Ko Homers In Loss At KSU

MANHATTAN -- Through eight-and-two-thirds innings BYU was tied Monday before four unearned runs led to a 5-1 victory for Kansas State.

KSU, now 10-2, won its home opener over the Cougars, now 8-4, in the first of a two-game series as BYU's five-game winning streak came to an end.

"We squandered a couple of early opportunities," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "They took advantage of our mistake in the eighth. Our pitching was outstanding with Jensen, but I was not pleased with our offensive approach."

The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the first via a second walk, an error and a balk from BYU Blaine Howell . The freshman lefty picked off the KSU runner he initially walked.

The Cougars attempted to answer in the top of the second with a lead-off double by Kent Walton, but he was left stranded as Steve Parker flied out, Jonathan Cluff struck out and Kasey Ko was thrown out at first.

In the bottom of the second, freshman southpaw starter Blaine Howell gave up his third walk of six for the afternoon, but he threw him out at third as KSU tried to bunt its runner around.

BYU mounted a legitimate threat to score in the fourth when Stephen Wells led off with a double down the rightfield line. He advanced to third on the ensuing flyout by Apana Nakayama. Walton drew a walk to put men on the corners before Parker grounded into a double play at short.

Ko hit a one-out solo homer to right field to tie the score in the fifth.

Matt Jensen replaced Howell in the third and worked out of a jam in the sixth thanks to a 6-4-3 double play. Jensen sailed along until two outs were gone in the eighth inning. He then surrendered a walk and a error by Parker at third opened the floodgates as KSU went on to score four runs on three singles. The Cougars tried to stop the damage by bringing in lefty Clayton Barnes, but he surrendered two runs along with Jensen's pair.

The two teams have a rematch on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CST.

Brigham Young at Kansas State
Mar 05, 2007 at Manhattan, Kan. (Tointon Stadium)
Brigham Young 1 (8-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  4  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   1
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  0  1  0   1  0  1  0   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  1   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   1
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  3  1  1  1   0  0  9  1   1
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  2   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  3  0  1  0   0  0  3  3   0
HOWELL, Blaine p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  4   0
 JENSEN, Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  2   0
 BARNES, Clayton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WARD, Michael p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  1  4  1   2  5 24 13   3
Kansas State 5 (10-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Bunker rf................  4  0  0  0   1  0  4  0   3
Cruz dh..................  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Rumler 3b................  2  1  0  0   2  1  0  3   0
Wiley cf.................  2  1  1  0   2  1  0  0   0
Link 2b..................  3  1  1  0   1  0  1  1   0
Bloxom 1b................  4  1  2  0   0  1 10  2   4
Scott ss.................  2  1  1  1   1  0  3  3   1
Muse lf..................  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
 Tenbrink ph.............  2  0  1  2   0  0  1  0   0
Dellasega c..............  4  0  1  1   0  1  4  2   0
Vogel p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 Linn p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 28  5  7  4   7  5 27 13   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 010 000 -  1  4  2
Kansas State........ 100 000 04X -  5  7  0
-------------------------------------------
E - PARKER(1); CLUFF(1). DP - BY 1; K-State 1. LOB - BY 3; K-State 8. 2B -
WELLS(1); WALTON(6). HR - KO(1). HBP - Scott. SH - Muse(1). CS - WELLS(2);
Scott(1).
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HOWELL, Blaine......  2.1  1  1  1  6  1  6 13
JENSEN, Matt........  5.1  3  2  0  1  4 18 19
BARNES, Clayton.....  0.0  2  2  0  0  0  2  3
WARD, Michael.......  0.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  2
Kansas State           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Vogel...............  5.0  3  1  1  2  2 16 18
Linn................  4.0  1  0  0  0  3 13 13
Win - Linn (1-0).  Loss - JENSEN (1-2).  Save - None.
HBP - by BARNES (Scott). BK - HOWELL(1).
Umpires - HP: Greg Harmon  1B: Randy Wetzel  3B: Dennis Walker
Start: 3 p.m.   Time: 2:11   Attendance: 872
Brigham Young starters: 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 1/cf WELLS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 9/2b WALTON;
5/3b PARKER; 8/rf CLUFF; 22/1b KO; 10/c MUSSO; 13/ss VARGAS; 15/p HOWELL;
Kansas State starters: 6/rf Bunker; 27/dh Cruz; 5/3b Rumler; 19/cf Wiley; 15/2b
Link; 9/1b Bloxom; 14/ss Scott; 23/lf Muse; 7/c Dellasega; 38/p Vogel;
Brigham Young 1st - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 2b. WELLS walked. WELLS out
at second c to ss, caught stealing. NAKAYAMA popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Kansas State 1st - Bunker walked. Cruz popped up to p, bunt. Bunker out at
first p to 1b, picked off. Rumler walked. Wiley singled through the right side,
advanced to second on an error by rf; Rumler advanced to third. Wiley advanced to
third on a balk; Rumler scored. Link walked. Bloxom struck out, out at first c to
1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - WALTON doubled to left center. PARKER fouled out to lf.
CLUFF struck out looking. KO out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Kansas State 2nd - Scott walked. Muse out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; Scott
advanced to second. Dellasega reached on a fielder's choice; Scott out at third p to
3b. Bunker grounded out to p, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - MUSSO grounded out to p. VARGAS grounded out to 3b.
JOHNSON, L. struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Kansas State 3rd - Cruz grounded out to ss. Rumler walked. Wiley walked;
Rumler advanced to second. JENSEN to p for HOWELL. Link grounded out to p; Wiley
advanced to second; Rumler advanced to third. Bloxom grounded out to ss. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - WELLS doubled down the rf line. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf;
WELLS advanced to third. WALTON walked. PARKER grounded into double play ss to 1b;
WALTON out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Kansas State 4th - Scott singled to right center. Scott out at second c to
ss, caught stealing. Muse struck out. Dellasega struck out. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - CLUFF flied out to lf. KO homered to right field, RBI.
MUSSO flied out to rf. VARGAS grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Kansas State 5th - Bunker out at first 1b to p. Cruz grounded out to p.
Rumler struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - Linn to p for Vogel. JOHNSON, L. struck out looking.
WELLS flied out to rf to right center. NAKAYAMA out at first 1b to p. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Kansas State 6th - Wiley struck out. Link singled to third base, bunt. Bloxom
singled down the lf line; Link advanced to second. Scott lined into double play ss
to 2b; Link out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - WALTON grounded out to p. PARKER struck out looking.
CLUFF struck out, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Kansas State 7th - Tenbrink pinch hit for Muse. Tenbrink grounded out to 1b
unassisted. Dellasega flied out to cf. Bunker popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - Rumler to ss. Link to lf. Scott to 2b. Tenbrink to 3b. KO
flied out to lf. MUSSO flied out to rf. VARGAS singled through the left side.
JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Kansas State 8th - Cruz lined out to p. Rumler grounded out to 2b. Wiley
walked. Link reached on an error by 3b; Wiley advanced to second. BARNES to p for
JENSEN. Bloxom singled through the left side; Link advanced to second; Wiley
advanced to third. Scott hit by pitch, RBI; Bloxom advanced to second; Link advanced
to third; Wiley scored, unearned. Tenbrink singled through the right side, 2 RBI;
Scott advanced to second; Bloxom scored, unearned; Link scored, unearned. WARD to p
for BARNES. Dellasega singled to right center, RBI; Tenbrink advanced to third;
Scott scored, unearned. Bunker popped up to 3b. 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - WELLS popped up to 3b. NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b.
WALTON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.