Aztecs Avoid Sweep

PROVO -- Kent Walton's two-out ninth inning RBI single took the shutout away from San Diego State but BYU dropped Saturday's contest to the Aztecs 10-5.

The Cougars trailed all the way through the game before they managed to push five two-out runs across in the bottom of the ninth. Three walks in the inning by Aztec reliever Adam Simon loaded the bases before Walton got his hit. Next up Dan Vargas picked up an RBI before Casey Nelson drove a double off the wall in center, scoring both Walton and Vargas.

"I hope we never get shut out,' said BYU Coach Vance Law, "and neither do our players. I think they take it as a personal challenge."

Coach Law was pleased with the way that the Cougar hitters battled even though they were down 10-0 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs.

"To me that's the sign of a good hitter," he said, "never giving up an at bat."

Before the late-game action, BYU looked like it might be shut out at home for the first time since being blanked by Colorado State in 1980. With the loss BYU's record evened to 26-26 overall and 11-8 in the Mountain West Conference. San Diego State improved to 21-34 with the win and remained in second place in conference with a record of 14-8.

"I didn't know about about the 26-year stat, said Walton. "I just wanted to go out and put the ball in play."

The Aztecs pushed the score to 6-0 in the top of the eighth when they got three unearned runs on a couple of throwing errors by the Cougars on bunt attempts. One error in particular came when BYU reliever Jake Wortham cleanly fielded the bunt only to find that first base was empty. The runs proved to be the difference-makers for San Diego. Four more runs in the bottom of the ninth frame put the game out of reach at 10-0.

"It was a good game up until the eighth inning," said Coach Law. "They executed but we didn't. There's no excuse for not being where we should."

An early lead against BYU starter Patrick Wells (5-6, 5.74) came in the top of the first. In the first two innings three walks issued to the Aztecs proved costly for BYU as the free passes combined with four hits, including a towering home run by Tim O'Brien, put San Diego up 3-0.

Wells was able to slip past San Diego unscathed in the top of the third after allowing a couple of base runners for the third straight inning. He struck out Brent Spirnak for the second straight at bat, this time looking, for the final out of the inning.

The Aztecs filled up the bases again against Wells in the top of the fourth, but once again the southpaw starter got help from his defense in the form of a fly out to Ben Saylor. In the inning he struck out his fourth batter of the game, and the score remained 3-0.

Without yet getting a hit, the Cougars put their fourth and fifth runners of the game on base against Billings, drawing two walks off of the right-hander. Vargas popped up on an infield fly before Berry tracked down a deep fly ball to the gap in right from Nelson to keep the Aztecs ahead.

For the third time in the game Wells retired Spirnak on strikes, cruising through his fifth inning of work against the Aztecs, while keeping the Cougars within striking distance.

After being no-hit through four and two-thirds innings, the Cougars got their first hit on a single up the middle by Marcos Villezcas. Saylor drove a 1-0 pitch to right for BYU's second, but the Cougars couldn't get any more as Jeff Hiestand went down swinging to end the inning.

Wells made way for Anthony Bingham in top of the sixth after allowing a lead-off single to Berry to center. Berry made his way to third and Bingham put Paul Smyth on first via a walk before Villezcas started the Cougars' second double play of the game to end the threat at hold the Aztec lead to three.

After the first two batters in the sixth for BYU were erased on a double play, the Cougar hitters were able to load up the bases on three consecutive singles. One of those singles extended Stetson Banks' hitting streak to 12 games. BYU was again unable to breakthrough against Billings as a fly out to left ended the white and blue rally.

Villezcas led off the seventh for BYU with a single pulled down the right field line. However, the Aztecs caught a break and turned a double play when Hiestand struck out and interfered on the catcher's throw to second to try to get Villezcas trying to steal.

BYU will play its last home game of the 2006 campaign when it meets Utah Valley State on Tuesday. The game will also be the last time Cougar fans will have a chance to see 10 BYU seniors in action. The team's final regular-season series of the season will be played in Salt Lake against the University of Utah next week with game times being moved up to 11:30 a.m. each day.

After the Utes, its the MWC Tournament in Las Vegas.

San Diego State at Brigham Young Univ.
May 13, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
San Diego State 10 (21-34,14-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BERRY, Quintin cf........  4  2  1  0   1  1  3  0   0
WILLEFORD, Mike 2b.......  5  0  4  1   0  0  2  2   0
SMYTH, Paul lf...........  4  0  1  1   1  0  4  0   3
UNGRICHT, Brock 1b.......  4  0  0  0   1  0  3  0   1
ROMERO, Nick ss..........  5  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   4
MENDOZA, Curt rf.........  4  2  2  2   1  0  4  0   0
O'BRIEN, Tim 3b..........  3  2  2  1   2  0  1  1   0
SPIRNAK, Brent dh........  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   2
 KINSMAN, Brian ph.......  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HUSKINS, Joey ph........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
ANDERSON, Chris c........  4  2  2  1   1  1 10  0   1
BILLINGS, Bruce p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SIMON, Adam p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DOUGLAS, Brett p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38 10 14  6   7  6 27  3  11
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (26-26,11-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CARTER, Austin lf........  4  1  0  0   1  1  2  0   3
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  3  0  2  0   1  0  2  2   0
 JOHNSON, Jason ph.......  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  0  1  0   0  2  2  0   0
 BARNES, Clayton ph......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  3  0  0  0   1  2  9  0   2
 NIELSEN, Dane ph........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
KO, Kasey dh.............  2  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   2
 JOHNSON, Seth pr/dh.....  0  1  0  0   2  0  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent cf..........  4  1  1  2   1  0  2  0   0
VARGAS, Daniel 3b........  3  1  2  1   2  0  0  3   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  5  0  2  2   0  0  6  0   2
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  5  0  1  0   0  3  4  4   4
WELLS, Patrick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 BINGHAM, Anthony p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 WORTHAM, Jake p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 BARRETT, Josh p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  5 10  5  10  9 27 13  13
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
San Diego State..... 120 000 034 - 10 14  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 000 005 -  5 10  2
-------------------------------------------
E - VARGAS; WORTHAM. DP - SDS Aztecs 2; BYU Cougars 2. LOB - SDS Aztecs 11;
BYU Cougars 13. 2B - ROMERO; MENDOZA; ANDERSON; NELSON. HR - MENDOZA(8);
O'BRIEN(11). HBP - BERRY; SMYTH. SH - WILLEFORD. SB - BERRY; WILLEFORD.
San Diego State        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BILLINGS, Bruce.....  7.0  7  0  0  5  6 26 31
SIMON, Adam.........  1.2  3  5  5  5  2  8 13
DOUGLAS, Brett......  0.1  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WELLS, Patrick......  5.0  7  3  3  6  5 21 28
BINGHAM, Anthony....  1.0  0  0  0  1  0  1  3
WORTHAM, Jake.......  2.0  4  5  2  0  0 10 11
BARRETT, Josh.......  1.0  3  2  2  0  1  6  6
Win - BILLINGS (6-3).  Loss - WELLS (5-6).  Save - None.
WP - BINGHAM. HBP - by WELLS (SMYTH); by WORTHAM (BERRY). PB - ANDERSON.
Umpires - HP: Terry Balser  1B: Rich Padilla  3B: Jason Rogers
Start: 1:06 pm   Time: 3:24   Attendance: 1101
Game notes:
Game 3 of 3
WELLS faced 1 batter in the 6th.
WORTHAM faced 2 batters in the 9th.
San Diego State at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
May 13, 2006 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
San Diego State..... 120 000 034 - 10 14  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 000 005 -  5 10  2
-------------------------------------------
San Diego State starters: 23/cf BERRY; 10/2b WILLEFORD; 26/lf SMYTH; 25/1b UNGRICHT;
8/ss ROMERO; 24/rf MENDOZA; 20/3b O'BRIEN; 28/dh SPIRNAK; 17/c ANDERSON; 22/p
BILLINGS;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 6/lf CARTER; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR; 32/1b
HIESTAND; 33/dh KO; 9/cf WALTON; 13/3b VARGAS; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS; 4/p WELLS;
San Diego State 1st - BERRY walked. WILLEFORD singled to center field; BERRY
advanced to second. WILLEFORD stole second; BERRY stole third. SMYTH singled to
shortstop, RBI; WILLEFORD advanced to third; BERRY scored. UNGRICHT lined out to ss.
ROMERO grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; SMYTH out on the play. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - CARTER struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS walked.
SAYLOR struck out swinging. VILLEZCAS advanced to second on a passed ball. HIESTAND
walked. KO fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - MENDOZA walked. O'BRIEN homered to left field, RBI;
MENDOZA scored. SPIRNAK struck out swinging. ANDERSON walked. BERRY struck out
swinging. WILLEFORD singled to center field; ANDERSON advanced to third. SMYTH
grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WALTON popped up to 2b. VARGAS walked. NELSON
popped up to rf. BANKS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - UNGRICHT flied out to cf. ROMERO grounded out to 2b.
MENDOZA doubled to left field. O'BRIEN walked. SPIRNAK struck out looking. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - CARTER flied out to rf. VILLEZCAS grounded out to
2b. SAYLOR struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 4th - ANDERSON struck out swinging. BERRY grounded out to p.
WILLEFORD singled to center field. SMYTH hit by pitch; WILLEFORD advanced to second.
UNGRICHT walked; SMYTH advanced to second; WILLEFORD advanced to third. ROMERO flied
out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HIESTAND flied out to lf. KO walked. WALTON walked;
KO advanced to second. VARGAS popped up to 1b. NELSON flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - MENDOZA grounded out to 3b. O'BRIEN walked. SPIRNAK
struck out swinging. ANDERSON reached on a fielder's choice; O'BRIEN out at second
ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - BANKS flied out to rf. CARTER flied out to lf.
VILLEZCAS singled to center field. SAYLOR singled to right field; VILLEZCAS advanced
to second. HIESTAND struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 6th - BERRY singled to center field. BINGHAM to p for WELLS.
WILLEFORD grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; BERRY advanced to second. BERRY advanced to
third on a wild pitch. SMYTH walked. UNGRICHT grounded into double play ss to 2b to
1b; SMYTH out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - KO singled up the middle. JOHNSON, S. pinch ran for
KO. WALTON grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; JOHNSON, S. out on the play.
VARGAS singled to left center. NELSON singled to left field; VARGAS advanced to
second. BANKS singled to shortstop; NELSON advanced to second; VARGAS advanced to
third. CARTER flied out to lf. 0 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - WORTHAM to p for BINGHAM. ROMERO popped up to 2b.
MENDOZA lined out to ss. O'BRIEN out at first p to 2b to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - VILLEZCAS singled to right field. SAYLOR flied out
to cf. HIESTAND struck out swinging, hit into double play c unassisted; VILLEZCAS
out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 8th - KINSMAN pinch hit for SPIRNAK. KINSMAN singled to right
field. ANDERSON singled, advanced to second on a throwing error by p; KINSMAN
scored, unearned. BERRY hit by pitch. WILLEFORD reached on a throwing error by 3b,
out at first p to 1b; BERRY scored, unearned; ANDERSON scored, unearned. SMYTH flied
out to cf. UNGRICHT flied out to rf. 3 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - SIMON to p for BILLINGS. JOHNSON, S. to dh.
JOHNSON, S. walked. WALTON flied out to cf. VARGAS walked; JOHNSON, S. advanced to
second. NELSON flied out to rf; JOHNSON, S. advanced to third. BANKS struck out
looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 9th - ROMERO doubled to left field. MENDOZA homered to left
field, 2 RBI; ROMERO scored. BARRETT to p for WORTHAM. O'BRIEN singled up the
middle. HUSKINS pinch hit for KINSMAN. HUSKINS struck out swinging. ANDERSON doubled
to right center, RBI; O'BRIEN scored. BERRY fouled out to lf; ANDERSON advanced to
third. WILLEFORD singled up the middle, RBI; ANDERSON scored. SMYTH flied out to lf.
4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - CARTER walked. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for VILLEZCAS.
JOHNSON, J. walked; CARTER advanced to second. BARNES pinch hit for SAYLOR. BARNES
struck out swinging. NIELSEN pinch hit for HIESTAND. NIELSEN flied out to lf.
JOHNSON, S. walked; JOHNSON, J. advanced to second; CARTER advanced to third. WALTON
singled to right field, 2 RBI; JOHNSON, S. advanced to third; JOHNSON, J. scored;
CARTER scored. VARGAS singled to left field, RBI; WALTON advanced to third; JOHNSON,
S. scored. NELSON doubled to left field, 2 RBI; VARGAS scored; WALTON scored.
DOUGLAS to p for SIMON. BANKS struck out swinging. 5 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.