Critical Plays Beat The Utes

SALT LAKE -- A five-run eighth inning Friday night gave BYU the needed surge for a 7-4 victory over Utah at Spring Mobile Ballpark.

The high-chopping double by Kent Walton bounced over leaping Nick Kuroczko at third base to score Sean McNaughton and Stetson Banks as BYU, now 21-15 overall and 8-5 in the Mountain West Conference, regained the lead, 4-3, in the eighth.

“I need to thank the grounds crew,” said Walton. “It’s not every day you get a ball with a lucky bounce to break the game open.”

“His ball exploded off the ground in front of home plate,” said BYU coach Vance Law of Walton’s second hit of the night. “I wasn’t comfortable when they left (Brian) Budrow in the game because he is tough to handle.”

Budrow, who was tagged for the loss, surrendered three hits in a row to McNaughton, Banks and Walton after bringing in a 3-2 lead in that inning. Banks double to centerfield was a key as Rick Cornu dove to catch the ball, but ended up with a probable season-ending arm injury. Budrow intentionally walked Steve Parker before leaving the game, but the big plays continued for BYU.

With one out and runners on first and second, Walton advanced to third and Parker went to second on Michael Bowen’s bunt following a verbal cue from Law. Walton then scored on Kasey Ko’s sacrifice fly for the game-winning RBI. Then Parker scored on a throwing error by the Ute pitcher trying to pick off Bowen at first. And Bowen later scored on a pinch-hit double by Bryce Ayoso to put BYU up 7-3.

Another Cougar sub, Thomas Bills, dug a long throw out of the dirt from shortstop Brandon Relf with no outs in the ninth after Kuroczko led off with a homer.

“We had a very good day offensively with a lot of guys coming through in the clutch,” summed Law. Jordan Muir preserved freshman reliever Marc Oslund’s fourth win of the year as the senior secured his eighth save of the season, one off the school record.

BYU’s initial run came when Parker drew a lead-off walk in the second inning, advancing to third on Relf’s single and a passed ball to set up BYU’s first run off Walton’s sacrifice fly.

Utah tied the score two-all as Cornu worked around the bases after a lead-off single in the sixth, from a stolen base and scored off Devin Walker’s single to rightfield. The Utes loaded the bases with a Michael Beltran single and a walk. Utah scored the go-ahead run, 3-2, when Tyler Yagi drew a full-count walk which chased Jeremy Toole from the game in the sixth.

The Utes had earlier mounted a threat in the fourth with bases loaded and two out as its consecutive batters worked full counts into a pair of walks. Again in the fifth, Utah had two on with two out. The Utes, now 13-19 and 3-10, stranded 13 batters.

The two teams meet again on Saturday in a doubleheader in Salt Lake City at 1 p.m. The Cougars are the home team in that first game because of a postponed game from Thursday’s snowstorm in Provo. The nightcap will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game and will be the only game broadcast live locally over KSRR Radio (1400 AM) and on BYU Radio world-wide through the Internet.

BYU at Univ. of Utah
Apr 17, 2009 at Salt Lake City, Utah (Spring Mobile BallPark)
BYU 7 (21-15,8-5 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  1  0   0  3  1  0   0
BANKS, Stetson cf........  5  1  3  1   0  1  1  0   0
WALTON, Kent dh..........  4  1  2  2   1  0  0  0   0
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  2  1  0   2  1  0  1   2
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  0  1  0   0  2  2  4   0
BOWEN, Michael rf........  3  1  1  1   0  0  2  0   2
KO, Kasey 1b.............  3  0  0  1   0  1  7  0   0
 BILLS, Thomas 1b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  0  0   0  3  7  1   1
 AYOSO, Bryce ph.........  1  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
 NACAPOY, Chad c.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
LAW, Andrew 2b...........  4  1  1  0   0  0  2  2   1
TOOLE, Jeremy p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 OSLUND, Marc p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MUIR, Jordan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  7 11  6   3 11 27  9   6
Univ. of Utah 4 (13-19,3-10 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SHIMADA, Corey 2b........  4  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
YAGI, Tyler lf...........  4  0  0  1   1  1  1  0   2
KUROCZKO, Nick 3b........  4  1  1  1   1  1  1  1   3
CRON, C.J. dh............  5  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   2
CORNU, Rick cf...........  4  1  2  0   0  1  2  0   0
 JONES, Zach cf..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MYERS, Kyle ph..........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
JONES, Austin 1b.........  4  0  1  1   1  1  7  0   0
WALKER, Devin c..........  3  1  1  1   1  1 11  0   1
 REED, Josh pr...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
HUSSEY, Kevin rf.........  5  0  0  0   0  2  4  0   5
BELTRAN, Michael ss......  3  0  1  0   1  1  1  3   0
BUDROW, Brian p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 STREICH, Stephen p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ASKEW, Bennett p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37  4  8  4   6  9 27  5  13
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 011 000 050 -  7 11  2
Univ. of Utah....... 010 002 001 -  4  8  1
-------------------------------------------
E - RELF(15); KO(2); STREICH(1). LOB - Cougars 6; UT 13. 2B - BANKS(6);
WALTON(7); PARKER(9); CRON 2(6). HR - KUROCZKO(1). HBP - WALKER. SF -
BOWEN(3); KO(1). SB - BANKS(13); LAW, An. 2(14); SHIMADA(12); CORNU 2(6).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
TOOLE, Jeremy.......  5.2  5  3  3  5  4 24 29 119
OSLUND, Marc........  2.1  3  1  1  1  4 10 11  36
MUIR, Jordan........  1.0  0  0  0  0  1  3  4  16
Univ. of Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BUDROW, Brian.......  7.0  8  6  6  3  8 27 31 134
STREICH, Stephen....  1.0  2  1  0  0  1  4  5  17
ASKEW, Bennett......  1.0  1  0  0  0  2  4  4  17
Win - OSLUND (4-1).  Loss - BUDROW (4-2).  Save - MUIR (8).
WP - BUDROW(5). HBP - by MUIR (WALKER). PB - WALKER(6). Pitches/strikes: TOOLE
119/76; OSLUND 36/23; MUIR 16/11; BUDROW 134/81; STREICH 17/11; ASKEW 17/10.
Umpires - HP: Kevin Daugherty  1B: Tom Chandler  3B: Ron Barnes
Start: 5:59 pm   Time: 2:50   Attendance: 326
Weather: cloudy
BUDROW faced 4 batters in the 8th.
OSLUND faced 2 batters in the 9th.
Play-by-Play
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b (1-2). BANKS lined out to 3b
(2-2). WALTON flied out to rf (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 1st - SHIMADA grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-0). YAGI
struck out looking (2-2). KUROCZKO flied out to rf (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - PARKER walked (3-2). RELF singled up the middle (2-1); PARKER
advanced to third. BOWEN flied out to rf, SF, RBI (1-2); PARKER scored. RELF
advanced to second on a passed ball. KO struck out looking (1-2). MUSSO struck
out swinging (0-2). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 2nd - CRON doubled to left field (2-1). CORNU grounded out
to p (1-1); CRON advanced to third. JONES, A. grounded out to 2b, RBI (1-2);
CRON scored. WALKER grounded out to 2b (0-2). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 3rd - LAW, An. singled up the middle (2-2). LAW, An. stole second.
LAW, An. stole third. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging (2-2). BANKS singled to
shortstop, RBI (0-0); LAW, An. scored. WALTON flied out to cf (0-0). BANKS
stole second. PARKER struck out looking (3-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Univ. of Utah 3rd - HUSSEY struck out looking (1-2). BELTRAN grounded
out to c (1-1). SHIMADA reached on a fielding error by 1b (2-2). SHIMADA stole
second. YAGI grounded out to 1b unassisted (2-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
BYU 4th - RELF grounded out to ss (2-0). BOWEN popped up to 1b (2-1). KO
flied out to rf (2-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 4th - KUROCZKO flied out to cf (3-2). CRON grounded out to
ss (1-2). CORNU singled to right center (0-0). CORNU stole second. JONES, A.
walked (3-2). WALKER walked (3-2); JONES, A. advanced to second; CORNU advanced
to third. HUSSEY struck out looking (1-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
BYU 5th - MUSSO struck out looking (0-2). LAW, An. grounded out to ss
(0-0). McNAUGHTON struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Univ. of Utah 5th - BELTRAN struck out swinging (0-2). SHIMADA popped up
to ss (0-0). YAGI reached on a fielding error by ss (1-2). KUROCZKO walked
(3-1); YAGI advanced to second. CRON reached on a fielder's choice (1-2);
KUROCZKO out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 6th - BANKS singled to shortstop (2-2). BANKS out at first p to 1b,
picked off. WALTON walked (3-2). PARKER doubled to right center (0-0); WALTON
advanced to third. RELF struck out looking (3-2). BOWEN popped up to ss (1-1).
0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 6th - CORNU singled to center field (1-2). CORNU stole
second. JONES, A. flied out to rf (1-2); CORNU advanced to third. WALKER
singled to right field, RBI (0-2); CORNU scored. HUSSEY popped up to ss (2-2).
BELTRAN singled to center field (0-0); WALKER advanced to second. SHIMADA
walked (3-1); BELTRAN advanced to second; WALKER advanced to third. YAGI
walked, RBI (3-2); SHIMADA advanced to second; BELTRAN advanced to third;
WALKER scored. OSLUND to p for TOOLE. KUROCZKO struck out looking (0-2). 2
runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
BYU 7th - KO grounded out to ss (3-2). MUSSO struck out swinging (1-2).
LAW, An. flied out to cf (2-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 7th - CRON popped up to 2b (1-0). CORNU struck out
swinging (3-2). JONES, A. singled to shortstop (1-1). WALKER struck out looking
(0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - McNAUGHTON singled to center field (2-1). McNAUGHTON advanced
to second on a wild pitch. BANKS doubled to center field (2-2); McNAUGHTON
advanced to third. JONES, Z. to cf for CORNU. WALTON doubled down the lf line,
2 RBI (2-1); BANKS scored; McNAUGHTON scored. PARKER intentionally walked
(3-0). STREICH to p for BUDROW. RELF struck out swinging (2-2). BOWEN singled
to third base, bunt (0-0); PARKER advanced to second; WALTON advanced to third.
KO flied out to rf, SF, RBI (3-2); PARKER advanced to third; WALTON scored.
AYOSO pinch hit for MUSSO. BOWEN advanced to second on a throwing error by p,
advanced to third; PARKER scored. AYOSO singled to left center, RBI (0-0);
BOWEN scored, unearned. LAW, An. popped up to 1b (1-2). 5 runs, 5 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 8th - BILLS to 1b for KO. NACAPOY to c for AYOSO. HUSSEY
grounded out to 3b (2-1). BELTRAN walked (3-2). SHIMADA struck out swinging
(1-2). YAGI flied out to lf (1-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - ASKEW to p for STREICH. McNAUGHTON struck out looking (1-2).
BANKS struck out swinging (1-2). WALTON singled to center field (2-1). PARKER
flied out to lf (3-1). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Utah 9th - KUROCZKO homered to right field, RBI (0-0). CRON
doubled to left field (0-0). MYERS pinch hit for JONES, Z.. MUIR to p for
OSLUND. MYERS grounded out to ss (1-1); CRON advanced to third. JONES, A.
struck out swinging (1-2). WALKER hit by pitch (2-1). REED pinch ran for
WALKER. HUSSEY grounded out to ss (1-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.