Utes Take Non-League Game

SALT LAKE -- Polar opposites in the eighth inning yielded an 8-4 victory for Utah over BYU on Tuesday evening at Franklin Covey Field.

The loss makes BYU's record 13-8 as it readies to host defending Mountain West Conference champion TCU on Thursday. But Tuesday was a non-league game to compensate for the imbalance when TCU entered the conference.

BYU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a 440-foot home run to the right of the centerfield green monster fence by designated hitter Apana Nakayama.

I saw that pitch pretty good," said Nakayama of the swat following his 0-1 count. He later made the score 4-2 with a lead-off homer in the sixth off the same count, but that homer just cleared the right-center fence.

"I feel like it's coming back," said Nakayama, who has now hit four homers this season following a redshirt year because of knee surgery. "The coaches talked to me last week about taking more of a leadership role and it fired me up."

"It was nice to have Apana (Nakayama) swinging the bat well," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "We needed him to get untracked. We have to harness hit and ride him for a bit, but we can't waste him like we did tonight."

Between Nakayama's blasts came another towering homer in the fourth by Steve Parker, which also scored Nakayama and had put the Cougars up, 3-1. Parker's blast hit midway up the light pole in right field.

The Utes tied the score four-all in the seventh. Just like in the fourth inning, Utah beat out a probable double play and scored a run both times. In the seventh, however, the bases continued to be loaded when J.D. Stambaugh entered the game. Stambaugh was the fifth pitcher BYU had used to that point.

When Bret Baldwin hit Stambaugh's offering, the ball didn't richochet off the sophomore lefty, rather it fell down by his feet and he couldn't find the ball.

"Everyone on our team was yelling 'feet, feet,'" said Law. But Stambaugh couldn't find the ball in time to prevent Corey Shimada from scoring the tying run.

The Cougars could have answered that two-run Ute rally in the eighth as Parker's sacrifice bunt moved Collin Fanning to third and Nakayama to second with one out. Stephen Wells drew an intentional walk to load the bases, but the Utes got the Cougars to strike out and fly out with no damage.

"We had control of the game, but we didn't execute when we needed to offensively or on the mound," said Law. "We practice it all of the time with things like bunt defense."

That BYU bunt defense was put to the test in the bottom of the four-run eighth. Eventual losing pitcher Michael Ward had stopped the bleeding in the seventh, but gave up a single up the middle to Dustin Hennis, then hit Mike Mitchell. When Nate Burnham's dribbler was fielded by Ward, the redshirt freshman hurler tossed errantly to third and Hennis scored on the overthrow. Shimada then singled up the middle to score Mitchell and Burnham.

"Every time we play Utah it's a big game, it's a great rivalry," said Law. "Utah battled and did a better job than we did."

The two teams meet again at the end of the season on May 17-19, in Provo for three games which count in the league standings.

BYU Cougars at Utah Utes
Mar 20, 2007 at Salt Lake City, Utah (Franklin Covey Field)
BYU Cougars 4 (13-8)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  5  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
FANNING, Collin cf/rf....  4  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   2
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  3  3  3  2   0  0  0  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  1  1  2   0  1  1  2   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
 WELLS, Stephen ph/cf....  2  0  1  0   1  0  1  0   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  0  1  0   0  1 10  0   0
JOHNSON, Chris 2b........  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  3   2
 JOHNSON, Jason ph/2b....  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
MUSSO, J.T. c............  2  0  0  0   0  1  6  1   0
 FRAMPTON, Chase ph......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GUENTHER, Wes c.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
HALL, Austin ss..........  4  0  0  0   0  3  2  8   0
HOWELL, Blaine p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PEREZ, Jacob p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 KIDD, Brad p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BARNES, Clayton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 STAMBAUGH, J.D. p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WARD, Michael p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MICHON, Brandon p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  4  8  4   2  9 24 14   7
Utah Utes 8 (7-14)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BURNHAM cf...............  3  1  0  0   1  0  3  0   0
SHIMADA 2b...............  4  3  2  2   1  1  2  3   0
BROSSMAN 1b..............  4  1  2  1   1  0  9  0   1
SHRINER c................  4  0  1  2   0  0  9  0   0
WELSH rf.................  4  0  2  0   1  1  2  0   0
FERGUSON dh..............  2  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
 BALDWIN dh..............  1  0  1  1   2  0  0  0   0
KEMP 3b..................  4  0  0  1   1  0  0  1   5
LOWERY lf................  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 HENNIS ph/lf............  3  1  1  0   0  2  1  0   4
MITCHELL ss..............  2  2  0  0   1  0  0  1   0
FIFE p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 JAMES p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 FOSTER p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ASKEW p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 KRAUSE p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WOLFGRAMM p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BRUNEEL p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 32  8 10  7   8  5 27  7  11
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU Cougars......... 100 201 000 -  4  8  1
Utah Utes........... 100 100 24X -  8 10  1
-------------------------------------------
E - WARD(1); FOSTER(2). LOB - BYU 7; Utah Utes 11. 2B - SHRINER(3);
FERGUSON(2). 3B - BROSSMAN(3). HR - NAKAYAMA 2(4); PARKER(2). HBP -
NAKAYAMA; SHRINER; MITCHELL. SH - PARKER(1); BURNHAM(2). SB - NAKAYAMA(3);
BURNHAM(13); SHIMADA(6); BROSSMAN(6); BALDWIN(3). CS - LOWERY(2).
BYU Cougars            IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HOWELL, Blaine......  3.0  3  1  1  1  1 10 11
PEREZ, Jacob........  2.0  2  1  1  1  2  8 10
KIDD, Brad..........  0.2  0  0  0  2  0  2  4
BARNES, Clayton.....  0.2  1  2  2  2  1  3  5
STAMBAUGH, J.D......  0.1  1  0  0  1  0  2  3
WARD, Michael.......  1.0  3  4  3  0  1  6  8
MICHON, Brandon.....  0.1  0  0  0  1  0  1  2
Utah Utes              IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
FIFE................  2.0  1  1  1  0  2  7  7
JAMES...............  2.0  3  2  2  0  1  9  9
FOSTER..............  1.0  1  0  0  0  3  4  4
ASKEW...............  1.0  2  1  1  0  0  5  5
KRAUSE..............  1.0  0  0  0  0  1  3  3
WOLFGRAMM...........  0.0  0  0  0  1  0  0  2
BRUNEEL.............  2.0  1  0  0  1  2  6  8
Win - BRUNEEL (1-1).  Loss - WARD (0-1).  Save - None.
HBP - by PEREZ (SHRINER); by WOLFGRAMM (NAKAYAMA); by WARD (MITCHELL). BK -
BARNES(3).
Umpires - HP: Jim Paronto  1B: Pancho Flores  3B: Kirk Knowles
Start: 6:00 pm   Time: 2:59   Attendance: 396
WOLFGRAMM faced 2 batters in the 8th.
BYU Cougars starters: 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 17/cf FANNING; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 5/3b PARKER;
8/rf CLUFF; 22/1b KO; 3/2b JOHNSON, C.; 10/c MUSSO; 18/ss HALL; 15/p HOWELL;
Utah Utes starters: 2/cf BURNHAM; 3/2b SHIMADA; 18/1b BROSSMAN; 7/c SHRINER; 1/rf
WELSH; 13/dh FERGUSON; 16/3b KEMP; 4/lf LOWERY; 12/ss MITCHELL; 19/p FIFE;
BYU Cougars 1st - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 1b unassisted. FANNING grounded
out to ss. NAKAYAMA homered to center field, RBI. PARKER struck out swinging. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 1st - BURNHAM flied out to rf. SHIMADA walked. BROSSMAN grounded
out to ss; SHIMADA advanced to second. SHRINER doubled to left center, RBI; SHIMADA
scored. WELSH singled up the middle; SHRINER advanced to third, out at home ss to c.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU Cougars 2nd - CLUFF struck out swinging. KO grounded out to p. JOHNSON,
C. popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 2nd - FERGUSON doubled to right center. KEMP grounded out to ss;
FERGUSON advanced to third. LOWERY reached on a fielder's choice; FERGUSON out at
home 3b to c. LOWERY out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
BYU Cougars 3rd - JAMES to p for FIFE. MUSSO lined out to cf. HALL struck out
swinging. JOHNSON, L. popped up to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 3rd - MITCHELL grounded out to ss. BURNHAM grounded out to ss.
SHIMADA struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU Cougars 4th - FANNING popped up to rf. NAKAYAMA singled up the middle.
NAKAYAMA stole second. PARKER homered to right field, 2 RBI; NAKAYAMA scored. WELLS
pinch hit for CLUFF. WELLS singled to left field. KO lined out to lf. JOHNSON, C.
reached on a fielder's choice; WELLS out at second 2b unassisted. 2 runs, 3 hits,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah Utes 4th - FANNING to rf. WELLS to cf. PEREZ to p for HOWELL. BROSSMAN
singled to left field. BROSSMAN stole second. SHRINER hit by pitch. WELSH singled,
bunt; SHRINER advanced to second; BROSSMAN advanced to third. FERGUSON struck out
swinging. KEMP reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; WELSH out at second ss to 2b;
SHRINER advanced to third; BROSSMAN scored. HENNIS pinch hit for LOWERY. HENNIS
struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU Cougars 5th - HENNIS to lf. FOSTER to p for JAMES. MUSSO struck out
swinging. HALL struck out swinging. JOHNSON, L. singled through the right side.
JOHNSON, L. advanced to second on an error by p. FANNING struck out looking. 0
runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Utah Utes 5th - MITCHELL grounded out to ss. BURNHAM walked. BURNHAM stole
second. SHIMADA grounded out to ss. BROSSMAN lined out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU Cougars 6th - ASKEW to p for FOSTER. NAKAYAMA homered to right center,
RBI. PARKER grounded out to 2b. WELLS flied out to cf. KO singled to left field.
JOHNSON, C. grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah Utes 6th - KIDD to p for PEREZ. SHRINER grounded out to 2b. WELSH
grounded out to 2b. BALDWIN to dh for FERGUSON. BALDWIN walked. KEMP walked; BALDWIN
advanced to second. BARNES to p for KIDD. HENNIS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU Cougars 7th - KRAUSE to p for ASKEW. FRAMPTON pinch hit for MUSSO.
FRAMPTON popped up to rf. HALL struck out swinging. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 1b
unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Utes 7th - GUENTHER to c for FRAMPTON. MITCHELL walked. BURNHAM fouled
out to 3b, bunt. MITCHELL advanced to second on a balk. SHIMADA singled to
shortstop. BROSSMAN walked; SHIMADA advanced to second; MITCHELL advanced to third.
STAMBAUGH to p for BARNES. SHRINER reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; BROSSMAN out
at second 2b to ss; SHIMADA advanced to third; MITCHELL scored. WELSH walked;
SHRINER advanced to second. BALDWIN singled to pitcher, RBI; WELSH advanced to
second; SHRINER advanced to third; SHIMADA scored. WARD to p for STAMBAUGH. KEMP
grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
BYU Cougars 8th - WOLFGRAMM to p for KRAUSE. FANNING walked. NAKAYAMA hit by
pitch; FANNING advanced to second. BRUNEEL to p for WOLFGRAMM. PARKER out at first p
to 2b, SAC; NAKAYAMA advanced to second; FANNING advanced to third. WELLS
intentionally walked. KO struck out swinging. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for JOHNSON, C..
JOHNSON, J. lined out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Utah Utes 8th - JOHNSON, J. to 2b. HENNIS singled up the middle. MITCHELL hit
by pitch; HENNIS advanced to second. BURNHAM reached on an error by p, SAC, advanced
to second; MITCHELL advanced to third; HENNIS scored. SHIMADA singled up the middle,
2 RBI; BURNHAM scored, unearned; MITCHELL scored. SHIMADA stole second. BROSSMAN
tripled to left center, RBI; SHIMADA scored. SHRINER popped up to ss. WELSH struck
out swinging. MICHON to p for WARD. BALDWIN walked. BALDWIN stole second. KEMP lined
out to 1b. 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU Cougars 9th - GUENTHER struck out swinging. HALL grounded out to 3b.
JOHNSON, L. singled to third base. FANNING grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.