Aztecs Take Series

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PROVO -- In what may be a microcosim of BYU's baseball home season, the Cougars dropped a 9-5 decision to San Diego State on Saturday at Larry H. Miller Field.

BYU, now 20-33 overall and 8-13 in the Mountain West Conference, identical to the senior-less Cougars' home record this season, led, battled and lost. The exhausted Cougars played games eight consecutive game days, sans Sunday, and didn't have enough to hang on.

The BYU lead was short-lived at 1-0 in the first inning when Danny Vargas got on board through an error on the Aztec third baseman. Vargas then scored on Kent Walton's single which brought the glove off the retrieving rightfielder.

That lead vanished in the third inning when SDSU hung a crooked number five. It started with a bad read by BYU's rightfielder which turned into a Cory Vaughn double, followed by a single and a hit batsmen. The Cougars played without regular starter Jonathan Cluff who was away at a family funeral. When SDSU shortstop Troy Hanzawa hit a two-run double, the Cougar coaches knew something was more awry than righthander Blake Torgerson leaving pitches up in the zone.

BYU detected an Aztec assistant coach was stealing signs, so SDSU knew what was coming and the Cougars were blind-sided before adjusting.

The Cougar battle came with singles by Andrew Law and Vargas enabled them to score on Walton's two-out double down the leftfield line in the third, closing gap to 5-3. Walton advanced to third via an error on Kasey Ko's fielder's choice, but the pair were stranded on the corners.

"We left guys on base and hit balls right on the button," said a frustrated BYU Coach Vance Law, "but that's the breaks of the game."

An opportunity escaped BYU again in the fifth when Ko and Brandon Relf were stranded on the corners. The Cougars closed the gap, 5-4, when Relf scored on a Sean McNaughton single to right.

Torgerson, who had regained his composure with a three-out fourth, exited the game in the sixth after surrendering a two-run homer in the fifth to Brandon Decker, the 16th dinger at Provo by an opponent this season compared to the Cougars' seven round-trippers. Torgerson managed only one strikeout in his five-plus innings.

Cougar catcher J.T. Musso, tried to help Torgerson out by gunning down three base-stealers, the last of which ended the seventh when he pegged Nick Romero at third to end that inning. For the second game in a row BYU committed no errors, a first for the season.

McNaughton provided the remaining of 1,255 fans a ray of sunshine when he hit a lead-off triple in the ninth and scored off Vargas' groundout.

"We competed very well this series," said Law of the Cougars who managed a 10-4 victory over SDSU on Friday. "It's been a rough year and it was disappointing to lose so many at home this season. We hope to get some momentum going for the conference tournament."

Which leads to tomorrow, as in Utah playing at Air Force and New Mexico at UNLV, both on Sunday, to see if those games can help the Cougars' seeding for the MWC Tournament in two weeks. The right combination could keep BYU from a rematch against SDSU's Stephen Strasburg, who humbled the Cougars 8-1 with 15 strikeouts earlier this week.

The Utes leaped ahead of the now sixth-place Cougars with a doubleheader sweep Saturday at the AFA.

There's another tomorrow, too, in this coming week's three-game close of the regular season at Utah, beginning on Thursday. All of this will determine if BYU can best the Utes in the seeding and standings, with the Deseret First Duel all-sport trophy in the balance.

San Diego State at Brigham Young Univ.
May 10, 2008 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
San Diego State 9 (30-22,16-8 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
COLWELL, Pat rf..........  3  2  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
DECKER, Brandon lf.......  5  2  3  4   0  0  0  0   0
HANZAWA, Troy ss.........  5  1  3  2   0  0  2  3   0
ROMERO, Nick 3b..........  3  0  0  1   2  0  1  3   0
GREEN, Garett 2b.........  4  0  1  0   1  0  1  5   2
GLOVER, Brandon cf.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   2
VAUGHN, Cory dh..........  4  2  3  0   0  1  0  0   0
CASTRO, Erik c...........  4  1  1  1   0  1  7  0   1
TANOS, Brett 1b..........  2  1  1  1   1  0 10  0   0
SOLOW, Nate p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 KAUFMAN, Shane p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  9 13  9   4  4 27 11   5
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (20-33,8-13 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MCNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  2  1   0  0  2  0   0
VARGAS, Dan ss...........  5  2  2  1   0  0  4  5   0
WALTON, Kent cf..........  5  0  2  3   0  0  1  0   2
KO, Kasey 1b.............  5  0  0  0   0  1 12  1   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  0  0  0   0  3  1  3   1
 LEACH, J.C. ph/3b.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
BOWEN, Michael rf........  4  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   2
RELF, Brandon dh.........  3  1  2  0   1  1  0  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  1  0   0  0  4  3   2
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  5   1
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 MILLER, Jared p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CASTLEBERRY, Nelson p...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SLOAN, Kevin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 38  5 11  5   1  7 27 18   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
San Diego State..... 005 021 001 -  9 13  4
Brigham Young Univ.. 102 100 001 -  5 11  0
-------------------------------------------
E - COLWELL(2); HANZAWA(12); ROMERO 2(13). DP - SDSU 2; BYU Cougars 2. LOB -
SDSU 5; BYU Cougars 8. 2B - HANZAWA 3(14); VAUGHN 2(8); WALTON(12). 3B -
MCNAUGHTON(4). HR - DECKER(1). HBP - COLWELL. SH - COLWELL(6); TANOS(2);
MUSSO(1). CS - HANZAWA(4); ROMERO(3); TANOS(1).
San Diego State        IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SOLOW, Nate.........  8.0 10  4  3  1  6 34 36
KAUFMAN, Shane......  1.0  1  1  1  0  1  4  4
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  5.0  8  8  8  2  1 21 25
MILLER, Jared.......  3.0  3  0  0  0  3 10 10
CASTLEBERRY, Nelson.  0.1  1  1  1  1  0  1  3
SLOAN, Kevin........  0.2  1  0  0  1  0  2  3
Win - SOLOW (5-6).  Loss - TORGERSON (5-4).  Save - None.
WP - CASTLEBERRY(6). HBP - by TORGERSON (COLWELL).
Umpires - HP: Jeff Richardson  1B: Keith Bailey  3B: Ray Belfiore
Start: 1:09 pm   Time: 2:40   Attendance: 1255
TORGERSON faced 1 batter in the 6th.
San Diego State starters: 10/rf COLWELL; 2/lf DECKER; 1/ss HANZAWA; 5/3b
ROMERO; 6/2b GREEN; 24/cf GLOVER; 21/dh VAUGHN; 15/c CASTRO; 12/1b TANOS; 29/p
SOLOW;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/lf MCNAUGHTON; 13/ss VARGAS; 9/cf WALTON;
22/1b KO; 5/3b PARKER; 27/rf BOWEN; 4/dh RELF; 10/c MUSSO; 6/2b LAW; 32/p
TORGERSON;
San Diego State 1st - COLWELL grounded out to ss. DECKER grounded out to
ss. HANZAWA grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - MCNAUGHTON grounded out to 2b. VARGAS reached
on a fielding error by 3b, advanced to second. WALTON singled to right field,
advanced to second on a fielding error by rf, RBI; VARGAS scored, unearned. KO
grounded out to 3b. PARKER struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 errors, 1
LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - ROMERO walked. ROMERO out at second c to ss,
caught stealing. GREEN grounded out to 3b. GLOVER flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - BOWEN struck out swinging. RELF singled to
second base. MUSSO grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; RELF out on the
play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - VAUGHN doubled to right field. CASTRO singled to
left center, RBI; VAUGHN scored. TANOS grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; CASTRO
advanced to second. COLWELL hit by pitch. DECKER singled to right field, RBI;
COLWELL advanced to second; CASTRO scored. HANZAWA doubled to left center,
advanced to third, 2 RBI; DECKER scored; COLWELL scored. ROMERO grounded out to
2b, RBI; HANZAWA scored. GREEN walked. GLOVER flied out to lf. 5 runs, 4
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - LAW singled to center field. MCNAUGHTON flied
out to rf. VARGAS singled to center field; LAW advanced to second. WALTON
doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; VARGAS scored; LAW scored. KO reached on a
fielder's choice; WALTON advanced to third on a fielding error by 3b. PARKER
struck out swinging. BOWEN flied out to rf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
San Diego State 4th - VAUGHN struck out looking. CASTRO flied out to rf.
TANOS grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - RELF singled to left field. MUSSO grounded out
to 2b, SAC, bunt; RELF advanced to second. LAW grounded out to ss; RELF
advanced to third. MCNAUGHTON singled to right field, RBI; RELF scored. VARGAS
singled to left field; MCNAUGHTON advanced to second. WALTON lined out to ss.
1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - COLWELL singled to center field. DECKER homered to
left field, 2 RBI; COLWELL scored. HANZAWA flied out to rf. ROMERO out at first
1b to p. GREEN singled to right field. GLOVER flied out to lf. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - KO reached on a throwing error by ss, advanced
to second. PARKER struck out looking. BOWEN grounded out to 2b; KO advanced to
third. RELF walked. MUSSO popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
San Diego State 6th - VAUGHN doubled to right field. MILLER to p for
TORGERSON. CASTRO struck out swinging. TANOS singled up the middle, RBI; VAUGHN
scored. COLWELL struck out swinging; TANOS interference, out at second c to ss,
caught stealing. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - LAW struck out looking. MCNAUGHTON grounded
out to 2b. VARGAS flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - DECKER out at first 2b to ss. HANZAWA doubled to
right field. HANZAWA out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. ROMERO grounded out
to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - WALTON grounded out to 3b. KO flied out to cf.
LEACH pinch hit for PARKER. LEACH flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
San Diego State 8th - LEACH to 3b. GREEN grounded out to 2b. GLOVER
struck out swinging. VAUGHN singled to third base. CASTRO grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - BOWEN singled to left field. RELF struck out
looking. MUSSO singled to left field; BOWEN advanced to second. LAW grounded
into double play 3b to 1b; MUSSO out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
San Diego State 9th - CASTLEBERRY to p for MILLER. TANOS walked. COLWELL
grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; TANOS advanced to second. TANOS advanced to third
on a wild pitch. DECKER singled to left field, RBI; TANOS scored. SLOAN to p
for CASTLEBERRY. HANZAWA doubled to left field; DECKER advanced to third.
ROMERO walked. GREEN grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; ROMERO out on
the play. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - KAUFMAN to p for SOLOW. MCNAUGHTON tripled to
right field. VARGAS grounded out to ss, RBI; MCNAUGHTON scored. WALTON flied
out to rf. KO struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.