ASU Struggles to Defeat BYU in Coach Law's Debut

TEMPE -- Orem's Mitch Jones hit a double and Taylorsville pitcher Franco Pezely got out of a jam with two runners on also in the ninth inning to lift No. 22 Arizona State to an 8-7 victory Thursday over BYU.

Jones, who played at Utah Valley State College, and Pezely, who played at Dixie College, thwarted an otherwise outstanding effort by the Cougars in their season opener. It was the coaching debut for BYU's Vance Law, who guided his Cougars to several comebacks.

With the score tied seven-all in the ninth, Matt Carson singled for BYU. Then pinch-runner DJ Jackson stole second and advanced to third on Seth King's bunt single with no outs. Southpaw Pezely then got Tyler Perry out with an infield fly and struck out two other Cougars in the top of the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jeff Duncan led off with a shallow double down the left field line. Duncan was then doubled home by Jones in only the second hit given up by reliever Nate Fernley in four innings.

Fernley, a transfer from Long Beach City College, replaced Taylorsville lefty Jeff Stone in the fifth inning. Starter Stone, the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in 1997 when he posted an 11-1 record, was making his first appearance since returning from an LDS Church mission to South Korea. He gave up six hits, seven runs and struck out four in four-plus innings.

BYU took a first inning lead when Shane Belliston walked, then grabbed the first of six stolen bases for the Cougars. Belliston scored off a Michael Davies' sacrifice to deep center field.

The Cougars tied the game in the third inning at 2-2 when Ricks' transfer Ty Haguewood belted a hanging slider for a home run. BYU also roughed up former Cougar pitcher Will Waldrip with seven hits and four runs.

Cougar DH David Rock had two hits and a pair of RBI, while teammates King and Carson also had two hits. Six different Cougars had stolen bases, testing the arm of Tooele's Trent Pratt, the catcher for ASU. The Sun Devils' Dennis Wyrick had one hit and three RBI.

Eleven runners were stranded by BYU, compared to seven for ASU.

BYU, now 0-1, faces Florida Atlantic, 0-0, on Friday at 11 a.m. MST in the Tempe Diablos Classic. Arizona State, now 4-0, hosts FAU on Friday afternoon. BYU plays FAU again on Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by a 3 p.m. rematch with the Sun Devils.

The Automated ScoreBook
                          Brigham Young Univ. at Arizona State
                    Jan 27, 2000 at Tempe, Arizona (Packard Stadium)
  Brigham Young Univ. 7 (0-1)                   Arizona State 8 (4-0)
  Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
  ---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
  Belliston cf...............  3  1  1  1       Martin rf..................  4  1  1  0
  Haguewood 1b...............  5  1  2  1       Duncan cf..................  5  2  2  0
  Day lf.....................  5  1  1  0       Myers 1b/c.................  4  0  1  1
  Davies c...................  3  1  1  1       Jones lf...................  3  2  1  1
  Carson rf..................  5  1  2  1       Phelps dh/1b...............  4  0  1  1
   Jackson pr/rf.............  0  0  0  0       Conrad 2b..................  2  1  0  1
  King ss....................  3  1  1  0       Lopez 3b...................  2  2  0  0
  Obrey 3b...................  3  1  1  0       Pratt c....................  2  0  1  1
   Perry ph/3b...............  1  0  0  0        Stocker ph................  1  0  0  0
  Rock dh....................  5  0  2  2        Pezely p..................  0  0  0  0
  Mathis 2b..................  4  0  1  1       Wyrick ss..................  4  0  1  3
  Stone p....................  0  0  0  0       Ramirez p..................  0  0  0  0
   Fernley p.................  0  0  0  0        Doble p...................  0  0  0  0
                                                 Waldrip p.................  0  0  0  0
                                                 Field p...................  0  0  0  0
                                                 Fingers p.................  0  0  0  0
  Totals..................... 37  7 12  7       Totals..................... 31  8  8  8
  Score by Innings                    R  H  E
  -------------------------------------------
  Brigham Young Univ.. 101 130 100 -  7 12  1
  Arizona State....... 023 020 001 -  8  8  2
  -------------------------------------------
  Note: 1 out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
  E - Obrey(1); Conrad(2); Lopez. LOB - BYU Cougars 11; Sun Devils 7. 2B -
  Belliston(1); Martin(1); Duncan(2); Jones(1); Pratt(2). HR - Haguewood(1). HBP -
  Martin; Conrad; Lopez; Pratt. SH - King. SF - Davies(1); Conrad(1). SB -
  Belliston(1); Haguewood(1); Jackson(1); King(1); Obrey(1); Mathis(1).
  Brigham Young Univ.            IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Stone .....................   4.1  6  7  6  4  4   0  0  4  0   17 26   1  7
  Fernley  L,0-1.............   4.0  2  1  1  0  2   0  0  0  0   14 14   3  7
  Arizona State                  IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Ramirez ...................   1.0  1  1  1  1  2   0  0  0  0    3  5   1  0
  Doble .....................   2.0  1  1  1  1  2   0  0  0  0    8  9   2  2
  Waldrip ...................   2.0  7  4  4  1  2   0  0  0  0   11 12   1  1
  Field .....................   1.0  1  1  1  3  3   1  0  0  0    4  7   0  0
  Fingers ...................   2.0  2  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    8  8   1  4
  Pezely  W,1-0..............   1.0  0  0  0  0  2   0  0  0  0    3  4   1  0
  WP - Field(1). HB - Stone 4.
  Strikeouts - Haguewood 2; Day 2; Carson 2; King; Obrey 2; Rock 2; Mathis; Martin;
  Duncan; Phelps 2; Conrad; Wyrick. Walks - Belliston 2; Davies; King; Obrey; Mathis;
  Myers; Jones 2; Lopez.
  Umpires - Home:Paul Aureolla  1st:Kevin Daugherty  3rd:Jeff Jenkins
  Start: 3 p.m.   Time: 3:15   Attendance: 1554
  Game: BYU01
  Field faced 1 batter in the 7th.
  Fingers faced 1 batter in the 9th.