars. BYU regained the lead at 8-6 in the bottom of the seventh, then surrendered four runs in the eighth. It was a game the Falcons wanted desperately, to the tune they brought in Saturday's probable starting pitcher, Erik Fisher to close the game.

In the topsy-turvy game, Tooele's Paul Pratt ended up being the winning pitcher in relief. Pratt, a sophomore, entered the game in the seventh and pitched a complete inning in giving up no hits to even his record at 1-1.

In between there were several fireworks, not counting lightning and rain that came in the fifth inning to dampen the spirits of 1,964 fans at Larry H. Miller Field.

After the Falcons took a 2-0 lead, BYU rallied in the third when Doug Jackson his a one-out triple and Matt Carson beat out an infield single. Both scored as the Cougars got back-to-back doubles from Dave Jensen and Rob Itri. When the dust cleared from the third inning, BYU was on top, 3-2.

The Cougars spoiled a chance in the fourth when they left the bases loaded.

"We can't afford to leave 16 guys on base like we did tonight," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We need to get a few more key hits. I'm stunned. I felt like we were in control through the first six innings."

Part of that control came in the fifth when Jensen doubled again and was singled in by Rob Itri, making the score 4-2. Then Kevin Bills hit a sacrifice fly deep to centerfield and Mike Rose made a diving catch. Rose was cross-body-blocked by his teammate diving for the catch, but he hung on as Ranger Wiens scored all the way from second base on the sac-fly.

The Falcons scored four runs in the seventh, in part due to a two-run triple by Josh Phifer. Adam Howes' three-run homer in the eighth put AFA up 9-8.

The Cougars, now 17-24-1 overall and 10-10 in the Mountain West Conference, made a desperate attempt in the eighth as Pratt walked three straight batters with two outs. Then he was replaced by Fisher, who enticed Jackson to fly out to centerfield.

The Falcons, now 22-22 and 9-11 in the MWC, play BYU in a final game of the series in Provo on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Air Force Falcons at Brigham Young Univ.
               Apr 26, 2002 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force Falcons 10 (22-22,9-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
HOWES, Adam 1b...........  4  2  2  3   1  0 11  0   0
SHOCKLEY, Tony rf........  5  3  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
PHIFER, Josh lf..........  4  1  2  2   0  0  1  0   0
KASEL, Derck dh..........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
FROST, Bowie 3b..........  5  1  2  1   0  0  2  1   2
WINTERS, Steve 2b........  3  0  1  1   0  0  0  5   2
 GORNICK, Brian ph.......  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WALTER, Colton pr/2b....  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   0
ROSE, Mike cf............  1  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   0
 LIEGL, Nick cf..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   1
PETRO, Daniel c..........  5  1  1  0   0  1  6  1   0
PROUTY, Nelson ss........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   2
 ARNETT, Rob ph..........  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
 MEARS, Scott ss.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PARAMORE, Price ph/2b...  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
KOEGEL, Johnny p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 STUBBENDORFF, Jesper p..  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PRATT, Paul p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 FISHER, Erik p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39 10 14  8   3  3 27 11   7
Brigham Young Univ. 8 (17-24-1,10-10 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug cf.........  6  2  4  1   0  0  2  0   5
COUGHLAN, Cameron dh.....  5  0  1  1   1  2  0  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  4  1  1  1   2  1  1  0   3
JENSEN, Dave 1b..........  6  3  3  0   0  0 11  1   3
ITRI, Rob 2b.............  6  0  3  4   0  0  3  6   0
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  5  1  0  0   1  2  3  3   4
BILLS, Kevin 3b..........  0  0  0  1   2  0  0  1   0
 STUBBLEFIELD, Jake ph...  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BIRKELAND, Lars c.......  0  0  0  0   1  0  1  1   0
WEINGARTEN, Mike c.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  1   1
 THURGOOD, Ryan pr/3b....  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
YI, Han lf...............  4  0  1  0   1  1  2  0   0
ADAMS, Ryan p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GARCIA, Jason p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DABO, Tyler p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 41  8 14  8   9  6 27 14  16
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Falcons... 011 000 440 - 10 14  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 003 021 200 -  8 14  3
-------------------------------------------
E - SHOCKLEY; WALTER; PARAMORE; JACKSON; BILLS 2. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB -
AF 7; BYU Cougars 16. 2B - WINTERS; GORNICK; COUGHLAN; JENSEN 2; ITRI. 3B -
PHIFER; JACKSON. HR - HOWES(3). HBP - PHIFER. SF - KASEL, Derck; BILLS. SB -
SHOCKLEY; PHIFER; COUGHLAN; CARSON M.; JENSEN; THURGOOD. CS - LIEGL; ARNETT;
ITRI.
Air Force Falcons      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
KOEGEL, Johnny......  5.0 10  5  5  4  2 23 28
STUBBENDORFF, Jesper  1.2  4  3  1  1  2 10 11
PRATT, Paul.........  1.0  0  0  0  3  1  3  6
FISHER, Erik........  1.1  0  0  0  1  1  5  6
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ADAMS, Ryan.........  6.2  8  6  3  3  2 28 32
RAY, James..........  0.0  1  0  0  0  0  1  1
GARCIA, Jason.......  0.2  4  4  4  0  0  6  6
DABO, Tyler.........  1.2  1  0  0  0  1  4  5
Win - PRATT (1-1).  Loss - GARCIA (0-1).  Save - FISHER (2).
WP - RAY. HBP - by ADAMS (PHIFER). BK - RAY 2.
Umpires - HP: Bruce Bayne  1B: Kevin Daugherty  3B: Mike Andrews
Start: 7:02   Time: 3:22   Attendance: 1964
Game notes:
Game 2 of 3
RAY faced 1 batter in the 7th.