Wortham Tosses Two-Hitter

MILLINGTON -- Jake Wortham handcuffed Missouri and Stephen Wells hit a pinch-hit home run Friday in the 10th inning to lead BYU to a 4-1 victory.

In the Service Academies Classic, Wortham kept BYU in the game, throwing 109 pitches, retiring 19 consecutive batters, including seven to strikeouts, and giving up only two hits. BYU improved its record to 4-3, while Missouri went to 5-3.

In the fifth inning the sophomore southpaw threw only six pitches in one of his eight innings when he retired Mizzou in order. He coaxed all three Tigers in the seventh inning to fly out to center field. Wortham, who evened his record at 1-1, forced extra innings when he struck out the side in the ninth. Junior reliever Jake Perez picked up his first save of the season as he protected the three-run lead in the 10th when he replaced Wortham.

Wells led off the 10th with a homer on a 2-1 pitch over the right field wall to give BYU a 2-1 lead. Danny Vargas then singled to left and advanced to second on Leon Johnson's misplayed bunt. Collin Fanning brought in Vargas with a sac-fly and Johnson scored on Jonathan Cluff's right field single to make the score 4-1.

The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Leon Johnson singled up the middle, advanced to second on Fanning's groundout, stole third base and scored on Kent Walton's single up the middle. Walton and Apana Nakayama, who also singled, were stranded in the first as Mizzou lefty Rick Zagone recorded consecutive strikeouts.

The Tigers evened the score at one-all in third with an unearned run coming off back-to-back errors at third base. BYU tried to answer in the top of the fourth off consecutive singles when Chris Johnson tried to reach third on J.T. Musso's hit, but was thrown out by the centerfielder.

The Cougars threatened again in the sixth when Cluff hit a two-out double inside the left field line. But Zagone recorded his seventh strikeout to end the inning. Cluff stroked a one-out single to left, bringing substitutions for BYU with pinch-hitter Chase Frampton and Mizzou third baseman Greg Folgia moving from the hot corner to replace Zagone, who had struck out nine.

"Wortham had one of the best pitching performances I've seen in the last few years," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "He was always ahead of the hitters. His breaking ball was always in for strikes. He had excellent command.

"It was nice to see Wells come in that situation. I was hoping for just a base hit and his home run opened the doors."

The loss was the first of a split doubleheader for Missouri, who later faced Akron. BYU plays The University of Akron on Saturday morning. The Cougars had lost a 10-inning game on Thursday, 3-2, against the University of Memphis.

BYU vs Missouri
Feb 23, 2007 at Millington, Tenn. (USA Stadium)
BYU 4 (4-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  5  2  1  0   0  1  1  0   1
FANNING, Collin cf.......  4  0  0  1   0  1  7  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  5  0  1  1   0  0  2  3   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  5  0  3  1   0  1  1  0   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  3  0  0  0   0  3  6  2   3
 FRAMPTON, Chase ph......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BILLS, Thomas 1b........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   2
JOHNSON, Chris 3b........  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   1
MUSSO, J.T. c............  2  0  1  0   1  0  7  0   0
 WELLS, Stephen ph.......  1  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
 GUENTHER, Wes c.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  4  1  1  0   0  2  1  4   0
WORTHAM, Jake p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
 PEREZ, Jacob p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39  4 10  4   2  9 30  9   8
Missouri 1 (5-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Frey cf..................  4  0  1  0   0  1  3  1   0
Bond 2b..................  4  0  0  0   0  2  0  3   0
McKee 1b.................  4  0  0  1   0  1 11  0   0
Lollis rf................  4  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   3
Pietroburgo c............  3  0  0  0   1  0 10  0   0
Senne lf.................  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
Priday dh................  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 Fischer 3b..............  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
Arndt ss.................  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
Folgia 3b/p..............  3  1  0  0   0  0  2  3   0
 Combs p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Calvert ph..............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   2
Zagone p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 35  1  3  1   1  9 30 10   5
Score by Innings                      R  H  E
---------------------------------------------
BYU................. 100 000 000 3 -  4 10  2
Missouri............ 001 000 000 0 -  1  3  1
---------------------------------------------
E - JOHNSON, C. 2; Pietroburgo. LOB - BYU 8; Missouri 5. 2B - CLUFF. HR -
WELLS(1). SF - FANNING. SB - JOHNSON, L. 2.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WORTHAM, Jake.......  9.0  2  1  0  0  7 31 31
PEREZ, Jacob........  1.0  1  0  0  1  2  4  5
Missouri               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Zagone..............  8.1  7  1  1  1  9 31 32
Folgia..............  1.1  3  3  1  1  0  7  9
Combs...............  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Win - WORTHAM (1-1).  Loss - Folgia (1-1).  Save - PEREZ (1).
WP - Zagone. BK - Folgia. PB - Pietroburgo 2.
Umpires - HP: Orvil Cotton  1B: Ronny Rogers  3B: Alan Brown
Start: 1:30   Time: 2:30   Attendance: 385
BYU starters: 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 17/cf FANNING; 9/2b WALTON; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 8/rf
CLUFF; 22/1b KO; 3/3b JOHNSON, C.; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 28/p WORTHAM;
Missouri starters: 3/cf Frey; 4/2b Bond; 28/1b McKee; 20/rf Lollis; 26/c
Pietroburgo; 17/lf Senne; 51/dh Priday; 16/ss Arndt; 10/3b Folgia; 55/p Zagone;
BYU 1st - JOHNSON, L. singled up the middle. FANNING grounded out to 3b;
JOHNSON, L. advanced to second. JOHNSON, L. stole third. WALTON singled up the
middle, RBI; JOHNSON, L. scored. NAKAYAMA singled through the right side; WALTON
advanced to second. NAKAYAMA advanced to second; WALTON advanced to third on a
passed ball. CLUFF struck out swinging. KO struck out swinging. 1 run, 3 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Missouri 1st - Frey out at first 1b to p, bunt. Bond flied out to lf. McKee
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - JOHNSON, C. grounded out to 2b. MUSSO walked. MUSSO advanced to
second on a wild pitch. MUSSO advanced to third on a passed ball. VARGAS struck out
swinging. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Missouri 2nd - Lollis fouled out to 3b. Pietroburgo popped up to 1b. Senne
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - FANNING struck out swinging. WALTON flied out to cf. NAKAYAMA
fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Missouri 3rd - Priday grounded out to 2b. Arndt singled up the middle. Folgia
reached on a fielder's choice to second base; Arndt out at second 2b to ss. Frey
singled to left field; Folgia advanced to second. Bond reached on a fielding error
by 3b; Frey advanced to second; Folgia advanced to third. McKee reached on a
fielding error by 3b, RBI; Bond advanced to second; Frey advanced to third; Folgia
scored, unearned. Lollis struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB.
BYU 4th - CLUFF flied out to rf. KO struck out looking. JOHNSON, C. singled
to center field. MUSSO singled to center field; JOHNSON, C. advanced to second, out
at third cf to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Missouri 4th - Pietroburgo flied out to cf. Senne struck out swinging. Priday
struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - VARGAS grounded out to 3b. JOHNSON, L. struck out looking. FANNING
grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Missouri 5th - Arndt flied out to rf. Folgia flied out to cf. Frey struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - WALTON grounded out to p, bunt. NAKAYAMA grounded out to 1b
unassisted. CLUFF doubled down the lf line. KO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Missouri 6th - Bond struck out looking. McKee flied out to cf. Lollis out at
first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - JOHNSON, C. struck out swinging. MUSSO grounded out to 3b. VARGAS
struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Missouri 7th - Pietroburgo flied out to cf. Senne flied out to cf. Priday
lined out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - JOHNSON, L. fouled out to c. FANNING grounded out to ss. WALTON
flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Missouri 8th - Arndt grounded out to ss. Folgia lined out to cf. Frey
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 9th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b. CLUFF singled through the left side.
FRAMPTON pinch hit for KO. Fischer to 3b for Priday. /  for Zagone. Folgia to p.
FRAMPTON fouled out to rf. CLUFF advanced to second on a balk. JOHNSON, C. flied out
to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Missouri 9th - BILLS to 1b for FRAMPTON. Bond struck out swinging. McKee
struck out swinging. Lollis fouled out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 10th - WELLS pinch hit for MUSSO. WELLS homered to right field, RBI.
VARGAS singled to left field. JOHNSON, L. reached on a fielder's choice to catcher,
bunt; VARGAS advanced to second on a throwing error by c, advanced to third. FANNING
flied out to cf, SF, RBI; VARGAS scored, unearned. WALTON flied out to lf. JOHNSON,
L. stole second. NAKAYAMA intentionally walked. CLUFF singled to right field, RBI;
NAKAYAMA advanced to second; JOHNSON, L. scored, unearned. Combs to p for Folgia.
BILLS grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Missouri 10th - GUENTHER to c for WELLS. PEREZ to p for WORTHAM. Pietroburgo
walked. Senne struck out swinging. Fischer singled to left field; Pietroburgo
advanced to second. Arndt reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop; Fischer out at
second ss to 2b; Pietroburgo advanced to third. Calvert pinch hit for Combs. Calvert
struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.