Utes End League Winning Streak

PROVO -- Rival Utah stopped BYU's league winning streak Thursday evening and in the process defeated the Cougars and Nate Fernley, 8-7, before a record 1,609 fans at Larry H. Miller Field.

Fernley, the nation's winningest pitcher, took only his second loss of the season against 11 wins as he held Utah in check through four innings with a 3-0 lead. Then Utah uncorked a seven-run fifth inning and chased him from the game by taking an 8-3 lead in the sixth inning.

"I didn't feel like I pitched that bad, they just hit good pitches and things didn't go my way," said Fernley. "I hit a wall, but my teammates battled back."

A two-run double by Brit Pannier and two-run triple by Donnie Saba accounted for most of that seven-run Ute rally in the fifth as Utah batted through its lineup. Pannier's lead-off homer and Mike Westfall's single on Fernley's 82nd pitch sent the Cougar righthander from the mound.

"Our best pitcher didn't have much luck tonight," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "I hate to lose when we get a big crowd, but they saw a good game and I'm proud of the way we battled back."

The Cougars, now 25-16 overall and 13-6 in the Mountain West Conference, drew first blood in the game when Jeff Hiestand hit a second-inning solo homer. Kainoa Obrey knocked a fourth inning solo shot over the wall, followed by Hiestand doubling and scoring on Lars Birkeland's sharp single.

Hiestand, a freshman walk-on, went four-of-five for the night, scoring again in the sixth after a lead-off single. BYU closed the gap in the three-run seventh when the top of its order hit consecutive hits and scored.

Doug Jackson started the seventh-inning rally with a lead-off triple which chased Travis Palmer from the game. Shane Belliston beat out a hit to shortstop to drive in Jackson. Matt Carson singled to right field and Belliston scored off the fielder's throwing error. Carson was driven in by Ty Haguewood's sac-fly.

Utah reliever Mitch Maio struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save of the season. The Cougars had won seven MWC games in a row before Thursday's loss.

The Utes, now 25-16 and 13-6, return to Provo for a 6 p.m. game on Friday which will also be televised by KBYU (channel 11) and BYUTV with Chris Tunis and Jay Monsen calling the action.

Saturday's grand opening festivities at Miller Park begin at 11:30 a.m. at Gail Miller Field prior to the softball game between BYU and Colorado State. The baseball ceremony at Larry H. Miller Field begins at noon prior to the 12:30 start of the third BYU-Utah baseball game.

The Automated ScoreBook
                   University of Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
               Apr 19, 2001 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
University of Utah 8 (20-20,9-10 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SABA, Donnie lf..........  5  1  2  2   0  1  2  0   1
CASTLETON, Adam 2b.......  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
WEESE, Nate 1b...........  5  0  1  0   0  0  7  0   1
SHELTON, Chris c.........  4  1  1  1   0  1 10  0   0
SWENSON, Sam cf..........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   1
PANNIER, Brit rf.........  4  2  3  3   0  0  4  0   0
WESTFALL, Mike 3b........  4  1  2  1   0  0  1  3   0
MAESTAS, Tommy ss........  3  1  0  0   0  1  1  1   1
HAWES, Donald dh.........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
PALMER, Travis p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
 LINDSEY, Brett p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MAIO, Mitch p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 37  8 11  7   0  4 27  6   4
Brigham Young Univ. 7 (25-16,13-6 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf.........  4  1  2  0   0  1  6  0   0
BELLISTON, Shane cf......  5  1  1  1   0  0  3  0   1
CARSON, Matt rf..........  4  1  1  0   1  1  1  0   1
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  5  1  1  1   0  3  1  2   2
HIESTAND, Jeff dh........  5  3  4  1   0  1  0  0   0
HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b.........  4  0  0  1   0  1  7  1   0
BIRKELAND, Lars c........  2  0  1  1   2  0  4  1   0
PERRY, Tyler 2b/ss.......  4  0  1  1   0  2  4  1   3
HALES, Brad ss...........  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  2   1
 COUGHLAN, Cameron ph/2b.  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
FERNLEY, Nate p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 SU'A, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36  7 12  6   4 10 27  7   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
University of Utah.. 000 071 000 -  8 11  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 010 201 300 -  7 12  2
-------------------------------------------
E - CASTLETON; PANNIER; PERRY 2. DP - Utes 1. LOB - Utes 4; Cougars 8. 2B -
SHELTON; PANNIER; HIESTAND; HALES. 3B - SABA; JACKSON. HR - PANNIER(8);
OBREY(9); HIESTAND(6). HBP - CASTLETON. SH - MAESTAS; JACKSON. SF -
HAGUEWOOD. CS - CASTLETON.
University of Utah     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PALMER, Travis......  6.1 12  7  6  2  6 30 32
LINDSEY, Brett......  0.2  0  0  0  2  1  1  4
MAIO, Mitch.........  2.0  0  0  0  0  3  5  6
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FERNLEY, Nate.......  5.0  9  8  6  0  4 25 25
SU'A, Justin........  3.2  2  0  0  0  0 11 13
RAY, James..........  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Win - PALMER (5-3).  Loss - FERNLEY (11-2).  Save - MAIO (2).
WP - PALMER 2. HB - SU'A. BK - PALMER.
Umpires - Home:Joe Burleson  1st:Dan Perugini  3rd:Mike Andrews
Start: 6:00   Time: 2:28   Attendance: 1609
Game notes:
Game one of three in Provo
FERNLEY faced 2 batters in the 6th.
LINDSEY faced 1 batter in the 8th.