Air Force Avoids Sweep

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Cameron Coughlan's first-inning home run got BYU off on a good note Saturday, but the Air Force Academy avoided a sweep by beating the Cougars 7-5.

The Falcons charged back with three singles, two doubles, a home run and five runs in the bottom of the first to take a 5-1 lead.

After the first, BYU's starting pitcher Paul Jacinto settled into a groove. He retired 11 of the next 14 hitters with only two hits and one walk before giving up a solo home run to catcher Dan Petro in the bottom of the sixth. Jacinto left the game with one out in the fifth for senior Matt Ward.

Right fielder Matt Carson helped Jacinto remain scoreless in the fourth when he threw out center fielder Nick Liegl at the plate on a sacrifice fly.

The Cougar offense fought back in the third, scoring three runs on three hits. Coughlan walked with one out, and Carson doubled putting runners on second and third. First baseman Dave Jensen then cleared the bases with his 12th double of the year. Rob Itri finished the scoring with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Jensen from second.

"I'm glad to contribute," Jensen said of his two RBI. "But I would rather see us win."

The Cougars fall to 11-15-1 on the season and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference while the Falcons climb to 15-16 on the year, 3-6 in the MWC.

"We couldn't get big hits when we needed," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We're coming along. We've been up and down, but now we are starting to believe in ourselves."

BYU now travels to South Bend, Ind., to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a two-game series starting Monday afternoon.

BYU at Air Force Falcons
              Mar 30, 2002 at Air Force Academy,CO (Falcon Field)
BYU 5 (11-15-1,5-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf.........  5  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b.....  4  2  3  1   1  1  2  1   2
CARSON, Matt rf..........  5  1  1  0   0  1  3  1   3
JENSEN, Dave 1b..........  4  2  1  2   1  0 11  0   0
ITRI, Rob 3b.............  5  0  3  2   0  0  1  2   1
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake dh....  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 BILLS, Kevin ph.........  1  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  5  0  2  0   0  1  1  0   1
WEINGARTEN, Mike c.......  4  0  0  0   0  0  5  1   4
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  3  0  0  0   1  1  0  5   1
JACINTO, Paul p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 WARD, Matt p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 GARCIA, Jason p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39  5 12  5   4  5 24 12  12
Air Force Falcons 7 (15-16,3-6 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
HOWES 1b.................  4  0  1  0   0  1 12  0   0
SHOCKLEY rf..............  4  1  2  0   0  0  1  1   1
FROST 3b.................  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
KASEL, Derck dh..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
PHIFER lf................  4  2  2  2   0  1  2  0   0
 ROLLEG lf...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
LABASCO 2b...............  4  1  2  0   0  0  4  4   0
PETRO c..................  4  2  2  1   0  0  5  2   0
PROUTY ss................  2  0  1  2   1  0  1  6   0
 WINTERS ph..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ROSE ph.................  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 MEARS ss................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
LIEGL cf.................  2  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   1
KAERCHER p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 33  7 11  6   2  4 27 15   4
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 103 010 000 -  5 12  1
Air Force Falcons... 500 001 01X -  7 11  4
-------------------------------------------
E - WEINGARTEN; SHOCKLEY; LABASCO; PROUTY; MEARS. DP - BYU 1; AF 3. LOB -
BYU 12; AF 4. 2B - CARSON M.(7); JENSEN(12); ITRI(9); FROST(14); PROUTY(1).
HR - COUGHLAN(2); PHIFER(4); PETRO(4). HBP - WEINGARTEN. SB - HOWES(12);
SHOCKLEY 2(8); PHIFER(11); LABASCO(5); LIEGL(9). CS - ITRI; PROUTY.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JACINTO, Paul.......  5.1  9  6  6  2  3 24 26
WARD, Matt..........  2.0  2  1  1  0  1  7  7
GARCIA, Jason.......  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
RAY, James..........  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Air Force Falcons      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
KAERCHER............  9.0 12  5  4  4  5 39 44
Win - KAERCHER (5-5).  Loss - JACINTO (2-1).  Save - None.
HB - KAERCHER.
Umpires - HP: Tony Sender  1B: Keith Bailey  2B: John Cortez
Start: 1:00   Time: 2:40   Attendance: 128
Game notes:
Mountain West Conference Game
Third game of three-game series
Weather: 51 degrees at game time; Winds SE 10-15 mph