Muir Shuts Out Bears

PROVO -- Sophomore Jordan Muir pitched seven strong innings, and Kent Walton knocked in three runs to propel BYU to a 12-1 victory over Northern Colorado Friday at Larry H. Miller Field.

Muir (3-0) picked up the win for BYU (7-3) striking out six and only allowing three hits on the day as he threw only 62 pitches on a very chilly day as the grounds crew pulled off another miracle in getting the field ready from another snowfall. With the win Muir remains a perfect (9-0) in his college career.

"My team behind me backed me up all game," Muir said. "Our hitters were just awesome, they are doing great."

Walton led all players with four RBI, and hit a solo home-run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"He (Walton) stayed after the game last night and worked on his swing in the batting cages and is really making an improvement in his game, especially hitting to the opposite field," said BYU Coach Vance Law.

Cougar left field slugger Apana Nakayama had three hits and knocked in one run on the day.

The score was 0-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth and then the Cougar batters began to heat up, knocking in four runs and taking advantage of a costly UNC error to jump out to a commanding 4-0 lead.

BYU had the shutout going in the top of the eighth inning, before Bears' DH Nate Saylor hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the only Northern Colorado run of the day.

UNC pitcher Chris Reap (1-1) picked up the loss, giving up six hits and four runs to BYU.

The Cougars followed up Thursday night's 21-hit performance with 17 hits in Friday's game, and had 12 different players record a hit in the rematch.

"It was cold, but I was happy the way we played," Law said. "Jordan just pumped strikes."

The Cougars will face UNC, who fell to 5-3, again Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Northern Colorado at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 02, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Northern Colorado 1 (5-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Beaman,Brad lf...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
Saylor,Nate dh...........  3  0  0  1   0  2  0  0   0
Symons,Adam 3b/2b........  3  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
Sandberg,Kevin 1b........  3  0  1  0   1  1  6  0   3
Gorman,Grady rf..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
 Zyer,Sean ph............  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Keene,Trey cf............  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   2
Ray,John c...............  3  1  1  0   0  1  6  3   1
 Keeton,Derrick c........  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
Horn,Jeff 2b.............  2  0  0  0   0  1  4  1   0
 Murray,Chad ph/3b.......  2  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   1
Morales,Cory ss..........  3  0  0  0   0  1  2  3   0
Reap,Chris p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Skufca,Eric p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Sawicki,Joe p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  1  6  1   2  9 24  8   7
Brigham Young Univ. 13 (7-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon cf.........  3  1  1  0   1  1  2  0   3
 WELLS, Stephen ph/cf....  2  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  3  0  1  0   1  1  2  0   0
 FANNING, Collin ph/rf...  1  1  1  0   1  0  1  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  4  2  2  4   0  0  1  0   0
 BILLS, Thomas ph/1b.....  1  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana lf.......  6  1  3  1   0  1  1  0   3
PARKER, Steve dh.........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   3
 JOHNSON, Jason ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
MC KEEVER, Mike 1b.......  1  2  0  0   2  1  4  0   0
 KO, Kasey 1b/3b.........  1  0  1  1   0  0  2  1   0
HALL, Austin 3b..........  1  2  1  2   1  0  1  1   0
 JOHNSON, Chris ph/3b....  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  1  2   0  3  6  1   0
 GUENTHER, Wes c.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
 FRAMPTON, Chase c.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  5  1  2  1   0  1  3  3   2
MUIR, Jordan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARNES, Clayton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 WARD, Michael p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 39 13 17 12   6 10 27  7  12
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Northern Colorado... 000 000 010 -  1  6  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 405 31X - 13 17  1
-------------------------------------------
E - Reap; VARGAS. LOB - UNC Bears 7; BYU Cougars 12. 2B - WALTON; NAKAYAMA;
HALL. HR - WALTON(1). HBP - Beaman; MC KEEVER. SH - HALL 2. SF - Saylor;
WALTON. SB - MC KEEVER. CS - Keene; JOHNSON, L..
Northern Colorado      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Reap,Chris..........  5.0  6  4  1  4  8 19 27
Skufca,Eric.........  1.0  7  7  7  1  0 10 11
Sawicki,Joe.........  2.0  4  2  2  1  2 10 11
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MUIR, Jordan........  7.0  3  0  0  1  6 23 24
BARNES, Clayton.....  1.0  2  1  1  1  1  4  7
WARD, Michael.......  1.0  1  0  0  0  2  4  4
Win - MUIR (3-0).  Loss - Reap (1-1).  Save - None.
WP - Reap; BARNES. HBP - by Reap (MC KEEVER); by BARNES (Beaman). PB - Ray.
Umpires - HP: Blake Jensen  1B: Lew Carleton  3B: Randy Upton
Start: 3:07 pm   Time: 2:44   Attendance: 175
Game notes:
Skufca faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Northern Colorado starters: 1/lf Beaman; 18/dh Saylor; 8/3b Symons; 28/1b Sandberg;
27/rf Gorman; 25/cf Keene; 5/c Ray; 2/2b Horn; 3/ss Morales; 22/p Reap;
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; 12/p
MUIR;
Northern Colorado 1st - Beaman flied out to rf. Saylor struck out looking.
Symons flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. singled up the middle. JOHNSON, L. out
at second c to 2b, caught stealing. CLUFF singled through the left side. CLUFF
advanced to second on a wild pitch. WALTON reached on a fielder's choice; CLUFF out
at second p to ss. NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Northern Colorado 2nd - Sandberg singled to left field. Gorman reached on a
fielder's choice, advanced to second on an error by ss; Sandberg out at second ss
unassisted. Keene flied out to cf. Ray flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PARKER popped up to ss. MC KEEVER struck out
swinging, reached first on a passed ball. MC KEEVER stole second. HALL walked. MUSSO
struck out swinging. VARGAS singled to third base; HALL advanced to second; MC
KEEVER advanced to third. JOHNSON, L. struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 3 LOB.
Northern Colorado 3rd - Horn grounded out to 1b unassisted. Morales popped up
to ss. Beaman grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - CLUFF struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b.
WALTON grounded out to ss. NAKAYAMA doubled to right field. PARKER grounded out to
2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 4th - Saylor struck out looking. Symons grounded out to ss.
Sandberg struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MC KEEVER hit by pitch. HALL reached on a throwing
error by p, advanced to third, SAC, bunt; MC KEEVER scored. MUSSO struck out
looking. VARGAS singled down the lf line, RBI; HALL scored, unearned. JOHNSON, L.
walked; VARGAS advanced to second. CLUFF walked; JOHNSON, L. advanced to second;
VARGAS advanced to third. WALTON flied out to lf, SF, RBI; VARGAS scored, unearned.
NAKAYAMA singled through the right side, RBI; CLUFF advanced to third; JOHNSON, L.
scored, unearned. PARKER struck out swinging. 4 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 5th - Gorman grounded out to 3b. Keene singled to second
base. Keene out at second c to ss, caught stealing. Ray struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MC KEEVER walked. HALL grounded out to c, SAC,
bunt; MC KEEVER advanced to second. MUSSO struck out swinging. VARGAS grounded out
to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 6th - Horn struck out looking. Morales popped up to 2b.
Beaman struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - Skufca to p for Reap. JOHNSON, L. flied out to cf.
CLUFF grounded out to ss. WALTON homered to left field, RBI. NAKAYAMA singled to
right field. PARKER singled to center field; NAKAYAMA advanced to second. MC KEEVER
walked; PARKER advanced to second; NAKAYAMA advanced to third. HALL doubled to right
center, 2 RBI; MC KEEVER advanced to third; PARKER scored; NAKAYAMA scored. MUSSO
singled to center field, 2 RBI; HALL scored; MC KEEVER scored. VARGAS popped up to
2b. 5 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 7th - KO to 1b for MC KEEVER. Saylor grounded out to ss.
Symons popped up to rf. Sandberg walked. Gorman singled up the middle; Sandberg
advanced to second. Keene reached on a fielder's choice; Gorman advanced to second;
Sandberg out at third 3b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WELLS pinch hit for JOHNSON, L.. WELLS singled to
left field. FANNING pinch hit for CLUFF. FANNING singled to center field; WELLS
advanced to second. Sawicki to p for Skufca. WALTON doubled to right field, 2 RBI;
FANNING scored; WELLS scored. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for
PARKER. JOHNSON, J. popped up to 2b. KO singled to left field, RBI; WALTON scored.
JOHNSON, C. pinch hit for HALL. JOHNSON, C. popped up to 2b. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Northern Colorado 8th - WELLS to cf. FANNING to rf. JOHNSON, C. to 3b.
GUENTHER to c for MUSSO. BARNES to p for MUIR. Ray singled to shortstop. Murray
pinch hit for Horn. Murray singled to second base; Ray advanced to second. Murray
advanced to second on a wild pitch; Ray advanced to third. Morales struck out
swinging. Beaman hit by pitch. Saylor flied out to rf, SF, RBI; Murray advanced to
third; Ray scored. Symons walked; Beaman advanced to second. Sandberg grounded out
to p. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - Symons to 2b. Murray to 3b. Keeton to c for Ray.
GUENTHER struck out looking. VARGAS struck out swinging. WELLS singled to left
center. FANNING walked; WELLS advanced to second. BILLS pinch hit for WALTON. BILLS
singled to center field, RBI; FANNING advanced to second; WELLS scored. NAKAYAMA
flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Northern Colorado 9th - BILLS to 1b. KO to 3b. JOHNSON, C. to 2b. FRAMPTON to
c for GUENTHER. WARD to p for BARNES. Zyer pinch hit for Gorman. Zyer singled to
shortstop. Keene reached on a fielder's choice; Zyer out at second 3b to 2b. Keeton
struck out swinging. Murray struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.