Utes Spoil Grand Opening

PROVO -- Pomp and ceremony went BYU's way and even the weather broke in time Saturday, but it wasn't enough for the Cougars to overcome an 18-10 defeat to Utah's baseball team.

The Utes evened their record at 21-21 and improved to 10-11 in the Mountain West Conference as they spoiled the Grand Opening of Miller Park with a near-record 25-hit performance before 1,371 fans.

The Cougars, now 26-17 and 14-7, could managed only an infield hit by Matt Carson through the first three innings, while Utah cranked out a 12-0 lead. Then Carson tagged a homer, his 16th of the year in the fourth inning. But even in the home run derby, Utah bested BYU with a second inning solo by Britt Pannier, a grand slam in the sixth by Nate Weese and a two-run shot by Tommy Maestas in the ninth.

"This one got away from us early," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "It was a sense of apathy through the first five innings when we went through the motions. They were locking in on Jeff (Stone) from the start. I don't fault any of our pitchers for not throwing their best, we just didn't throw it where we should."

Pannier and Weese were close to hitting for the cycle, with Pannier stroking his second double in his last at bat. Only the Utes' number nine batter struggled among their starters with an oh-for-six performance. Utah batted around in the second and third innings, hitting Stone, Scott Koffman and Jake Chrisman almost at will.

About the only early Ute miscue came in the fourth inning when Maestas tried to score off Weese's single to right field and was thrown out by Carson. Through five innings BYU mustered only three hits.

Then in the seventh inning, Law shook up his lineup with substitutions at first, short, catcher, and the outfield. Finally in the ninth inning BYU uncorked a six-run rally thanks in part to Cameron Coughlan's two-out triple which cleared the loaded bases.

The day began with grand opening ceremonies which featured an opening pitch by Larry H. Miller and the introduction of dignitaries and former BYU baseball coaches Jay Van Noy, Glen Tuckett, Gary Pullins, Vernon Law and Bobby Noel. Miller and his wife Gail unveiled a rendering of themselves before the game and Cougar second baseman impressively sang the national anthem.

In the sixth inning, Pullins was presented a special edition of the Cameron Tuckett Award by Bill and Norma Anderson and Glen Tuckett.

The Cougars next host San Diego State in a three-game series starting on Thursday evening.

The Automated ScoreBook
                   University of Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
               Apr 21, 2001 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
University of Utah 18 (21-21,10-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SABA, Donnie lf..........  5  4  4  1   0  0  6  0   0
 BASHAM, Mike ph/lf......  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
CASTLETON, Adam 2b.......  5  2  3  0   0  0  1  1   0
WEESE, Nate 1b...........  5  3  5  7   1  0  5  0   0
SHELTON, Chris c.........  6  1  2  1   0  1 10  0   0
SWENSON, Sam cf..........  5  1  1  1   1  1  2  0   3
PANNIER, Brit rf.........  6  2  4  2   0  0  1  0   2
WESTFALL, Mike 3b........  5  2  2  0   0  0  0  1   2
 OVERHOLT, Sean 3b.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
MAESTAS, Tommy ss........  6  3  4  2   0  0  1  2   0
STUART, Rob dh...........  6  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   1
BAILEY, Ryan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McAFEE, Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 52 18 25 14   2  5 27  4  10
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (26-17,14-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf/cf......  5  2  2  0   0  2  3  0   0
BELLISTON, Shane cf......  3  1  1  0   0  1  3  0   0
 WHITLEY, Aaron lf.......  1  1  1  2   0  0  1  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  3  1  2  1   0  0  4  1   0
 WIRRICK, Michael rf.....  2  1  1  0   0  1  2  0   1
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  4  0  1  0   1  2  0  2   1
HIESTAND, Jeff dh........  5  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b.........  3  0  1  2   0  0  4  0   1
 LAW, Tim 1b.............  2  1  1  1   0  1  1  0   0
COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b.....  5  0  1  3   0  1  3  2   3
BIRKELAND, Lars c........  2  0  0  0   0  0  4  0   0
 DAVIES, Michael c.......  3  2  2  0   0  0  2  0   1
PERRY, Tyler ss..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 HALES, Brad ss..........  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
STONE, Jeff p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 KOFFMAN, Scott p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CHRISMAN, Jake p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WARD, Matt p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DOXEY, Tom p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 42 10 14 10   1 11 27  7   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
University of Utah.. 156 004 002 - 18 25  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 102 106 - 10 14  2
-------------------------------------------
E - WEESE; COUGHLAN; BIRKELAND. DP - Cougars 1. LOB - Utes 10; Cougars 7. 2B
- CASTLETON 2; WEESE; SWENSON; PANNIER 2; WESTFALL; JACKSON; HAGUEWOOD;
COUGHLAN; DAVIES. 3B - PANNIER. HR - WEESE(11); PANNIER(9); MAESTAS(2);
CARSON(16). HBP - CASTLETON. SF - WHITLEY.
University of Utah     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BAILEY, Ryan........  6.0  6  3  3  1  3 24 25
McAFEE, Matt........  3.0  8  7  3  0  8 18 19
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
STONE, Jeff.........  1.2  7  6  4  2  0 12 14
KOFFMAN, Scott......  1.0  6  6  6  0  0  9  9
CHRISMAN, Jake......  3.1  7  4  4  0  4 17 18
WARD, Matt..........  2.0  3  0  0  0  1  9  9
DOXEY, Tom..........  1.0  2  2  2  0  0  5  5
Win - BAILEY (6-3).  Loss - STONE (3-4).  Save - McAFEE (4).
WP - McAFEE 2; CHRISMAN 2. HB - CHRISMAN. PB - SHELTON; BIRKELAND.
Umpires - Home:Mike Andrews  1st:Joe Burleson  3rd:Dan Perugini
Start: 12:30   Time: 2:55   Attendance: 1371
Game notes:
Final game of regular series