Air Force Wins Wild Nightcap in Doubleheader Split

U.S.A.F. ACADEMY -- A short-lived BYU winning streak ended Saturday as the Cougars won the opening baseball game 14-2, while Air Force won the nightcap, 15-14.

Gusty winds played a factor in the Falcon win with eight lead changes and four AFA double plays. The Cougars were nursing a 14-12 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

BYU had taken that lead off a two-run homer from Michael Davies with no outs in the ninth before eventual winner David Diehl took the mound. In the bottom of the final inning, freshman Derck Kasel's single drove in the game-winning run with two outs.

Kasel roped that single to center field with Sonje Berg at second base. As Berg came down the third base line, the throw from center field was right on target and beat the runner. However, as BYU catcher Casey Cloward applied the tag to the sliding Berg, he dropped the ball and the game was over. Berg was hit by a pitch from Todd Crump to get on base.

In the finale, Cougar Nick Day led off the sixth with a solo homer and led BYU with three hits, including a double and four RBI. AFA also got a solo homer in the finale from Brendan Shannon also in the sixth.

Shortstop Seth King homered in both games. He had a three-run homer in the top of the sixth inning in the nightcap and also had a double in tallying four RBI. King went five-for-five in the opener, including a three-run homer in the six-run fourth inning. King also had a double and three singles in game one to tally six RBI.

"Coach switched me to a more closed stance and I feel a lot more comfortable," said King. "I didn't get all of it on my homer because it was a protective swing with two strikes, but I got enough of it."

Following King's homer was a two-run blast by Shane Belliston.

Cougar pitcher Micah Mangrum pitched six strong innings before being relieved in the final seventh inning of game one. Mangrum tallied seven strikeouts and scattered only four hits to improve his record to 6-6.

"I tried to stay within myself and not overpower anyone," said Mangrum. "My curve wasn't as sharp, so I had to rely on my slider."

The Cougars, now 24-21 overall and 12-9 in the Mountain West Conference. Meanwhile, Air Force, is now 19-24 and 4-15. BYU begins a three-game series on Thursday at noon against Utah at Franklin Covey Field.

The Automated ScoreBook
                  Brigham Young at Air Force Academy (Game 1)
              Apr 22, 2000 at Air Force Academy,CO (Falcon Field)
Brigham Young 14 (24-20,12-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BELLISTON, Shane cf......  3  1  2  3   0  0  0  0   0
 JACKSON, DJ ph..........  1  1  1  3   1  0  0  0   0
PETERSON, Craig 1b.......  3  1  0  0   0  0  6  0   0
 HAGUEWOOD, Ty ph........  2  0  1  1   0  0  4  1   0
DAY, Nick lf.............  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
 ROCK, David ph..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   4
DAVIES, Michael dh.......  3  1  1  1   1  0  0  0   1
 MATHIS, Nate ph.........  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  3  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GREENE, Nick ph.........  2  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  1   2
 COUGHLAN, Cameron 2b....  2  1  1  0   0  0  0  2   0
KING, Seth ss............  5  2  5  6   0  0  1  5   0
PERRY, Tyler 2b..........  5  0  1  0   0  1  1  3   1
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  3  3  2  0   1  0  7  0   0
 GRAY, Rusty ph..........  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   2
MANGRUM, Micah p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 NOORDA, Sean p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 42 14 20 14   3  3 21 13  10
Air Force Academy 2 (18-24,3-15 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Thiessen dh..............  3  0  2  1   0  1  0  0   0
 Carville ph.............  1  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
Shannon 2b...............  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  5   0
Goldsberry lf............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 Gornick lf..............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Humphrey 1b..............  3  0  0  0   0  1  7  0   4
 Kasel 1b................  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Phifer rf................  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jones 3b.................  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  3   0
 Wolfram 2b..............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
LaBasco ss...............  2  0  1  0   0  0  2  1   1
 Howes ss................  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   0
Petro c..................  2  0  0  0   0  2  2  2   1
 Ellis c.................  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Berg cf..................  3  1  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
Fisher p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 George p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  2  6  2   1  8 21 14   7
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 011 605 1 - 14 20  2
Air Force Academy... 000 010 1 -  2  6  5
-----------------------------------------
E - OBREY; PERRY; Humphrey; Wolfram; LaBasco 2; Berg. DP - Falcons 1. LOB -
Cougars 10; Falcons 7. 2B - JACKSON; GREENE; KING; Thiessen; Shannon. 3B -
CLOWARD. HR - BELLISTON(2); KING(4); Carville(5). SB - CLOWARD; Thiessen. CS
- BELLISTON.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MANGRUM, Micah......  6.0  4  1  1  1  7 24 25
NOORDA, Sean........  1.0  2  1  1  0  1  5  5
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Fisher..............  3.2 10  8  6  1  1 21 22
George..............  3.1 10  6  1  2  2 21 23
Win - MANGRUM (6-6).  Loss - Fisher (6-6).  Save - None.
WP - George. PB - Ellis.
Umpires - Home:Bill Speck  1st:Rick Castorena  3rd:Terry Balser
Start: 12:00   Time: 2:22   Attendance: 145
Game: BYU44
Game notes:
Mountain West Conference Game
First game of Doubleheader
Brigham Young at Air Force Academy (Game 2)
              Apr 22, 2000 at Air Force Academy,CO (Falcon Field)
Brigham Young 14 (19-24,12-9 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BELLISTON, Shane cf......  4  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GREENE, Nick cf.........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
PETERSON, Craig 1b.......  5  2  2  0   0  0  8  0   0
 HAGUEWOOD, Ty 1b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
DAY, Nick lf.............  5  4  3  4   0  0  1  0   0
DAVIES, Michael c........  4  3  2  2   1  1  8  1   0
 CLOWARD, Casey c........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CARSON, Matt rf..........  5  2  3  1   0  0  3  0   0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  4  0  1  1   1  1  1  2   0
KING, Seth ss............  5  1  2  4   0  0  1  3   1
ROCK, David dh...........  4  0  1  0   0  3  0  0   1
MATHIS, Nate 2b..........  3  0  1  0   1  0  3  3   0
OPDAHL, Jordan p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 RAY, James p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 GRAY, Rusty p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 REX, Matt p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CRUMP, Todd p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 40 14 17 12   3  5 26 11   2
Air Force Academy 15 (24-21,4-15 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
LaBasco ss...............  5  1  1  1   1  1  3  4   2
Shannon 2b...............  5  2  4  3   0  0  1  2   0
Thiessen cf..............  5  3  2  1   0  0  1  0   0Humphrey dh..............  5  1  1  0   1  1  0  0   1
Phifer lf................  4  3  4  3   2  0  2  0   0
Goldsberry rf............  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   4
 Gornick ph..............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 Berg rf.................  2  1  2  0   0  0  2  0   0
Jones 3b.................  3  0  0  0   0  3  1  1   0
 Howes ph................  3  1  2  4   0  0  0  0   0
Carville 1b..............  2  1  0  0   1  2  6  0   0
 Kasel ph................  3  0  2  1   0  0  3  0   2
Murphy c.................  5  2  2  0   0  1  6  0   0
Tufte p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
 Cornell p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Diehl p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 45 15 20 13   5  9 27  8  12
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 400 004 303 - 14 17  3
Air Force Academy... 100 503 123 - 15 20  2
-------------------------------------------
Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - BELLISTON; DAY; MATHIS; Howes; Cornell. DP - Falcons 4. LOB - Cougars 2;
Falcons 12. 2B - BELLISTON; PETERSON; DAY; CARSON; KING; LaBasco; Thiessen.
3B - DAVIES; Thiessen. HR - DAY(4); DAVIES(6); KING(5); Shannon(1). HBP -
Thiessen; Berg. SH - Shannon. SB - Shannon; Thiessen; Howes.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
OPDAHL, Jordan......  4.0  8  6  4  3  4 21 24
RAY, James..........  2.1  6  4  4  1  4 12 15
GRAY, Rusty.........  1.0  2  2  2  1  1  4  5
REX, Matt...........  0.2  0  0  0  0  0  2  2
CRUMP, Todd.........  0.2  4  3  3  0  0  6  7
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------Tufte...............  6.2 13 11  9  2  4 31 33
Cornell.............  1.2  4  3  3  1  1  8  9
Diehl...............  0.2  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Win - Diehl (3-1).  Loss - CRUMP (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - RAY; REX; Tufte. HB - RAY; CRUMP. BK - RAY. PB - DAVIES 2.
Umpires - Home:Terry Balser  1st:Rick Castorena  3rd:Bill Speck
Start: 3:00   Time: 3:15   Attendance: 145
Game: BYU45
Game notes:
Mountain West Conference Game
Second Game of Doubleheader