Muir Dominates Rebels

LAS -- Jordan Muir held UNLV scoreless through eight innings of relief while winning his second straight game for BYU which beat the Rebels 9-5 Thursday.

They don't have complete games for relievers, but Muir, the Las Vegas freshman righthander came pretty close in a nationally-televised game. He threw 112 pitches in his relief outing while allowing only one runner to advance as far as second base. He struck out five while only walking just two.

"I was just ready to pitch. (BYU) Coach Applegate asked me if I was ready and I said that I was. I just had to come and pick up the team," said Muir on his effort. "I knew the bats would be coming around."

Jeff Hiestand lit up Rebels' pitching as he hit 3-for-5 with a home run two singles and five RBI. With the win the Cougars improve to 12-17, breaking a six-game home winning streak for the Rebels, who fall to 14-18. Both teams are now 2-3 in the Mountain West Conference.

"We're going to start suprising some people," said Muir who was named CSTV's player of the game.

Things looked good for BYU in the top of the first when they got out to a 2-0 lead behind doubles by Marcos Villezcas and Hiestand and an RBI single by Kasey Ko.

The second half of the inning didn't look as good for the Cougars when the ball started to carry out of the park for the Rebels. UNLV scored five runs on two home runs to chase Wells from the game after only one-third of an inning pitched. Muir came in to relieve and held UNLV scoreless nearly the rest of the way.

After the first three batters of the inning reached base with no outs for the Cougars in the top of the second, BYU managed to score all three to tie the game up 5-5 with two sacrifice grounders and a double by Ben Saylor.

Muir held off the Rebels in the bottom of the third, striking out one, to keep the game tied. BYU then chased UNLV starter Skogley from the game when Nelson hit his second double of the game with two outs. The game remained tied 5-5 through two innings.

A lead-off single in the top of the fourth by Seth Johnson improved his team-leading hitting streak to nine games. Hiestand then put BYU ahead of the Rebels for good 7-5 with a two-run home run blast to right field, CSTV's play of the game.

While Muir picked up BYU's second straight win, both this week by himself in relief, he was superb in relief for BYU. In six and two-thirds innings of work he struck out four while allowing only one runner to advance as far as second base.

"It was just fun today," said Muir of the game. "I just went out every inning and tried to command the batters while dominating the zone."

BYU collected its fifth double of the night in the top of the seventh as Ko crushed an 0-2 pitch to center field with one out. Pinch running for Ko, Austin Carter caused a headache on the basepath for reliever Wagner, but couldn't score and the score remained 7-5 through seven innings

After Nelson was hit by a pitch to start the eighth, Banks moved him over to second on a sac bunt before Johnson worked a walk to put two men on. Both advanced on a sacrifice by Villezcas before Saylor came up facing reliever Pupo. After Saylor walked to load the bases, Hiestand singled over the shortstop to drive in two runs and put the Cougars up 9-5.

Cortland Andrews came into the game in relief and struck out the last two hitters of the came to end a UNLV threat of runners on second and third.

The two teams will meet again Friday night at 6:30 p.m. PDT in Las Vegas.

Brigham Young at UNLV
Apr 06, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Brigham Young 9 (12-17,2-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Seth lf.........  4  2  1  1   1  1  2  0   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  1  1  1   0  1  2  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  0  1  1   1  1  1  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  5  2  3  5   0  0  6  2   1
KO, Kasey dh.............  4  0  2  1   0  0  0  0   0
 CARTER, Austin pr.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WALTON, Kent ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   2
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  5  0  2  0   0  0  4  0   1
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  4  1  0  0   1  1  0  2   1
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  2  2  0   1  1  8  1   0
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  3  1  0  0   1  0  3  1   4
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 MUIR, Jordan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 ANDREWS, Cortland p.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38  9 12  9   5  6 27  8   9
UNLV 5 (15-18,2-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KOWALSKI cf..............  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  0   0
CRUZ ss..................  5  1  1  0   0  2  1  4   0
LANG 2b..................  5  1  2  2   0  1  4  0   2
SMITH 3b.................  3  1  0  0   1  0  0  4   2
BONNELL 1b...............  4  1  1  0   0  1  9  3   0
MILLER dh................  4  1  1  3   0  0  0  0   0
BIRD rf..................  3  0  0  0   1  2  1  0   0
WALKER c.................  4  0  2  0   0  0  7  1   0
BORBA lf.................  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   3
 GAILEN ph...............  1  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
SKOGLEY p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CHALFANT p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WAGNER p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
 PUPO p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BROCK p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  5  8  5   4  7 27 12   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 230 200 020 -  9 12  0
UNLV................ 500 000 000 -  5  8  0
-------------------------------------------
LOB - BYU 9; Rebels 7. 2B - VILLEZCAS(3); SAYLOR(5); KO(1); NELSON 2(6). 3B
- CRUZ(1). HR - HIESTAND(3); LANG(2); MILLER(7). HBP - NELSON; KOWALSKI. SH
- BANKS(6). SB - MOLINA(5).
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  0.1  4  5  5  2  0  4  6
MUIR, Jordan........  8.0  4  0  0  2  5 28 30
ANDREWS, Cortland...  0.2  0  0  0  0  2  2  3
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SKOGLEY.............  2.2  7  5  5  2  1 15 17
CHALFANT............  1.1  2  2  2  0  1  6  6
WAGNER..............  3.2  1  2  2  2  1 11 15
PUPO................  0.0  1  0  0  1  0  1  2
BROCK...............  1.1  1  0  0  0  3  5  5
Win - MUIR (3-0).  Loss - CHALFANT (1-3).  Save - None.
HBP - by WAGNER (NELSON); by ANDREWS (KOWALSKI). BK - ANDREWS(3).
Umpires - HP: Kelly Gonzalez  1B: Rick Scarberry  3B: Ted Berquist
Start: 6:36 pm   Time: 3:04   Attendance: 906
Game notes:
Brigham Young at UNLV - Play-by-Play
Apr 06, 2006 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl E. Wilson)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 230 200 020 -  9 12  0
UNLV................ 500 000 000 -  5  8  0
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 26/lf JOHNSON, S.; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR; 32/1b
HIESTAND; 33/dh KO; 1/cf MOLINA; 30/3b CROSBY; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS; 4/p WELLS;
UNLV starters: 12/cf KOWALSKI; 1/ss CRUZ; 5/2b LANG; 14/3b SMITH; 11/1b BONNELL;
44/dh MILLER; 34/rf BIRD; 10/c WALKER; 6/lf BORBA; 19/p SKOGLEY;
Brigham Young 1st - JOHNSON, S. flied out to cf. VILLEZCAS doubled to center
field. SAYLOR struck out. HIESTAND singled, advanced to second, RBI; VILLEZCAS
scored. KO singled to center field, advanced to second, RBI; HIESTAND scored. MOLINA
lined out to ss. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 1st - KOWALSKI walked. KOWALSKI out at second p to 1b to ss, picked off.
CRUZ tripled to center field. LANG homered to left field, 2 RBI; CRUZ scored. SMITH
walked. BONNELL singled to left field; SMITH advanced to second. MILLER homered to
center field, 3 RBI; BONNELL scored; SMITH scored. MUIR to p for WELLS. BIRD struck
out. WALKER singled to center field. BORBA grounded out to p. 5 runs, 5 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - CROSBY walked. NELSON doubled to center field; CROSBY
advanced to third. BANKS walked. JOHNSON, S. grounded out to 3b, RBI; BANKS advanced
to second; NELSON advanced to third; CROSBY scored. VILLEZCAS grounded out to ss,
RBI; BANKS advanced to third; NELSON scored. SAYLOR doubled to center field, RBI;
BANKS scored. HIESTAND grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 2nd - KOWALSKI flied out to cf. CRUZ struck out. LANG singled to right
field. SMITH popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - KO flied out to cf. MOLINA singled to right field. CROSBY
popped up to 2b. NELSON doubled to left field; MOLINA advanced to third. CHALFANT to
p for SKOGLEY. BANKS popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV 3rd - BONNELL struck out. MILLER popped up to c. BIRD walked. WALKER
singled to left field; BIRD advanced to second. BORBA struck out looking. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - JOHNSON, S. singled to left field. VILLEZCAS struck out.
SAYLOR popped up to 2b. HIESTAND homered to right field, 2 RBI; JOHNSON, S. scored.
KO flied out to rf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 4th - KOWALSKI flied out to cf. CRUZ grounded out to 3b. LANG flied out
to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - WAGNER to p for CHALFANT. MOLINA grounded out to ss.
CROSBY grounded out to 1b unassisted. NELSON walked. BANKS grounded out to ss. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 5th - SMITH lined out to lf. BONNELL popped up to 2b. MILLER popped up
to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - JOHNSON, S. struck out. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 3b.
SAYLOR out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 6th - BIRD flied out to cf. WALKER lined out to lf. GAILEN pinch hit for
BORBA. GAILEN out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - GAILEN to lf. HIESTAND flied out to lf. KO doubled to
center field. CARTER pinch ran for KO. MOLINA popped up to 1b. CROSBY popped up to
c. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 7th - KOWALSKI singled to left field. CRUZ reached on a fielder's
choice; KOWALSKI out at second 3b to 2b. LANG flied out to cf. SMITH popped up to
1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - NELSON hit by pitch. BANKS out at first 1b to 2b, SAC,
bunt; NELSON advanced to second. JOHNSON, S. walked. VILLEZCAS out at first 1b to p;
JOHNSON, S. advanced to second; NELSON advanced to third. PUPO to p for WAGNER.
SAYLOR walked. HIESTAND singled to left field, 2 RBI; SAYLOR advanced to third;
JOHNSON, S. scored; NELSON scored. WALTON pinch hit for CARTER. BROCK to p for PUPO.
WALTON struck out, reached on a fielder's choice; HIESTAND advanced to second;
SAYLOR out at home c to 3b to c. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV 8th - BONNELL grounded out to 2b. MILLER flied out to rf. BIRD struck
out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - MOLINA singled to left field. CROSBY struck out looking.
MOLINA stole second. NELSON struck out looking. BANKS grounded out to ss. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 9th - WALKER grounded out to c. GAILEN walked. ANDREWS to p for MUIR.
KOWALSKI hit by pitch; GAILEN advanced to second. CRUZ struck out. KOWALSKI advanced
to second on a balk; GAILEN advanced to third on a balk. LANG struck out. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.