Solid Pitching Beats Huskies

PROVO -- Despite difficult throwing conditions, BYU used only two pitchers in its 8-3 win over the Washington Huskies Tuesday.

Left-hander Blaine Howell started on the mound for the Cougars and gave up three runs on six hits, four walks and four strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. Michael Ward came on in relief in the fifth inning to with the score tied at 3-3. He threw for four on one-thirds innings, giving up no runs on only two hits and six strikeouts to get the win.

"It seems like my pitches are finally starting to work for me," Ward said. "The slider is harder to throw, but the fast ball works pretty well in the cold weather. It felt really good today."

BYU head coach Vance Law said he was proud of Ward's performance today.

"We have a selection of guys to choose from, and today we made the right choice," he said. "Michael [Ward] did a great job throwing strikes and keeping the other team off balance."

Howell gave up a one-out double in the top of the first, but was able to work out of the jam and prevent any runs from scoring.

Washington's starter, Nick Haughian, dug himself a hole in the bottom of the first with walks to both Collin Fanning and Apana Nakayama. Fanning reached third after walking and stealing two bases and BYU scored the first run of the game on a Kent Walton sacrifice fly that scored Fanning.

Haughian got into trouble again in the second after giving up base hits to Kasey Ko and Mike McKeever, then a walk to J.T. Musso to load the bases with one out. Ko and McKeever reached home on a double from Austin Hall to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

With runners still at second and third, Leon Johnson popped out to third and Fanning hit a dribbler which the catcher fielded and ended the inning with the tag on Fanning.

In the top of the fourth, it was Howell that saw trouble. With one out, he gave up a solo homerun to UW's Curt Rindal and a walk to Ty Rasmussen. Trevor Peterson then singled and he and Rasmussen advanced to second and third, respectively, on a wild pitch.

Howell then got the second out of the inning on a pop out to first, but walked the next two batters in the number eight and nine spots to walk in the Huskies second run of the inning. Howell finally ended the inning with a strike out.

The Huskies tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning on three hits off of Howell. Howell's day ended after the RBI double from Peterson. Right-hander Ward came on in relief to end the inning and did not allow another run the rest of the game.

BYU's Walton put the Cougars back on top in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI single that scored Fanning and moved Nakayama to second, both of whom singled to get on base.

Steve Parker put Haughian in hotter water drawing a walk to load the bases. Haughian's day ended when Ko cleared the bases on a no-out double to give BYU a 7-4 lead.

Right-hander Jason Erickson came into the game for UW to face pinch-hitter Jason Johnson who came in for the designated hitter Mike McKeever.

Erickson shut the Cougars down in short order. He struck out Jason Johnson and Ko was thrown out attempting to steal third on the same pitch. Erickson then ended the inning with another strike out against Musso.

BYU rolled the only double play of the game in the top of the game in the top of the sixth. UW's Kwan reached first one of two singles allowed by Ward. Ward then struck out Brett Kaluza in the last spot in the lineup and Michael Burgher grounded to shortstop for Hall and Walton to roll it up and end the inning.

Nakayama got his first RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth. He doubled to right-center to score Hall who had reached on a single. Nakayama's double moved Fanning to third, but he was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice from Walton.

Elliott Cribby came on to pitch in the bottom of the eighth for the Huskies and got Leon Johnson to strike out looking for the first out of the inning. Fanning then reached safely for the fourth time in the game. Nakayama flied to third base for the second out and Cribby picked off Fanning at first to end the eighth.

Down 8-3, UW threatened in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to make up the deficit. Kaluza reached on an error, and Burgher was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with no outs.

After a chat at the mound, Ward settled down and retired the next three batters. Brian Pearl struck out swinging, Matt Hague flied out in foul territory down the first base line, and Rindal hit a chopper to short stop and was thrown out at first to end the game.

BYU improves to 20-13 on the year and UW falls to 16-14. The Cougars and Huskies will face off again Wednesday at Larry H. Miller Field at 2 p.m. in the second and final game of the series.

Univ. Washington at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 10, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Univ. Washington 3 (16-14)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Burgher, Michael cf......  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   3
Pearl, Brian ss..........  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
 Rife, Jake ph...........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Hague, Matt 3b...........  5  1  2  0   0  0  6  1   0
Rindal, Curt 1b..........  5  1  1  1   0  1  3  0   3
Rasmussen, Ty lf.........  2  1  1  0   2  0  1  0   0
Petersen, Trevor dh......  3  0  2  1   0  1  0  0   0
 Lind, Joey ph...........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Boyer, Bradley 2b........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   2
Kwan, Max c..............  3  0  1  0   1  2  8  2   2
Kaluza, Brett rf.........  1  0  0  1   1  0  2  0   0
 Lentz, Andy ph/rf.......  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
Haughian, Nick p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Erickson, Jason p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Cribby, Elliott p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 35  3  8  3   4 10 24  6  10
Brigham Young Univ. 8 (20-13)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon cf.........  5  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   1
FANNING, Collin rf.......  3  2  2  0   1  0  3  0   2
NAKAYAMA, Apana lf.......  4  1  2  1   1  1  1  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  3  1  1  2   0  1  1  2   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  2  1  0  0   1  0  0  2   2
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  1  2  3   0  0 10  0   1
MC KEEVER, Mike dh.......  2  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
 JOHNSON, Jason ph.......  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  1  0   1  1 10  0   0
HALL, Austin ss..........  4  1  2  2   0  1  1  5   1
HOWELL, Blaine p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WARD, Michael p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  8 12  8   4  6 27  9   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Univ. Washington.... 000 210 000 -  3  8  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 120 041 00X -  8 12  1
-------------------------------------------
E - WALTON(7). DP - UW Huskies 1; BYU Cougars 1. LOB - UW Huskies 10; BYU
Cougars 7. 2B - Hague(7); Petersen(1); KO(8); HALL(8). HR - Rindal(7). HBP -
Burgher; FANNING; PARKER. SF - WALTON(4). SB - FANNING 2(15); PARKER(2). CS
- NAKAYAMA(2); KO(1).
Univ. Washington       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Haughian, Nick......  4.0  8  7  7  4  3 18 24
Erickson, Jason.....  3.0  3  1  1  0  2 11 12
Cribby, Elliott.....  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  3  3
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HOWELL, Blaine......  4.2  6  3  3  4  4 20 24
WARD, Michael.......  4.1  2  0  0  0  6 15 16
Win - WARD (2-1).  Loss - Haughian (3-4).  Save - None.
WP - HOWELL(2). HBP - by Haughian (PARKER); by Erickson (FANNING); by WARD
(Burgher). PB - Kwan(1).
Umpires - HP: Blake Jensen  1B: Jeff Richardson  3B: Lew Carleton
Start: 2:06 pm   Time: 2:50   Attendance: 525
Game notes:
Game 1 of 2
Movie Night at Miller Park is Thursday for "The Rookie" at 7:30 p.m.
Haughian faced 5 batters in the 5th.
Univ. Washington starters: 4/cf Burgher; 9/ss Pearl; 1/3b Hague; 21/1b Rindal; 25/lf
Rasmussen; 33/dh Petersen; 2/2b Boyer; 8/c Kwan; 7/rf Kaluza; 11/p Haughian;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 14/cf JOHNSON, L.; 17/rf FANNING; 24/lf NAKAYAMA; 9/2b
WALTON; 5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 33/dh MC KEEVER; 10/c MUSSO; 18/ss HALL; 15/p HOWELL;
Univ. Washington 1st - Burgher flied out to cf. Pearl popped up to ss. Hague
doubled down the rf line. Rindal flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to 2b. FANNING walked.
FANNING stole second. NAKAYAMA walked. FANNING stole third. WALTON flied out to lf,
SF, RBI; FANNING scored. NAKAYAMA out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 1 run,
0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. Washington 2nd - Rasmussen walked. Petersen struck out swinging. Boyer
popped up to rf. Kwan struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PARKER flied out to cf. KO singled up the middle.
MC KEEVER singled to right field; KO advanced to second. MUSSO walked; MC KEEVER
advanced to second; KO advanced to third. HALL doubled to left field, 2 RBI; MUSSO
advanced to third; MC KEEVER scored; KO scored. JOHNSON, L. popped up to 3b. FANNING
grounded out to c unassisted. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Univ. Washington 3rd - Kaluza grounded out to ss. Burgher grounded out to ss.
Pearl struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. WALTON struck out
swinging. PARKER hit by pitch. PARKER stole second. KO flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. Washington 4th - Hague grounded out to ss. Rindal homered to center
field, RBI. Rasmussen walked. Petersen singled to right field; Rasmussen advanced to
second. Boyer fouled out to 1b. Petersen advanced to second; Rasmussen advanced to
third on a wild pitch. Kwan walked. Kaluza walked, RBI; Kwan advanced to second;
Petersen advanced to third; Rasmussen scored. Burgher struck out swinging. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - MC KEEVER singled to left field. MUSSO flied out to
rf. HALL struck out looking. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. Washington 5th - Pearl grounded out to 2b. Hague singled to right
field. Rindal flied out to rf. Rasmussen singled to right field; Hague advanced to
third. Petersen doubled down the lf line, RBI; Rasmussen advanced to third; Hague
scored. WARD to p for HOWELL. Boyer flied out to rf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - FANNING singled to left field. NAKAYAMA singled to
left field; FANNING advanced to third. WALTON singled to left field, RBI; NAKAYAMA
advanced to second; FANNING scored. PARKER walked; WALTON advanced to second;
NAKAYAMA advanced to third. KO doubled to left field, 3 RBI; PARKER scored; WALTON
scored; NAKAYAMA scored. Erickson to p for Haughian. JOHNSON, J. pinch hit for MC
KEEVER. JOHNSON, J. struck out; KO out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. MUSSO
struck out swinging. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. Washington 6th - Kwan singled to shortstop. Lentz pinch hit for Kaluza.
Lentz struck out swinging. Burgher grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Kwan
out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - Lentz to rf. HALL singled to right field. HALL
advanced to second on a passed ball. JOHNSON, L. fouled out to 3b. FANNING hit by
pitch. NAKAYAMA singled to right field, advanced to second on the throw, RBI;
FANNING advanced to third; HALL scored. WALTON reached on a fielder's choice;
FANNING out at home 3b to c. PARKER flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Univ. Washington 7th - Pearl struck out swinging. Hague grounded out to 3b.
Rindal struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - KO fouled out to 3b. JOHNSON, J. flied out to rf.
MUSSO singled to first base. HALL lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Univ. Washington 8th - Rasmussen grounded out to ss. Lind pinch hit for
Petersen. Lind struck out looking. Boyer singled up the middle. Kwan struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - Cribby to p for Erickson. JOHNSON, L. struck out
swinging. FANNING singled to shortstop. NAKAYAMA fouled out to 3b. FANNING out at
first p to 1b, picked off. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. Washington 9th - Lentz reached on a fielding error by 2b. Burgher hit
by pitch; Lentz advanced to second. Rife pinch hit for Pearl. Rife struck out
swinging. Hague fouled out to 1b. Rindal grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1
error, 2 LOB.