Comeback Cougars Down TCU

PROVO -- In the bottom of the ninth inning down by two, BYU rallied to beat TCU 12-11 on Friday night.

In that inning BYU (14-9, 3-2) had one last chance with no outs. The leadoff man, Steve Parker hit a double to left, followed by a Kasey Ko single that advanced Parker to third.

TCU (17, 4-1) pitcher Cody Dunbar was then called for a balk that brought in Parker to score and pinchrunner Collin Fanning to second. Right after the balk, Jason Johnson ripped a single to left to bring in Fanning to tie it up once again, 11-11. Jason Johnson proceeded to steal second to move into scoring position for BYU. One pitch later J.T. Musso laid down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt, to bring in Jason Johnson to score and give the Cougars the come from behind 12-11 victory.

"We kept our heads up and kept competing," said Jason Johnson. "It's a conference game and since they're the reigning champions, it's a big win for us."

Jason Johnson was four-for-five hitting in two, and Parker and Ko were both two-for-four in the game for BYU. Michael Ward, 1-1, picked up the win for the Cougars, while Dunbar, 1-1 picked up the loss for the Horned Frogs.

BYU did not look sharp to start the game. In the first inning alone the Cougars defense had three fielding errors, and gave up five unearned runs to go down early 5-0 to TCU.

In the bottom of the inning the Cougars offense struggled as well, being retired in order by TCU pitcher Chance Corgan.

In the second, BYU pitcher Jordan Muir came out and bounced back from a rough first inning by retiring the side.

The BYU offense finally came alive in the bottom of the second and was jump started by a Musso triple that brought in Jason Johnson and Kasey Ko around to score and make the score 5-2.

In the bottom of the third Apana Nakayama crushed a home run to center field to start a Cougar rally. Ko hit a single shortly thereafter that brought in Kent Walton to score for BYU and make the score 5-4.

The BYU defense continued to play solid behind Muir, highlighted by a beautiful diving catch in center by Stephen Wells to prevent a hit. Muir then ended the fourth with a strikeout.

After a home run hit by right fielder Austin Adams in the fifth put TCU up 6-4, BYU came back strong in the bottom of the frame knocking in two runs to tie it up at 6-6.

The Horned Frogs came back in the top of the sixth to take back the lead with a Bryan Kervin triple that made the count 8-6 in favor of TCU.

In the bottom of the eighth trailing 9-7, Chase Frampton came in to pinch hit for Austin Hall and made the most of his appearance by hitting a single to center. Up next was Leon Johnson who reached on an error, and then Stephen Wells hit a single to left that brought around Leon Johnson and Frampton to score and tie the game at 9-9.

TCU came right back with a lead off home run by Keith Conlon to regain the lead for good 10-9. The Horned Frogs added on one more run in the inning to go ahead 11-9.

"We fought back, and they fought back," said coach Vance Law. "I was pleased with our guys off the bench tonight. Musso kept us in the ball game. That was a great college baseball game."

Nakayama's home run was his third in as many games. Leon Johnson had his current nine-game hitting streak snapped.

BYU will take on TCU on Saturday in the series finale at 1 p.m.

TCU at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 23, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
TCU 11 (17-7,4-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KERVIN, Bryan ss.........  5  2  1  1   0  0  2  1   2
TROUT, Steven 3b.........  5  0  1  1   0  1  1  1   0
CONLON, Keith cf.........  4  2  2  1   1  0  0  0   0
ADAMS, Austin rf.........  4  3  2  2   1  0  0  0   1
WALKER, Andrew c.........  5  1  0  1   0  1 11  2   0
STEGLICH, Corey 1b.......  5  1  3  1   0  1  9  1   0
McGUIRK, Matt dh.........  5  0  2  2   0  1  0  0   1
ARNOLD, Clint lf.........  5  2  3  2   0  0  0  0   2
CARRUTHERS, Ben 2b.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   0
CORGAN, Chance p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 LOCKWOOD, Tyler p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 DEMEL, Sam p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DUNBAR, Cody p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 41 11 14 11   2  5 24  9   6
Brigham Young Univ. 12 (14-9,3-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon rf.........  5  1  0  0   0  2  1  0   2
WELLS, Stephen cf........  5  0  1  2   0  3  8  0   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana lf.......  5  1  2  1   0  0  1  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  5  2  2  0   0  1  2  2   2
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  4  2  2  0   0  2  0  3   0
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  1  2  2   1  1  9  0   0
 FANNING, Collin pr......  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
JOHNSON, Jason dh........  5  3  4  2   0  0  0  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  0  1  2   0  2  5  1   3
HALL, Austin ss..........  2  0  0  0   1  2  0  4   0
 FRAMPTON, Chase ph......  1  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
 JOHNSON, Chris ss.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
MUIR, Jordan p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   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
Totals................... 40 12 15 10   2 13 27 12   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
TCU................. 500 012 012 - 11 14  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 022 020 033 - 12 15  3
-------------------------------------------
Note: None out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - TROUT(6); ADAMS(1); DUNBAR(1); NAKAYAMA 2(3); HALL(6). DP - BYU Cougars
1. LOB - Horned Frogs 6; BYU Cougars 8. 2B - ADAMS(8); McGUIRK(2);
PARKER(6); JOHNSON, J.(3). 3B - KERVIN(1); MUSSO(2). HR - CONLON(6);
ADAMS(3); ARNOLD(1); NAKAYAMA(5). HBP - PARKER. SH - CARRUTHERS(4);
MUSSO(1). SB - ADAMS(1); JOHNSON, J.(1).
TCU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CORGAN, Chance......  2.1  5  4  4  2  4 12 15
LOCKWOOD, Tyler.....  5.1  5  4  3  0  8 21 21
DEMEL, Sam..........  0.1  4  3  2  0  1  6  6
DUNBAR, Cody........  0.0  1  1  0  0  0  1  2
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MUIR, Jordan........  5.1 10  8  3  1  2 27 29
STAMBAUGH, J.D......  2.2  3  2  2  0  2 10 10
WARD, Michael.......  1.0  1  1  1  1  1  4  5
Win - WARD (1-1).  Loss - DUNBAR (1-1).  Save - None.
WP - DEMEL(3). HBP - by CORGAN (PARKER). BK - DUNBAR(1).
Umpires - HP: Bradley Hungerford  1B: Bruce Bayne  3B: Randy Upton
Start: 6:02 pm   Time: 3:07   Attendance: 1487
STAMBAUGH faced 1 batter in the 9th.
DEMEL faced 2 batters in the 9th.
DUNBAR faced 2 batters in the 9th.
TCU starters: 1/ss KERVIN; 16/3b TROUT; 27/cf CONLON; 44/rf ADAMS; 6/c WALKER; 3/1b
STEGLICH; 32/dh McGUIRK; 5/lf ARNOLD; 20/2b CARRUTHERS; 28/p CORGAN;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 14/rf JOHNSON, L.; 1/cf WELLS; 24/lf NAKAYAMA; 9/2b
WALTON; 5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 7/dh JOHNSON, J.; 10/c MUSSO; 18/ss HALL; 12/p MUIR;
TCU 1st - KERVIN reached on a throwing error by ss. TROUT flied out to rf.
CONLON walked; KERVIN advanced to second. ADAMS doubled to left field, RBI; CONLON
advanced to third; KERVIN scored, unearned. WALKER reached on a fielding error by
lf, advanced to second on a throwing error by lf, RBI; ADAMS advanced to third;
CONLON scored, unearned. STEGLICH singled through the left side, RBI; WALKER
advanced to third; ADAMS scored, unearned. McGUIRK singled to center field, RBI;
STEGLICH advanced to third; WALKER scored, unearned. ARNOLD singled to left field,
RBI; McGUIRK advanced to second; STEGLICH scored, unearned. CARRUTHERS reached on a
fielder's choice; ARNOLD out at second p to 2b; McGUIRK advanced to third. KERVIN
out at first 3b to ss to 1b. 5 runs, 4 hits, 3 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. struck out looking. WELLS struck out
looking. NAKAYAMA fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 2nd - TROUT flied out to cf. CONLON grounded out to 2b. ADAMS grounded
out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WALTON grounded out to 2b. PARKER struck out
swinging. KO walked. JOHNSON, J. singled up the middle; KO advanced to second. MUSSO
tripled to right center, 2 RBI; JOHNSON, J. scored; KO scored. HALL walked. JOHNSON,
L. reached on a fielder's choice; HALL out at second 2b to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 3rd - WALKER flied out to cf. STEGLICH singled to center field. McGUIRK
flied out to lf. ARNOLD flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WELLS struck out swinging. NAKAYAMA homered to
center field, RBI. WALTON singled through the left side. PARKER hit by pitch; WALTON
advanced to second. KO singled to center field, RBI; PARKER advanced to second;
WALTON scored. LOCKWOOD to p for CORGAN. JOHNSON, J. grounded out to 1b unassisted;
KO advanced to second; PARKER advanced to third. MUSSO struck out, out at first c to
1b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 4th - CARRUTHERS fouled out to c. KERVIN flied out to cf. TROUT struck
out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - HALL struck out looking. JOHNSON, L. struck out
looking. WELLS grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
TCU 5th - CONLON flied out to cf. ADAMS homered to left field, RBI. WALKER
struck out swinging. STEGLICH singled to third base. McGUIRK grounded out to p. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b. WALTON singled to
right field. PARKER singled through the right side; WALTON advanced to third. KO out
at first 1b to p, RBI; PARKER advanced to second; WALTON scored. JOHNSON, J.
singled, advanced to second on a fielding error by rf, advanced to third, RBI;
PARKER scored. MUSSO struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
TCU 6th - ARNOLD singled up the middle. CARRUTHERS grounded out to 3b, bunt,
SAC; ARNOLD advanced to second. KERVIN tripled to right field, RBI; ARNOLD scored.
TROUT singled up the middle, RBI; KERVIN scored. STAMBAUGH to p for MUIR. CONLON
singled to center field; TROUT advanced to second. ADAMS grounded into double play
ss to 2b to 1b; CONLON out on the play. 2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HALL struck out swinging. JOHNSON, L. grounded out
to 2b. WELLS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 7th - WALKER grounded out to 3b. STEGLICH flied out to cf. McGUIRK struck
out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - NAKAYAMA popped up to ss. WALTON grounded out to
ss. PARKER struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 8th - ARNOLD homered to left field, RBI. CARRUTHERS struck out swinging.
KERVIN grounded out to ss. TROUT flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - KO struck out looking. JOHNSON, J. doubled to left
field. MUSSO grounded out to 3b. FRAMPTON pinch hit for HALL. FRAMPTON singled to
right center, RBI; JOHNSON, J. scored. DEMEL to p for LOCKWOOD. JOHNSON, L. reached
on a fielding error by 3b; FRAMPTON advanced to second. JOHNSON, L. advanced to
second on a wild pitch; FRAMPTON advanced to third. WELLS singled to shortstop, 2
RBI; JOHNSON, L. scored, unearned; FRAMPTON scored, unearned. NAKAYAMA singled to
right field; WELLS advanced to third. WALTON struck out swinging, out at first c to
1b. 3 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
TCU 9th - JOHNSON, C. to ss for FRAMPTON. CONLON homered to center field,
RBI. WARD to p for STAMBAUGH. ADAMS walked. ADAMS stole second. WALKER popped up to
ss. STEGLICH struck out swinging. McGUIRK doubled down the rf line, RBI; ADAMS
scored. ARNOLD flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - PARKER doubled to left center. KO singled to first
base; PARKER advanced to third. DUNBAR to p for DEMEL. FANNING pinch ran for KO.
FANNING advanced to second; PARKER scored on a balk. JOHNSON, J. singled through the
left side, RBI; FANNING scored. JOHNSON, J. stole second. MUSSO reached on an error
by p, SAC, bunt; JOHNSON, J. scored, unearned. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.