Twelve-Inning Triumph Over Utes

PROVO -- Arch -rivals took Saturday's series finale into extra innings, but heroics from Cameron Coughlan, Tyler Dabo and Ryan Chambers helped BYU complete the come-from-behind 12-inning victory 10-9 over Utah.

Utah freshman catcher Jared Snyder put the pressure on BYU from three different angles. After eight innings behind the plate catching and batting three for five, the freshman from Sandy got the call to pitch. He went 3.2 scoreless innings in relief before walking in BYU's game-winning run with the bases loaded.

Utah left fielder Donnie Saba added to Utah's exposive night. Saba hit an extra double instead of a triple, missing the cycle by one extrabase. Saba went four for six with a home run, two doubles, a single, nine total bases and one RBI for the Utes.

BYU countered Saba's production and Snyder's dynamics with a team effort. Every Cougar starter got a hit to help BYU get a season-high 22 hits, 21 of which were singles. The Cougars, now 13-17-1 overall and 7-4 in the Mountain West Conference, were lead by Coughlan with four hits and Doug Jackson, Ranger Wiens, Rob Itri and Matt Carson with three hits each.

In the bottom of the eighth with the score 8-7 for Utah, Carson led off with a single. First baseman Dave Jensen followed by drawing a walk, and Itri, with three hits and three RBI on the night, sacrifice bunted to move the runners to second and third. Ute reliever Doug Mackay got Wiens to ground out to the pitcher, but freshman center fielder Chambers came through for BYU, knocking in both runners to put the Cougars up 9-8.

Senior lefty James Ray tried to close the game, but got into trouble. Ray led off the top of the ninth with three straight balls to Adam Castleton, but fought back to get the strike out. Nate Weese followed by dropping a blooper over Coughlan's head at second and managed to get a double out of it. Utah right fielder Brit Pannier followed with another double to score Weese and tie the game.

BYU head Coach Vance Law brought in Tyler Dabo with one out to close the game. Dabo started off with two quick strikes, but third baseman Mike Westfall battled back to a full count before flying out to right field. Dabo then struck out pinch hitter Jake Jordison on three straight pitches to end the ninth tied at nine.

Utah head coach Tim Esmay switched Snyder, his catcher, onto the mound to pitch the bottom of the ninth for the Utes. Snyder started off by striking out Jackson, then got Coughlan to fly out to left. Carson worked to a 3-2 count, but ended up grounding out to short.

Snyder, after catching eight innings and pitching one, led off the 10th inning with a ground out against Dabo. BYU first baseman Jensen fielded the next hit by Brett Baldwin and made a diving tag at first for the second out. Center fielder Matt Ciaramella followed with a line drive up the middle, but Dabo got a ground out from Saba to end the half-inning.

Jensen hit a single up the middle to start the bottom of the 10th. Coach Law called for a hit-and-run, and Wiens hit a line drive into right field. Jensen missed Law's signal to stop at third, and the Utes ended up running him down for the second out. Chambers flew out to end the scoring threat for BYU.

The Utes and the Cougars each went three-up three-down in the 11th.

Westfall drew a hit-by-pitch to start the 12th, then reached second on Dabo's wild pitch. Dabo battled back by striking out pinch hitter Donald Hawes. Ute pitcher Snyder stepped to the plate, but flew out to right field, missing the chance at a hit that would give him a potential game-winning RBI and a win in relief.

Coughlan got his fourth hit of the night to lead off the bottom of the 11th, then reached second on a wild throw by Saba at second base. With a runner on second, Carson squared to bunt. With a perfectly placed sacrifice on the first base line, the Utes had trouble getting to the ball and Carson reached first with his third hit. With runners on first and third and no outs, Utah elected to intentionally walk clean-up hitter Jensen. Itri, with the infield in, hit a quick line drive up the middle, but Baldwin made a diving catch for the first out. Wiens hit another ball at Baldwin, this one a ground ball, but Baldwin managed to throw Coughlan out at the plate. With the bases load and two outs, Snyder threw four straight balls to Chambers to walk in the winning run.

Dabo pick up his first win of the season and dropped the Utes to a 20-16 mark and a 5-7 record in the MWC. The two teams collide May 9 to start a three-game series at Franklin Covey Field in Salt Lake City. BYU's next game is on Monday at Southern Utah to start a two-game series.

University of Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
               Apr 06, 2002 at Provo, Utah (Larry H Miller Field)
University of Utah 9 (20-16,5-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CIARAMELLA, Matt cf......  6  0  2  0   0  1  3  0   1
SABA, Donnie lf/2b.......  6  3  4  1   0  0  3  0   2
CASTLETON,Adam 2b........  5  1  1  1   1  3  2  2   0
 CHRISMAN, Jed lf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WEESE, Nate 1b...........  6  1  1  0   0  0 10  2   1
PANNIER, Brit rf.........  4  2  2  2   1  1  0  1   0
WESTFALL, Mike 3b........  4  2  2  1   0  0  3  2   0
BASHAM, Mike dh..........  3  0  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
 JORDISON, Jake ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
SNYDER, Jared c/p........  5  0  3  2   0  0  7  1   0
 HAWES, Donald c.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  1   0
BALDWIN, Brett ss........  6  0  0  1   0  0  4  4   1
MAIO, Mitch p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 MACKAY, Doug p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 WESTMORELAND, Clay p....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 47  9 16  9   2  8 35 15   9
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (13-17-1,7-4 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf.........  7  2  3  2   0  1  2  0   1
COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b.....  7  2  4  1   0  1  2  6   1
CARSON, Matt rf..........  7  2  3  0   0  2  4  1   2
JENSEN, Dave 1b..........  3  1  1  1   3  0 16  1   0
ITRI, Rob 3b.............  6  0  3  3   0  0  0  2   1
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  7  1  3  0   0  1  2  5   3
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  6  0  2  3   1  1  1  0   1
WEINGARTEN, Mike dh......  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   2
 YI, Han ph..............  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........  6  2  2  0   0  0  9  2   2
JACINTO, Paul p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 STONE, Jeff p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 WARD, Matt 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................... 54 10 22 10   5  7 36 19  16
Score by Innings                        R  H  E
-----------------------------------------------
University of Utah.. 123 011 001 000 -  9 16  4
Brigham Young Univ.. 200 202 120 001 - 10 22  1
-----------------------------------------------
Note: 2 outs, 3 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - SABA; CASTLETON; WEESE; MAIO; JENSEN. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - Utes 9;
BYU Cougars 16. 2B - SABA 2; WEESE; PANNIER 2; SNYDER. 3B - WESTFALL;
BIRKELAND. HR - SABA(8). HBP - PANNIER; WESTFALL 2; BASHAM. SH - ITRI. SF -
SNYDER; JENSEN. SB - JACKSON; ITRI. CS - SABA; SNYDER.
University of Utah     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MAIO, Mitch.........  6.2 16  7  6  1  6 35 37
MACKAY, Doug........  1.0  2  2  2  1  0  4  6
WESTMORELAND, Clay..  0.1  0  0  0  1  0  1  2
SNYDER, Jared.......  3.2  4  1  1  2  1 14 16
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JACINTO, Paul.......  2.2  4  6  4  0  3 12 15
STONE, Jeff.........  3.1  8  2  2  2  1 14 17
WARD, Matt..........  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  3  3
RAY, James..........  1.1  2  1  1  0  1  6  6
DABO, Tyler.........  3.2  1  0  0  0  3 12 13
Win - DABO (1-0).  Loss - SNYDER (1-1).  Save - None.
WP - MAIO; DABO. HBP - by JACINTO (WESTFALL); by JACINTO (BASHAM); by STONE
(PANNIER); by DABO (WESTFALL).
Umpires - HP: Terry Balser  1B: Ray Belfiore  3B: John Cortez
Start: 8:01   Time: 4:08   Attendance: 2611
Game notes:
Game 3 of 3
STONE faced 1 batter in the 7th.
WARD faced 1 batter in the 8th.