Horned Frogs Claim Title

LAS -- Regular season champion and top-seeded TCU came from behind early to secure a 9-6 victory Saturday over BYU to win the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Behind a three-run homer on a very windy day by tourney MVP Chad Huffman, the Horned Frogs prevented a third game with BYU in Las Vegas and secured the automatic berth in the NCAA Post-Season Tournament. Huffman, a junior and reserve quarterback on the TCU football team, belted his game-winning RBI homer with two outs in the sixth inning.

That homer chased BYU starter Matt Jensen from the game, behind 8-3.

"Huffman made a couple plays at first that really dampened our chances," said BYU Coach Vance Law.

BYU got aboard in the first inning when Marcos Villezcas singled, advance to second on a walk by Ben Saylor and scored on Jeff Hiestand's single.

Stetson Banks put BYU up 2-0 with his first homer of the season to left field in the second inning. The Horned Frogs responded in the bottom of the second to the tune of four runs on as many hits, stranding two.

Saylor knocked a long homer that would have cleared the park easily on a non-windy day in the third to pull BYU within one, 4-3.

Casey Nelson, Banks and Saylor combined for two runs in the seventh to bring the score to 8-5. Saylor scored again in the ninth after consecutive doubles by himself and Hiestand.

"We didn't take advantage of the conditions," said Law. "They are a quality team, but I wouldn't trade my guys with the way we came on at the end of the season."

Hiestand, Banks and Patrick Wells, who threw a complete game on Friday, were named to the all-tournament team as was Utah's Ryan Khoury. Joining Huffman from TCU on the all-tourney team were Andrew Walker, Ryan Pack, Steven Trout and Brad Furnish, who beat the Cougars on Thursday.

BYU ends the season at 33-27, barring an at large berth to the NCAA Tourney.

BYU at TCU
May 27, 2006 at Las Vegas (Earl E. Wilson)
BYU 6 (33-28)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CARTER, Austin lf........  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   2
 JOHNSON, Seth ph/lf.....  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  5  1  1  1   0  1  3  1   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  2  3  2   1  1  1  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  0  2  2   1  1  9  1   0
KO, Kasey dh.............  5  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
WALTON, Kent cf..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   2
CROSBY, Blake 3b.........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  5   0
NELSON, Casey c..........  4  1  2  0   0  0  5  0   0
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  4  2  3  1   0  1  2  2   1
JENSEN, Matt p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 WORTHAM, Jake p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39  6 11  6   2  6 24  9   8
TCU 9 (38-21)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KERVIN, Bryan ss.........  4  1  1  1   1  1  0  5   0
TROUT, Steven dh.........  4  1  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
HUFFMAN, Chad 1b.........  4  1  1  3   0  1 11  1   2
ADAMS, Austin rf.........  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
CARPENTER, Matt 3b.......  4  1  2  0   0  0  1  2   0
CONLON, Keith lf.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   1
WALKER, Andrew c.........  4  2  3  0   0  0  5  1   0
STEGLICH, Corey 2b.......  3  1  1  3   0  0  1  2   2
PACK, Ryan cf............  4  1  1  2   0  1  5  0   1
DEMEL, Sam p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  1   0
 FURROW, Donald p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  9 11  9   2  5 27 12   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 111 000 201 -  6 11  0
TCU................. 040 004 100 -  9 11  1
-------------------------------------------
E - CARPENTER(5). LOB - BYU 8; TC 6. 2B - SAYLOR(17); HIESTAND(15);
NELSON(13); ADAMS(12); WALKER(14). 3B - STEGLICH(2). HR - SAYLOR(21);
BANKS(1); HUFFMAN(18); PACK(6). HBP - HUFFMAN; ADAMS. SF - STEGLICH(4). SB -
CONLON(9).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
JENSEN, Matt........  5.2  9  8  8  2  3 26 30
WORTHAM, Jake.......  2.1  2  1  1  0  2  8  9
TCU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
DEMEL, Sam..........  6.0  7  5  5  1  4 26 27
FURROW, Donald......  3.0  4  1  1  1  2 13 14
Win - DEMEL (6-5).  Loss - JENSEN (1-6).  Save - None.
WP - JENSEN(2); FURROW(3). HBP - by JENSEN (ADAMS); by JENSEN (HUFFMAN).
Umpires - HP: Chad McCardle  1B: Michael Gilmore  2B: Blake Jensen  3B: Bruce
Bayne  Start: 3:00 pm   Time: 3:00   Attendance: 318
Game notes:
BYU at TCU - Play-by-Play
May 27, 2006 at Las Vegas (Earl E. Wilson)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 111 000 201 -  6 11  0
TCU................. 040 004 100 -  9 11  1
-------------------------------------------
BYU starters: 6/lf CARTER; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 25/rf SAYLOR; 32/1b HIESTAND; 33/dh
KO; 9/cf WALTON; 30/3b CROSBY; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS; 21/p JENSEN;
TCU starters: 1/ss KERVIN; 16/dh TROUT; 17/1b HUFFMAN; 44/rf ADAMS; 14/3b
CARPENTER; 27/lf CONLON; 6/c WALKER; 3/2b STEGLICH; 15/cf PACK; 8/p DEMEL;
BYU 1st - CARTER struck out looking. VILLEZCAS singled through the right
side. SAYLOR walked; VILLEZCAS advanced to second. HIESTAND singled to right
field, RBI; SAYLOR advanced to second; VILLEZCAS scored. KO grounded out to 2b;
HIESTAND advanced to second; SAYLOR advanced to third. WALTON grounded out to
3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 1st - KERVIN out at first 1b to p. TROUT fouled out to 1b. HUFFMAN
grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - CROSBY grounded out to ss. NELSON flied out to cf. BANKS
homered, RBI. CARTER struck out, out at first c to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 2nd - ADAMS hit by pitch. CARPENTER flied out to 2b. CONLON popped
up to ss. WALKER singled to left field; ADAMS advanced to third. STEGLICH
tripled to left field, 2 RBI; WALKER scored; ADAMS scored. PACK homered to
right field, 2 RBI; STEGLICH scored. KERVIN walked. TROUT singled to center
field; KERVIN advanced to second. HUFFMAN grounded out to 2b. 4 runs, 4
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 3rd - VILLEZCAS grounded out to 1b unassisted. SAYLOR homered to
right field, RBI. HIESTAND struck out. KO grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit,
0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 3rd - ADAMS doubled to left field. CARPENTER singled to left field.
CONLON reached on a fielder's choice; CARPENTER out at second 3b to 2b; ADAMS
advanced to third. CONLON stole second. WALKER popped up to ss. STEGLICH flied
out to cf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - WALTON fouled out to p. CROSBY flied out to cf. NELSON reached
on a fielding error by 3b. BANKS singled to right field; NELSON advanced to
second. CARTER out at first 1b to 2b to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2
LOB.
TCU 4th - PACK struck out. KERVIN struck out. TROUT flied out to cf.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - VILLEZCAS grounded out to p. SAYLOR struck out looking.
HIESTAND popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 5th - HUFFMAN hit by pitch. ADAMS struck out looking. CARPENTER
popped up to ss. CONLON grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
BYU 6th - KO grounded out to ss. WALTON lined out to cf. CROSBY flied
out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 6th - WALKER singled to center field. WALKER advanced to second on a
wild pitch. STEGLICH grounded out to 3b; WALKER advanced to third. PACK
grounded out to 3b. KERVIN singled to left field, RBI; WALKER scored. TROUT
walked; KERVIN advanced to second. HUFFMAN homered to left field, 3 RBI; TROUT
scored; KERVIN scored. WORTHAM to p for JENSEN. ADAMS flied out to rf. 4
runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - NELSON doubled to right field. BANKS singled to center field;
NELSON advanced to third. FURROW to p for DEMEL. JOHNSON, S. pinch hit for
CARTER. JOHNSON, S. flied out to lf. VILLEZCAS grounded out to 3b, RBI; BANKS
advanced to second; NELSON scored. SAYLOR singled to center field, RBI; BANKS
scored. SAYLOR advanced to second on a wild pitch. HIESTAND walked. KO reached
on a fielder's choice; HIESTAND out at second ss to 2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 7th - JOHNSON, S. to lf. CARPENTER singled to right field. CONLON
struck out. WALKER doubled to left field; CARPENTER advanced to third. STEGLICH
flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; WALKER advanced to third; CARPENTER scored. PACK
grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - WALTON grounded out to 1b unassisted. CROSBY flied out to cf.
NELSON singled to left field. BANKS struck out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
TCU 8th - KERVIN popped up to 1b. TROUT grounded out to ss. HUFFMAN
struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 9th - JOHNSON, S. flied out to lf. VILLEZCAS struck out. SAYLOR
doubled to center field. HIESTAND doubled to center field, RBI; SAYLOR scored.
KO grounded out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
TCU 9th - TCU wins the 2006 MWC Tournament Championship. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.