AFA's Seniors Beat BYU for a Rare MWC Game

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Eight seniors starting for Air Force went out in style, taking away Brigham Young's destiny with a 17-11 victory on Saturday.

The Cougars entered the final regular-season game against Air Force with their destiny in their own hands. A win for BYU clinches second in the Mountain West Conference and a chance to face Utah, a team the Cougars swept in the regular season, in the tournament on Wednesday. The loss moved the Cougars down to the third seed, forcing them to face New Mexico in Albuquerque at 7 p.m.

The Cougars' record fell to 28-22 overall, and 18-12 in the MWC. AFA won a rare MWC game, improving to 15-37, 3-27.

Three consecutive singles to leadoff the game set the table for Kainoa Obrey in a hitter's park. AFA's Clayton Couch got Obrey to ground into a rally killing, 6-4-3 double play, trading two outs for a run. Doug Jackson came in to score the first run of the game on the play.

Daniel Petro crushed a home run to jump on top of the Cougars and Ken Gravley early in the game, taking a 7-1 lead in two innings on nine base hits. Petro went 5-for-5 with five RBI in his final game at Falcon Field.

Mike Rose hit the second home run for the Falcons against Gravley in the fourth to give AFA an 8-1 lead. AFA continued to spray hits around the field until Jason Garcia relieved Gravley, down 10-1. Gravley lasted three plus innings, giving up 13 hits and 10 earned runs.

Rose, the only junior in the batting order for the Falcons, went 4-for-5 on the day, and was one of seven Air Force hitters who had multiple hits. AFA brought out its big sticks to send the 13 graduating seniors out on top.

The Cougars started to hit Couch in the fifth, knocking him around for three hits and plating two runs to make the score 10-3.

Senior Josh Phifer hit a team-leading 15th home run on the year in the fifth to extend the lead to 14-3. All eight seniors who started for the Falcons recorded a hit against BYU's pitching.

In the seventh, Obrey belted his 10th home run of the season an estimated 500 feet, knocking in his 60th RBI of the season to put BYU down 17-5. Obrey ended with three RBI.

BYU managed three straight hits in the eighth followed by Ryan Chambers' team-leading 11th home run of the season in an attempt to make the game interesting. Despite leaving the bases loaded in the inning, BYU rallied for six runs to make the score 17-11.

Ranger Wiens connected of his fourth hit of the game in the ninth to start what the Cougars hoped would be a come-from-behind rally. Jason Pruitt shut down BYU and sealed the victory for the Falcons.

BYU will travel to Albuquerque on Wednesday to take on host New Mexico in the MWC Tournament at the newly constructed Isotopes Field at 7 p.m., MDT. The game will be broadcasted live on KOVO 960 AM.

Brigham Young Univ at Air Force Falcons
May 17, 2003 at Air Force Academy,CO (Falcon Field)
Brigham Young Univ 11 (28-22,18-12)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JACKSON, Doug lf.........  4  3  2  2   2  0  0  0   5
JACOBSEN, Brock cf.......  4  1  2  2   0  2  1  0   0
WIENS, Ranger ss.........  6  1  4  1   0  0  4  4   0
OBREY, Kainoa 3b.........  6  2  4  3   0  0  0  1   0
STUBBLEFIELD, Jake 1b....  5  0  1  0   1  0  9  0   3
CHAMBERS, Ryan rf........  6  1  2  2   0  1  2  0   4
ITRI, Rob dh.............  3  0  1  0   2  0  0  0   1
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  4  1  1  0   1  0  5  0   0
VEST, Wade 2b............  5  2  2  0   0  0  3  6   0
GRAVLEY, Kenneth p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GARCIA, Jason p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARNES, Clayton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DABO, Tyler p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 43 11 19 10   6  3 24 11  13
Air Force Falcons 17 (15-37,3-27)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
HOWES 2b.................  5  3  2  1   1  0  6  6   1
ROSE rf..................  5  4  4  3   1  0  1  0   0
PHIFER lf................  5  2  2  4   1  0  2  0   0
KASEL, Derck 1b..........  6  3  3  1   0  1 10  0   0
 DEROHAN 2b..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
PETRO c..................  5  2  5  5   0  0  3  0   0
SHOCKLEY dh..............  4  0  1  0   1  2  0  0   2
FROST 3b.................  5  0  2  3   0  0  0  2   2
PROUTY ss................  4  1  1  0   1  1  1  7   3
LIEGL cf.................  4  2  2  0   0  0  4  1   0
COUCH p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ZUMBRO p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PRUITT p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 43 17 22 17   5  4 27 17   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 020 260 - 11 19  0
Air Force Falcons... 340 343 00X - 17 22  1
-------------------------------------------
E - LIEGL. DP - BYU Cougars 3; Falcons 2. LOB - BYU Cougars 13; Falcons 8.
2B - JACKSON(12); OBREY 2(23); STUBBLEFIELD(17); VEST(5); ROSE(8);
PHIFER(21); PETRO(17); FROST(12). HR - OBREY(10); CHAMBERS(11); ROSE(6);
PHIFER(15); PETRO(4). HBP - JACOBSEN; LIEGL. SF - JACOBSEN.
Brigham Young Univ     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
GRAVLEY, Kenneth....  3.2 13 10 10  2  2 23 25
GARCIA, Jason.......  1.1  5  4  4  1  1  8  9
BARNES, Clayton.....  2.0  4  3  3  2  1 10 13
DABO, Tyler.........  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  2  2
Air Force Falcons      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
COUCH...............  5.0  9  3  3  4  2 21 25
ZUMBRO..............  2.2  8  8  8  0  0 15 17
PRUITT..............  1.1  2  0  0  2  1  7  9
Win - COUCH (1-4).  Loss - GRAVLEY (4-2).  Save - None.
WP - COUCH. HBP - by BARNES (LIEGL); by ZUMBRO (JACOBSEN). BK - BARNES.
Umpires - HP: Dan Weikle  1B: Dan Perugine  3B: Tom Hiler
Start: 2:00   Time: 3:12   Attendance: 112
Game notes:
Third game of series
Brigham Young Univ at Air Force Falcons - Play-by-Play
 May 17, 2003 at Air Force Academy,CO (Falcon Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 100 020 260 - 11 19  0
Air Force Falcons... 340 343 00X - 17 22  1
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ starters: 13/lf JACKSON; 3/cf JACOBSEN; 8/ss WIENS; 32/3b
   OBREY; 33/1b STUBBLEFIELD; 22/rf CHAMBERS; 21/dh ITRI; 9/c CLOWARD; 5/2b
   VEST; 19/p GRAVLEY;
Air Force Falcons starters: 2/2b HOWES; 15/rf ROSE; 4/lf PHIFER; 39/1b
   KASEL, Derck; 18/c PETRO; 9/dh SHOCKLEY; 27/3b FROST; 16/ss PROUTY; 6/cf
   LIEGL; 23/p COUCH;
Brigham Young Univ - inning 1
   JACKSON singled to right center. JACOBSEN singled to pitcher; JACKSON
   advanced to second. WIENS singled to first base, bunt; JACOBSEN advanced
   to second; JACKSON advanced to third. OBREY grounded into double play ss
   to 2b to 1b; WIENS out on the play; JACOBSEN advanced to third; JACKSON
   scored. STUBBLEFIELD walked. CHAMBERS grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 3 hits,
   0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 1
   HOWES walked. ROSE singled to center field; HOWES advanced to second.
   PHIFER fouled out to c. KASEL, Derck singled to right field; ROSE
   advanced to second; HOWES advanced to third. PETRO singled to third base,
   RBI; KASEL, Derck advanced to second; ROSE advanced to third; HOWES
   scored. SHOCKLEY struck out. FROST singled to center field, 2 RBI; PETRO
   advanced to second; KASEL, Derck scored; ROSE scored. PROUTY struck out.
   3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 2
   ITRI grounded out to 2b. CLOWARD grounded out to ss. VEST lined out to
   lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 2
   LIEGL singled to third base, bunt. HOWES lined into double play 2b to 1b;
   LIEGL out on the play. ROSE singled to left field. PHIFER walked; ROSE
   advanced to second. KASEL, Derck singled to left field, advanced to
   second on the throw, RBI; PHIFER advanced to third; ROSE scored. PETRO
   homered to left field, 3 RBI; KASEL, Derck scored; PHIFER scored.
   SHOCKLEY singled to left center. FROST flied out to rf. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0
   errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 3
   JACKSON walked. JACOBSEN struck out. WIENS singled to third base; JACKSON
   advanced to second. OBREY flied out to cf; JACKSON advanced to third.
   STUBBLEFIELD reached on a fielder's choice; WIENS out at second 3b to 2b.
   0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 3
   PROUTY popped up to ss. LIEGL flied out to cf. HOWES lined out to rf. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 4
   CHAMBERS struck out looking. ITRI singled to left field. CLOWARD grounded
   into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; ITRI out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
   errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 4
   ROSE homered to left field, RBI. PHIFER grounded out to 3b. KASEL, Derck
   singled to right field. PETRO doubled to right center, RBI; KASEL, Derck
   scored. SHOCKLEY popped up to ss. FROST doubled to left center, RBI;
   PETRO scored. GARCIA to p for GRAVLEY. PROUTY grounded out to 2b. 3 runs,
   4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 5
   VEST doubled to right field. VEST advanced to third on a wild pitch.
   JACKSON walked. JACOBSEN singled, out at first cf to ss to 1b, RBI;
   JACKSON advanced to third; VEST scored. WIENS grounded out to ss, RBI;
   JACKSON scored. OBREY doubled to left center. STUBBLEFIELD grounded out
   to ss. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 5
   LIEGL singled to right center. HOWES singled to center field; LIEGL
   advanced to third. ROSE doubled to left field, RBI; HOWES advanced to
   third; LIEGL scored. PHIFER homered to right field, 3 RBI; ROSE scored;
   HOWES scored. KASEL, Derck struck out looking. PETRO singled to left
   field. SHOCKLEY walked; PETRO advanced to second. FROST grounded into
   double play ss to 2b to 1b; SHOCKLEY out on the play. 4 runs, 5 hits, 0
   errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 6
   CHAMBERS singled to center field. ITRI walked; CHAMBERS advanced to
   second. ZUMBRO to p for COUCH. CLOWARD flied out to lf. VEST reached on a
   fielder's choice; ITRI out at second ss to 2b; CHAMBERS advanced to
   third. JACKSON reached on a fielder's choice; VEST out at second 2b to
   ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 6
   BARNES to p for GARCIA. PROUTY singled to center field. LIEGL hit by
   pitch; PROUTY advanced to second. HOWES singled to right field, RBI;
   LIEGL advanced to third; PROUTY scored. ROSE grounded out to 2b, RBI;
   HOWES advanced to second; LIEGL scored. PHIFER doubled to left field,
   RBI; HOWES scored. KASEL, Derck grounded out to ss. PETRO singled to left
   field; PHIFER advanced to third. SHOCKLEY struck out. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0
   errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 7
   JACOBSEN hit by pitch. WIENS flied out to cf. OBREY homered to left
   center, 2 RBI; JACOBSEN scored. STUBBLEFIELD doubled to right center.
   CHAMBERS lined out to rf. ITRI grounded out to 2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0
   errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 7
   FROST grounded out to ss. PROUTY walked. PROUTY advanced to second on a
   balk. LIEGL grounded out to 2b; PROUTY advanced to third. HOWES lined out
   to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 8
   CLOWARD singled to left field. VEST singled to right field; CLOWARD
   advanced to second. JACKSON doubled to center field, advanced to third on
   an error by cf, 2 RBI; VEST scored; CLOWARD scored. JACOBSEN flied out to
   cf, SF, RBI; JACKSON scored. WIENS singled to center field. OBREY doubled
   to right center, RBI; WIENS scored. STUBBLEFIELD flied out to cf.
   CHAMBERS homered to right center, 2 RBI; OBREY scored. PRUITT to p for
   ZUMBRO. ITRI walked. CLOWARD walked; ITRI advanced to second. VEST
   reached on a fielder's choice; CLOWARD advanced to second; ITRI advanced
   to third. JACKSON grounded out to ss. 6 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Air Force Falcons - inning 8
   ROSE walked. DABO to p for BARNES. PHIFER lined out to ss. KASEL, Derck
   grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; ROSE out on the play. 0 runs, 0
   hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ - inning 9
   HOWES to 1b. DEROHAN to 2b for KASEL, Derck. JACOBSEN struck out. WIENS
   singled to center field. OBREY singled to center field; WIENS advanced to
   second. STUBBLEFIELD fouled out to 1b. CHAMBERS grounded out to 2b. 0
   runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.