Three-Hit Shutout Downs Cougars

ALBUQUERQUE -- A solo home run by Jeff Grady and a three-hit performance by Danny Ray Herrera helped New Mexico shutout BYU 1-0 on Friday.

Herrera (2-4) retired the first 18 batters in order before a lead off single up the middle by Ryan Chambers in the seventh inning gave the Cougars their first hit. Herrera baffled BYU's hitters with off-speed pitches, allowing only three hits in seven and a third innings while striking out three for his second win.

"Our guys are really good at hitting fastballs," said BYU starting pitcher Paul Jacinto. "It's the slower guys we have trouble hitting. I think everybody played well defensively. We just couldn't get the hits to beat them."

The only run in the game came in the seventh inning when Grady connected for his fifth home run, a deep blast over the left field fence. The junior catcher came into the game hitting only .189, but leads the team in homers.

"I can't believe he hit it because it was a horrible pitch for him to hit," Jacinto said. "He kind of golfed it out of here. If he wouldn't have swung, it probably would have hit the dirt."

Jacinto (0-7) pitched a gem for the Cougars but continued to fall upon hard luck. A complete-game seven hitter resulted in his seventh straight loss of the season.

"Paul pitched a splended game, one of the best games he's pitched at BYU in my opinion," said BYU head coach Vance Law. "When we're getting the type of effort from our pitching staff that puts us in a position to win, we've got to use the opportunities given to us to score runs."

After giving up a first inning single, Jacinto retired the next nine batters in order. He didn't walk anyone and struck out four. The Lobos only managed multiple hits in the same inning once off the senior righty.

The Cougars left runners on in each of the final three innings. Their best opportunity to score came in the eighth inning after Brandon Taylor singled and reached second on a throwing error by the catcher. With nobody out, a bunt would put Taylor on third allowing a fly ball to tie the game. With a 0-1 count to Ben Saylor, Tim Law entered the game as a pinch hitter to try and move Taylor to third. But New Mexico ended the threat with a pick off of Taylor at second.

Chambers, Taylor and Law singled for the only three hits by BYU. Senior Joe Salas picked up his third save for the Lobos.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 13-21 and 3-5 in the Mountain West Conference while New Mexico improves to 9-16-1 and 5-3.

The final game of a three-game series between BYU and New Mexico is Saturday at noon. The game can be listened to live on KOVO 960 AM and on the BYU Radio channel through DirectTV and the Dish Network. Live stats and live audio are also available through the baseball schedule page at www.byucougars.com.

BYU at New Mexico
Apr 02, 2004 at Albuquerque, N.M. (Isotopes Park)
BYU 0 (13-21,3-5 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
BILLS, Kevin rf..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
KNELL, Kory lf...........  4  0  0  0   0  2  2  0   0
ITRI, Rob dh.............  4  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   2
TAYLOR, Brandon ss.......  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  1   0
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  2  0  0  0   0  1  9  2   0
 LAW, Tim ph/1b..........  1  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
LUCAS, Blair 3b..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
WILKES, Adam c...........  2  0  0  0   1  0  5  0   0
VEST, Wade 2b............  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  5   2
JACINTO, Paul p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 27  0  3  0   1  5 24 11   4
New Mexico 1 (9-16-1,5-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
YOUNG cf.................  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   1
HAYMORE lf...............  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  0   0
MADER ss.................  4  0  3  0   0  0  2  1   0
SALAS dh/p...............  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  1   1
MURRAY rf................  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   4
STOVALL 1b...............  3  0  1  0   0  0 10  0   0
RUSSELL 3b...............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
GRADY, J. c..............  3  1  1  1   0  1  5  2   0
BARBA 2b.................  2  0  0  0   0  0  4  8   1
HERRERA p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 30  1  7  1   0  5 27 14   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 000 000 -  0  3  1
New Mexico.......... 000 000 10X -  1  7  1
-------------------------------------------
E - BILLS; GRADY, J.(3). LOB - BYU 4; New Mexico 7. HR - GRADY, J.(5). HBP -
CHAMBERS; BARBA. SH - BILLS 2; RUSSELL(1). SB - MADER(7).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JACINTO, Paul.......  8.0  7  1  1  0  5 30 32
New Mexico             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HERRERA.............  7.1  3  0  0  0  3 23 24
SALAS...............  1.2  0  0  0  1  2  4  7
Win - HERRERA (2-4).  Loss - JACINTO (0-7).  Save - SALAS (3).
WP - SALAS(2). HBP - by JACINTO (BARBA); by SALAS (CHAMBERS).
Umpires - HP: Ted Bergquist  1B: Ron McCall  3B: Dan Weikle
Start: 6:02 pm   Time: 1:50   Attendance: 868
Game notes:
Game two of three
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 000 000 -  0  3  1
New Mexico.......... 000 000 10X -  1  7  1
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 22/cf CHAMBERS; 11/rf BILLS; 12/lf KNELL; 21/dh ITRI; 3/ss
   TAYLOR; 25/1b SAYLOR; 6/3b LUCAS; 24/c WILKES; 5/2b VEST; 15/p JACINTO;
New Mexico starters: 5/cf YOUNG; 14/lf HAYMORE; 4/ss MADER; 10/dh SALAS;
   17/rf MURRAY; 34/1b STOVALL; 3/3b RUSSELL; 15/c GRADY, J.; 6/2b BARBA;
   2/p HERRERA;
BYU - inning 1
   CHAMBERS grounded out to 2b. BILLS flied out to cf. KNELL struck out
   swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 1
   YOUNG grounded out to 2b. HAYMORE flied out to lf. MADER singled,
   advanced to second on a fielding error by rf, advanced to third. SALAS
   grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 2
   ITRI flied out to lf. TAYLOR grounded out to ss. SAYLOR fouled out to lf.
   0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 2
   MURRAY flied out to rf. STOVALL popped up to ss. RUSSELL grounded out to
   2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 3
   LUCAS grounded out to 2b. WILKES grounded out to 2b. VEST grounded out to
   2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 3
   GRADY, J. flied out to rf. BARBA grounded out to 2b. YOUNG grounded out
   to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU - inning 4
   CHAMBERS grounded out to 2b. BILLS flied out to rf. KNELL grounded out to
   2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 4
   HAYMORE struck out swinging. MADER flied out to lf. SALAS singled to
   right field. MURRAY reached on a fielder's choice; SALAS out at second 3b
   to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 5
   ITRI struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. TAYLOR grounded out to
   2b. SAYLOR struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 5
   STOVALL singled to right field. RUSSELL out at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt;
   STOVALL advanced to second. GRADY, J. struck out looking. BARBA grounded
   out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 6
   LUCAS flied out to rf. WILKES popped up to 2b. VEST grounded out to p. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 6
   YOUNG struck out swinging. HAYMORE singled to third base. MADER singled
   to shortstop; HAYMORE advanced to second. SALAS out at first 1b to p;
   MADER advanced to second; HAYMORE advanced to third. MURRAY grounded out
   to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU - inning 7
   CHAMBERS singled up the middle. BILLS out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt;
   CHAMBERS advanced to second. KNELL fouled out to c. ITRI flied out to lf.
   0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 7
   STOVALL grounded out to 2b. RUSSELL grounded out to ss. GRADY, J. homered
   to left field, RBI. BARBA hit by pitch. YOUNG struck out swinging. 1 run,
   1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 8
   TAYLOR singled up the middle. TAYLOR advanced to second on a throwing
   error by c. LAW pinch hit for SAYLOR. TAYLOR out at second c to ss,
   picked off. LAW singled to left field. SALAS to p. /  for HERRERA. LUCAS
   popped up to 2b. LAW advanced to second on a wild pitch. WILKES walked.
   VEST reached on a fielder's choice; WILKES out at second 2b to ss. 0
   runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
New Mexico - inning 8
   LAW to 1b. HAYMORE grounded out to 1b unassisted. MADER singled to first
   base. MADER stole second. SALAS struck out swinging. MURRAY popped up to
   ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU - inning 9
   CHAMBERS hit by pitch. BILLS out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; CHAMBERS
   advanced to second. KNELL struck out swinging. ITRI struck out swinging.
   0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.