Carson's HR Helps Win Rubber Game

ALBUQUERQUE -- Matt Carson's three-run homer in the 10th inning Saturday afternoon provided BYU an 8-7 victory over New Mexico.

"All series long they pitched me inside, then they threw one over the heart of the plate," said Carson, who has now hit seven home runs. "The key is to win even when we are not playing good. I saw the ball well this series."

Carson's two-out homer wasn't the only three-run dong of the day. Kevin Bills gave the Cougars a lead they would never lose with a three-run shot in the second inning. And Dave Jensen's solo homer in the sixth put BYU up, 4-2. Jensen leads the team with eight homers.

"It was an ugly win, but we'll take it," said BYU Coach Vance Law, whose team improves to 16-19-1 overall and 9-5 in the Mountain West Conference. "Matt (Carson) hit the ball on the button all day right at people, so I was glad to see him drive it out."

Carson's homer came after UNM tied the game in the ninth at five-all after Cougar starter Paul Jacinto pitched great.

"Jacinto was awesome," said Carson, "but we didn't play well behind him."

The Cougars committed three errors in regulation play which led to as many unearned runs for Jacinto who ended up not getting the decision. Jacinto struck out five Lobos, including a big one to end the fourth inning. Tyler Dabo, the third reliever of the day, picked up his second victory for the second Saturday in a row, again in extra innings.

BYU's other run came in the seventh inning when Bills beat out an infield single. He advanced to second on a balk and scored from second on Doug Jackson's single to give the Cougars a 5-3 advantage.

In that seventh inning the Cougars lost one of its three base-runners in the game due to pickoffs and steals.

"We're playing scared right now and need to play with confidence," said Law. "We got out of here winning two of three, but it doesn't bode well for the future unless we change some things."

Injuries forced Law again to juggle his lineup as he moved Jensen to left field and started Jake Stubblefield at first and Adam Wilkes at catcher.

The Cougars seemed to have the game in hand until they walked the first two batters in the ninth. The Lobos forced the game into an extra inning when the walked batters each scored off sacrifice flies.

UNM's record falls to 17-22 and 6-9. The Cougars play four games this week at San Diego State, starting with the suspended game on Thursday. SDSU leads 11-10 going into the ninth inning of that game.

Brigham Young at New Mexico
                 Apr 13, 2002 at Albuquerque, N.M. (Lobo Field)
Brigham Young 8 (16-19-1,9-5 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug cf.........  5  0  1  1   0  1  8  0   0
COUGHLAN, Cameron dh.....  5  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  4  1  2  3   1  0  3  0   0
JENSEN, Dave lf..........  5  1  1  1   0  0  3  0   1
ITRI, Rob 2b.............  4  0  1  0   1  0  4  2   0
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake 1b....  4  1  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  4  1  3  0   0  0  2  2   0
BILLS, Kevin 3b..........  4  2  2  3   0  1  1  1   2
 THURGOOD, Ryan 3b.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WILKES, Adam c...........  3  0  0  0   1  0  5  0   0
 YI, Han pr..............  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BIRKELAND, Lars c.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
JACINTO, Paul p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 ADAMS, Ryan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DABO, Tyler p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38  8 12  8   3  3 30  6   3
New Mexico 7 (17-22,6-9 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Young, M. cf.............  5  2  1  1   1  0  2  0   0
Young, D. ss.............  5  1  4  0   0  0  3  0   1
Cairns 2b................  4  0  1  2   0  1  2  3   0
Alexander, C 1b..........  3  0  0  2   0  1  7  2   3
Lovato dh................  3  1  0  0   0  2  0  0   1
 Murray rf...............  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
 Gross p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 Tajima ph/c.............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   1
Stroud lf................  4  1  1  0   1  0  2  0   0
Mader 3b.................  5  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
Salas rf/p...............  5  0  1  1   0  0  7  2   2
Grady c..................  3  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   2
 Guerrero ph.............  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
 McCready p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Alexander, M ph.........  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
 Lizarraga pr............  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
DeYapp p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 38  7  9  6   5  5 30 10  10
Score by Innings                      R  H  E
---------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 030 001 100 3 -  8 12  4
New Mexico.......... 002 001 002 2 -  7  9  0
---------------------------------------------
E - JENSEN; ITRI; STUBBLEFIELD; WILKES. LOB - BYU 3; UNM 10. 2B - WIENS;
Cairns. HR - CARSON M.(7); JENSEN(8); BILLS(3). HBP - Young, D.. SF -
Cairns; Alexander, C 2. SB - Mader. CS - CARSON M.; ITRI.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JACINTO, Paul.......  7.0  6  3  0  2  5 28 32
ADAMS, Ryan.........  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  3
RAY, James..........  0.0  0  2  2  2  0  0  2
DABO, Tyler.........  2.0  3  2  1  1  0  7 10
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
DeYapp..............  6.2  6  5  5  1  3 26 27
Salas...............  1.1  3  0  0  0  0  5  5
Gross...............  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  3  3
McCready............  1.0  2  3  3  2  0  4  6
Win - DABO (2-0).  Loss - McCready (2-3).  Save - None.
HBP - by JACINTO (Young, D.). BK - Salas. PB - Grady.
Umpires - HP: Rick Castorena  1B: Jim Paronto  3B: Bill Boyd
Start: 12:56 pm   Time: 3:15   Attendance: 686
JACINTO faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Salas faced 1 batter in the 9th.
RAY faced 2 batters in the 9th.