Home Opener Beats Weather, Bears

PROVO (Mar. 1 2007)--The weather was chilly, but BYU was hot, totaling 21 hits on their way to a 17-2 rout of Northern Colorado (5-2), in its home opener on Thursday.

Jake Wortham (2-1) picked up the win for the Cougars (6-3) pitching six strong innings, throwing 82 pitches and only giving up three hits.

"It was nice to play at home, you don't have to travel, and you feel fresh," Wortham said.

Center fielder Leon Johnson and first baseman Mike McKeever both hit home runs for BYU and shortstop Dan Vargas led all players with three RBI's.

Vargas' second inning triple proved to be the game winner. While the Cougars are on a three-game winning streak, Kent Walton's 16-game hitting streak came to a close on Thursday. McKeever now has a team-leading four-game hitting streak.

The Bears struggled from the beginning as Wortham stifled their hitters. Defensively, the Cougars were the benefactors of five Bears errors. Eric Maydew (2-1) picked up the loss for UNC, going four innings and giving up 10 runs.

The Cougars started things off in the first inning with a leadoff single by Johnson, that was followed up by a double by right fielder Jonathan Cluff that brought Johnson in to score. BYU would continue to score in every inning until the bottom of the eighth.

Coach Vance Law for BYU is now off to his best start ever with the Cougars.

"I don't keep track of that stuff (records)," Law said. "The key for us is that we are pulling the ball in play with the right trajectory. I was pleased with the entire team today. We're building confidence and I hope it continues."

Law also praised the grounds crew, specifically Brian Hill and assistant coach Paul Bassett, who were able to get the field ready despite two inches of snow and temperature that was in the low 30's.

"They were fabulous, just fabulous to get this ready today."

The Cougars are scheduled to play UNC again on Friday at 1:00 p.m., with free admission. Sophomore Jordan Muir (2-0, 3.09) will be on the mound for BYU, while the Bears will counter with Chris Reap (1-0, 5.73).

Northern Colorado at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 01, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Northern Colorado 2 (5-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Beaman,Brad lf...........  4  0  1  1   0  2  0  0   3
 Zyer,Sean lf............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Saylor,Nate dh...........  5  1  2  0   0  2  0  0   0
Symons,Adam 3b/2b........  3  0  1  0   0  0  1  2   0
Sandberg,Kevin 1b........  4  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   3
Gorman,Grady rf..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  4  0   0
Ray,John c...............  2  0  0  0   1  0  8  0   0
 Keeton,Derrick c........  1  0  0  1   0  0  2  0   0
Garcia,Anthony cf........  2  1  1  0   0  1  2  0   0
 Keene,Trey cf...........  1  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
Horn,Jeff 2b.............  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  1   0
 Murray,Chad 3b..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
Morales,Cory ss..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  2   0
 Santucci,Phil ph........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Maydew,Eric p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Collins,Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Peery,Sean p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  2  6  2   2 11 24  5   9
Brigham Young Univ. 17 (6-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon cf.........  3  2  2  2   1  1  1  0   0
 FANNING, Collin ph/cf...  2  0  0  1   0  1  0  0   2
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  5  0  1  2   1  2  0  0   1
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   3
 JOHNSON, Chris 3b.......  2  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana lf.......  4  2  1  0   1  2  2  0   0
 FRAMPTON, Chase ph......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WELLS, Stephen lf.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
PARKER, Steve dh.........  4  3  3  1   0  1  0  0   1
 KO, Kasey ph............  2  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
MC KEEVER, Mike 1b.......  4  3  3  2   0  0  8  0   0
 BILLS, Thomas 1b........  2  1  1  1   0  0  0  1   2
HALL, Austin 3b/ss.......  4  3  3  2   1  0  2  4   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  1  2   0  2  7  0   1
 GUENTHER, Wes c.........  0  0  0  1   0  0  4  0   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  2  2  2  3   0  0  1  2   0
 JOHNSON, Jason ph/2b....  2  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
WORTHAM, Jake p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
 KIDD, Brad p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MICHON, Brandon p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 45 17 21 17   4  9 27 11  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Northern Colorado... 001 000 010 -  2  6  5
Brigham Young Univ.. 131 234 30X - 17 21  2
-------------------------------------------
E - Symons; Garcia; Horn; Morales; Maydew; JOHNSON, C.; HALL. LOB - UNC
Bears 9; BYU Cougars 10. 2B - Beaman; NAKAYAMA; BILLS; HALL 2. 3B - PARKER;
VARGAS. HR - JOHNSON, L.(2); MC KEEVER(1). HBP - Symons. SF - GUENTHER;
VARGAS. SB - Garcia; HALL.
Northern Colorado      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Maydew,Eric.........  4.0 10  9  7  1  5 23 24
Collins,Matt........  1.1  5  5  5  3  2  8 12
Peery,Sean..........  2.2  6  3  3  0  2 14 15
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
WORTHAM, Jake.......  6.0  3  1  1  0  7 21 22
KIDD, Brad..........  2.0  3  1  1  2  1 11 13
MICHON, Brandon.....  1.0  0  0  0  0  3  3  3
Win - WORTHAM (2-1).  Loss - Maydew (2-1).  Save - None.
WP - Peery. HBP - by WORTHAM (Symons).
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Blake Jensen  3B: Lew Carleton
Start: 3:07 pm   Time: 2:42   Attendance: 105
Northern Colorado starters: 1/lf Beaman; 18/dh Saylor; 8/3b Symons; 28/1b Sandberg;
27/rf Gorman; 5/c Ray; 20/cf Garcia; 2/2b Horn; 3/ss Morales; 34/p Maydew;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 14/cf JOHNSON, L.; 8/rf CLUFF; 9/2b WALTON; 24/lf
NAKAYAMA; 5/dh PARKER; 33/1b MC KEEVER; 18/3b HALL; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 28/p
WORTHAM;
Northern Colorado 1st - Beaman grounded out to p. Saylor struck out looking.
Symons grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. singled to left field. JOHNSON, L.
advanced to second on a throwing error by p. CLUFF singled to center field, advanced
to second on a fielding error by cf, RBI; JOHNSON, L. scored. WALTON grounded out to
3b. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. PARKER struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 2
errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 2nd - Sandberg grounded out to ss. Gorman struck out
swinging. Ray flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - MC KEEVER singled to left center. HALL reached on a
fielder's choice; MC KEEVER advanced to second on a throwing error by ss, advanced
to third. MUSSO struck out swinging; HALL stole second. VARGAS tripled to left
center, 2 RBI; HALL scored; MC KEEVER scored, unearned. JOHNSON, L. walked. CLUFF
reached on a fielder's choice, RBI, advanced to second on a throwing error by 2b;
JOHNSON, L. out at second ss to 2b; VARGAS scored, unearned. WALTON grounded out to
3b. 3 runs, 2 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 3rd - Garcia singled up the middle. Garcia stole second.
Horn struck out swinging. Morales grounded out to 3b. Beaman doubled down the lf
line, RBI; Garcia scored. Saylor singled to shortstop; Beaman advanced to third.
Symons hit by pitch; Saylor advanced to second. Sandberg struck out swinging. 1
run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. PARKER singled up the
middle. MC KEEVER flied out to cf. HALL doubled to right center, RBI; PARKER scored.
MUSSO flied out to ss. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 4th - Gorman grounded out to p. Ray lined out to ss. Garcia
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - VARGAS singled to right center. JOHNSON, L. homered
to right center, 2 RBI; VARGAS scored. CLUFF struck out looking. WALTON flied out to
cf. NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northern Colorado 5th - Horn struck out looking. Morales grounded out to 3b.
Beaman struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - PARKER singled up the middle. MC KEEVER singled to
center field; PARKER advanced to second. Collins to p for Maydew. HALL walked; MC
KEEVER advanced to second; PARKER advanced to third. MUSSO singled up the middle, 2
RBI; HALL advanced to third; MC KEEVER scored; PARKER scored. VARGAS flied out to
rf, SF, RBI; HALL scored. JOHNSON, L. struck out looking. CLUFF walked; MUSSO
advanced to second. WALTON grounded out to 2b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Northern Colorado 6th - Saylor grounded out to 3b. Symons flied out to cf.
Sandberg out at first p to ss to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - NAKAYAMA walked. PARKER tripled to left center,
RBI; NAKAYAMA scored. MC KEEVER homered to left center, 2 RBI; PARKER scored. HALL
doubled down the rf line. MUSSO struck out looking. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for
VARGAS. JOHNSON, J. singled to second base; HALL advanced to third. FANNING pinch
hit for JOHNSON, L.. Symons to 2b. Keene to cf for Garcia. Murray to 3b for Horn.
Peery to p for Collins. FANNING reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; JOHNSON, J. out
at second ss to 2b; HALL scored. CLUFF struck out looking. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 7th - FANNING to cf. JOHNSON, C. to 3b for WALTON. BILLS to
1b for MC KEEVER. HALL to ss. GUENTHER to c for MUSSO. JOHNSON, J. to 2b. KIDD to p
for WORTHAM. Gorman reached on a throwing error by 3b. Ray walked; Gorman advanced
to second. Keene lined out to 2b. Murray popped up to ss. Morales singled to left
field; Ray advanced to second; Gorman advanced to third. Beaman struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Zyer to lf for Beaman. Keeton to c for Ray.
JOHNSON, C. popped up to ss. NAKAYAMA doubled to right field. KO pinch hit for
PARKER. KO singled to left field; NAKAYAMA advanced to third. BILLS doubled to left
center, RBI; KO advanced to third; NAKAYAMA scored. HALL singled to right field,
RBI; BILLS advanced to third; KO scored. GUENTHER flied out to cf, SF, RBI; BILLS
scored. JOHNSON, J. reached on a fielding error by 2b; HALL advanced to second.
JOHNSON, J. advanced to second on a wild pitch; HALL advanced to third. FANNING
struck out swinging. 3 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 8th - Saylor singled to right field. Symons singled to
center field; Saylor advanced to second. Sandberg flied out to lf. Gorman reached on
a fielding error by ss; Symons advanced to second; Saylor advanced to third. Keeton
reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; Gorman out at second 1b to ss; Symons advanced
to third; Saylor scored. Keene walked; Keeton advanced to second. Murray reached on
a fielder's choice; Keene out at second ss to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - CLUFF fouled out to c. JOHNSON, C. singled to
center field. FRAMPTON pinch hit for NAKAYAMA. FRAMPTON flied out to rf. KO singled
to right field; JOHNSON, C. advanced to second. BILLS flied out to rf. 0 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 9th - WELLS to lf for FRAMPTON. MICHON to p for KIDD.
Santucci pinch hit for Morales. Santucci struck out swinging. Zyer struck out
swinging. Saylor struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.