Wells, Woolf Tame Bears

PROVO -- Patrick Wells and Mitch Woolf dominated Northern Colorado hitters over seven shutout innings Thursday as BYU defeated the Bears 4-3.

Wells (3-3, 4.98) went six strong innings for BYU while picking up the win. Woolf pitched three nearly perfect innings in relief, completely stymieing Bears hitters with his breaking ball and fastball. He finished the night with four strikeouts to get his first save for the Cougars this season.

"I was feeling pretty good out there," said Woolf on his performance. "The curve was working well for me and I was able to locate my fastball."

After allowing three runs through two innings, including a two-run home run by Zach Harris, Wells settled in and didn't allow any runs for the rest of his outing. He finished with three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

BYU improves to 8-13, while the Bears fall to 7-15 with the loss.

Northern Colorado added another run in the top of the second to make the score 3-0 Bears.

BYU had an answer for Northern Colorado in the bottom of the second. After singling with two outs in the bottom of the second, Adrian Molina stole second before scoring on a single through the left side by Seth Johnson, who went 3-for-3 an RBI on the night. The run pulled the Cougars within sight of the Bears, 3-1.

Johnson then legged out a steal to second on a pickoff move by starter Chris Johns (2-4, 5.32). He was then able to score on a single to shallow center Stetson Banks to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Bears.

Wells helped his own cause in the top of the third. With one out and a runner on first, Wells started a one-six-three double play to hold the Bears scoreless in an inning for the first time all game.

Leading off in the bottom of the third, Ben Saylor crushed a 2-2 pitch from Johns over the right field fence, to tie the game at 3-3. The blast gives Saylor three home runs in two games, he had two Wednesday against Southern Utah. He finished the night 2-for-2 with two walks and with one RBI.

"He's a player that thrives on confidence," said BYU Coach Vance Law of Saylor.

With one out in the frame, Kent Walton singled before moving all the way to third on a stolen base and a balk by Johns. Walton then scored on a sac fly to center by Blake Crosby to give BYU its first lead of the game, 4-3.

Molina continued to dazzle in center field in the top of the fourth. With a runner on second and one out, Bears catcher John Ray blasted the ball to the wall in center. While losing his hat while sprinting towards the wall, Molina made a spectacular catch crashing into the 400 foot mark on the center field wall. The play saved a run from scoring and kept the Cougars on top 4-3.

After loading up the bases with two outs, the Cougars weren't able to score any runs in the bottom of the fourth as Johns worked himself out of the jam to keep the Bears within a run of BYU.

Marcos Villezcas showed a hot glove at shortstop in the top of the fifth as he recorded two assists on putouts to first and second while going deep in the hole twice for the plays. Then with two men on base, Wells recorded his fourth strikeout of the night to hold the Cougar lead at 4-3.

Mitch Woolf, came in to relieve in the top of the seventh inning and promptly retired the side, freezing Zach Brockman on breaking ball strike three for the final out. He did the same in the bottom of the eighth, retiring all three while getting Grady Gorman to strike out for the third time on the evening as he swung through another nasty curveball.

"He can be absolutely dominant," Coach Law said of Woolf who has been drafted twice, once by the Red Sox and once by the White Sox. "When he comes in throwing strikes, he's outstanding."

Woolf retired nine of the ten hitters her faced, only allowing a runner in the top of the ninth after he hit a Bears pinch hitter. He ended the game and with a 1-2 pitch that Chad Clark swung right through.

The two teams square off in game two of this week's series on Friday at 7 p.m.

Univ. No. Colorado at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 23, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Univ. No. Colorado 3 (7-15)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Seth Tartler cf..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
Zach Brockman lf.........  3  0  0  0   1  2  2  0   2
Brennan Garr 3b..........  3  1  1  0   1  0  0  4   0
Zach Harris dh...........  4  1  2  2   0  1  0  0   0
Grady Gorman rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  3  1  0   2
Kevin Sandberg 1b........  3  1  1  0   1  1 12  1   0
Adam Symons ss...........  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  2   0
 Devin Warner ph.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
John Ray c...............  3  0  0  1   0  0  4  1   0
Chad Clark 2b............  4  0  1  0   0  1  0  3   2
Chris Johns p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
 Tyler Pearson p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  3  6  3   3  8 24 15   6
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (8-13)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  4  0  1  1   0  0  3  2   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  3  0  0  0   1  0  1  4   1
SAYLOR, Ben 1b...........  2  1  2  1   2  0  7  3   0
NIELSEN, Dane dh.........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
 WORTHAM, Jake ph........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent lf..........  4  1  1  0   0  1  1  0   2
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  3  0  0  1   0  0  0  2   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  0  0   0  2  8  0   0
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  3  1  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
JOHNSON, Seth rf.........  3  1  3  1   0  0  0  0   0
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  3   0
 WOOLF, Mitch p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
Totals................... 30  4  8  4   3  4 27 14   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Univ. No. Colorado.. 210 000 000 -  3  6  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 022 000 00X -  4  8  0
-------------------------------------------
E - Symons. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - UNC Bears 6; BYU Cougars 6. 2B -
Sandberg; SAYLOR. HR - Harris(5); SAYLOR(4). HBP - Warner. SH - Symons 2. SF
- Ray; CROSBY. SB - WALTON; MOLINA; JOHNSON, S.. CS - SAYLOR; JOHNSON, S..
Univ. No. Colorado     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Chris Johns.........  6.0  8  4  4  2  3 25 28
Tyler Pearson.......  2.0  0  0  0  1  1  5  6
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  6.0  6  3  3  3  4 20 26
WOOLF, Mitch........  3.0  0  0  0  0  4  9 10
Win - WELLS (3-3).  Loss - Johns (2-4).  Save - WOOLF (1).
WP - Johns. HBP - by WOOLF (Warner). BK - Johns.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Richardson  1B: Blyden Loutensock  3B: Randy Upton
Start: 7:06 pm   Time: 2:34   Attendance: 860
Game notes:
Scores from this week:
SUU 17, BYU 8
Utah 6, New Mexico State 4
Baylor 10, TCU 4
Univ. No. Colorado at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Mar 23, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Univ. No. Colorado.. 210 000 000 -  3  6  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 022 000 00X -  4  8  0
-------------------------------------------
Univ. No. Colorado starters: 18/cf Tartler; 7/lf Brockman; 8/3b Garr; 22/dh Harris;
27/rf Gorman; 28/1b Sandberg; 3/ss Symons; 5/c Ray; 6/2b Clark; 32/p Johns;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 3/2b BANKS; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/1b SAYLOR; 19/dh
NIELSEN; 9/lf WALTON; 30/3b CROSBY; 22/c MUSSO; 1/cf MOLINA; 26/rf JOHNSON, S.; 4/p
WELLS;
Univ. No. Colorado 1st - Tartler grounded out to 3b. Brockman grounded out to
p unassisted. Garr singled to center field. Harris homered to left field, 2 RBI;
Garr scored. Gorman struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - BANKS grounded out to p. VILLEZCAS grounded out to
p. SAYLOR doubled to left field. NIELSEN reached on a fielding error by ss; SAYLOR
advanced to third. WALTON grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 2nd - Sandberg doubled to right center. Symons out at
first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; Sandberg advanced to third. Ray flied out to cf, SF, RBI;
Sandberg scored. Clark singled to left field. Tartler singled to pitcher; Clark
advanced to second. Brockman struck out swinging. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - CROSBY grounded out to ss. MUSSO struck out
looking. MOLINA singled to shortstop. MOLINA stole second. JOHNSON, S. singled
through the left side, RBI; MOLINA scored. JOHNSON, S. stole second. BANKS singled
to center field, RBI; JOHNSON, S. scored. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 3rd - Garr walked. Harris struck out swinging. Gorman
grounded into double play p to ss to 1b; Garr out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - SAYLOR homered to right field, RBI. NIELSEN
grounded out to 3b. WALTON singled to center field. WALTON stole second. WALTON
advanced to third on a balk. CROSBY flied out to cf, SF, RBI; WALTON scored. MUSSO
struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 4th - Sandberg walked. Symons grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt; Sandberg advanced to second. Ray flied out to cf. Clark grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MOLINA grounded out to 3b. JOHNSON, S. singled to
right field. BANKS grounded out to 2b; JOHNSON, S. advanced to second. VILLEZCAS
walked. VILLEZCAS advanced to second; JOHNSON, S. advanced to third on a wild pitch.
SAYLOR walked. NIELSEN flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 5th - Tartler grounded out to ss. Brockman walked. Garr
reached on a fielder's choice; Brockman out at second ss to 2b. Harris singled to
second base; Garr advanced to second. Gorman struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit,
0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - WALTON struck out looking. CROSBY flied out to lf.
MUSSO flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 6th - Sandberg flied out to lf. Symons grounded out to ss.
Ray out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - MOLINA grounded out to 3b. JOHNSON, S. singled to
left field. JOHNSON, S. out at second p to 1b to ss, caught stealing. BANKS grounded
out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 7th - WOOLF to p for WELLS. Clark out at first 1b to p.
Tartler out at first 1b to p. Brockman struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Pearson to p for Johns. VILLEZCAS flied out to cf.
SAYLOR walked. WORTHAM pinch hit for NIELSEN. SAYLOR out at second c to ss, caught
stealing. WORTHAM struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 8th - Garr flied out to cf. Harris grounded out to 2b.
Gorman struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - WALTON grounded out to ss. CROSBY grounded out to
2b. MUSSO grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. No. Colorado 9th - Sandberg struck out swinging. Warner pinch hit for
Symons. Warner hit by pitch. Ray reached on a fielder's choice; Warner out at second
3b to 2b. Clark struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.