Shutt, Capper Hone In On Huskies

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PROVO -- Three home runs aided BYU as it recorded a 10-4 home-opening victory over Washington on Thursday afternoon.

With the victory the Cougars improve to 5-7 on the season while Washington evens its record at 6-6.

“We played really well today,” said BYU head coach Vance Law. “I was pleased with our pitching performance. It was nice to have that early lead and get a run here and there.”

Junior Justin Shutt was credited with the win, his first of the 2010 season. Alex Wolfe, Ryan Bernal and Bryce Ayoso each hit home runs, totaling two RBI apiece.

Leading off for BYU in the game, Sean McNaughton hit a single up the middle before stealing second. He was driven in on a two-run homer from Wolfe, the sophomore’s first home run of the season.

Jonathan Cluff scored on a wild pitch by Washington’s Aaron West to give the Cougars a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the second.

The Huskies got on the board in the third inning with a bases loaded single to right that drove in two runs. In the bottom of that same frame, a well-placed bunt by Cluff put runners on the corners. Dane Nielsen hit a single to score Austin Hall from third, giving BYU a 4-2 lead.

“Execution was a big focus for us this week,” said Law. “I was pleased with our base running. We’ve improved in that area and need to continue to be aggressive.”

The Cougar scoring trends continued in the fourth, as back-to-back passed balls brought in Brandon Relf. Wolfe scored an unearned run as Ayoso singled to left, giving BYU a 6-2 lead.

Washington opened the fifth with two runs, but the Cougars retaliated in the bottom of the frame. Cluff stole second and then scored on a Stephen Wells single to make it 7-4.

It was Ayoso’s turn to hit one over the wall in the sixth inning, also his first home run of the season, extending the BYU lead to 8-4.

Relief pitcher Chris Capper had strikeouts to bookend the top of the seventh. Relf singled to left field and advanced to second before Bernal hit a two-run shot to put BYU up 10-4 in the bottom of the eighth.

The Cougars and Huskies meet again on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. MT for the second in this three-game series.

Univ. of Washington at BYU
Mar 11, 2010 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Univ. of Washington 4 (6-6)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Pollard, Julien lf.......  5  0  1  0   0  2  1  1   1
Boyer, Bradley 2b........  4  2  2  0   0  0  2  1   0
Scott, Troy 1b...........  3  1  1  1   2  1  5  0   0
Rankin, Pierce c.........  4  0  1  1   0  1  4  1   1
Lamb, Jacob 3b...........  4  0  1  2   0  1  2  0   1
Brown, Caleb cf..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  6  0   3
Anselment, Chase dh......  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Meehan, Sean rf..........  4  0  2  0   0  1  4  0   1
Bentrott, David ss.......  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  2   1
West, Aaron p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Rohde, Brandon p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Brown, Geoff p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Bielaski, Colton p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  4  9  4   2  8 24  6   8
BYU 10 (5-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  2  0   0  1  2  0   1
RELF, Brandon ss.........  3  2  1  0   2  0  3  5   1
WOLFE, Alex 1b...........  3  2  1  2   2  0  5  2   0
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  1  1  2   1  1  0  0   3
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  4  1  2  2   1  0  9  0   0
HALL, Austin 3b..........  5  1  1  0   0  1  0  2   2
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  4  2  3  0   0  1  0  0   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  2  0  0  1   0  0  2  2   0
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  0  2  1   0  0  4  1   1
SHUTT, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
 CAPPER, Chris p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34 10 13  8   6  4 27 12   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Univ. of Washington. 002 020 000 -  4  9  1
BYU................. 211 211 02X - 10 13  1
-------------------------------------------
E - Lamb(5); HALL(2). DP - Cougars 1. LOB - WASH 8; Cougars 8. 2B -
Boyer(3); Scott(7); Rankin(6). HR - WOLFE(1); BERNAL(2); AYOSO(1). HBP -
Bentrott. SH - Boyer(4); NIELSEN(1). SF - NIELSEN(1). SB - McNAUGHTON(8);
CLUFF 2(4); NIELSEN(2); WELLS(1). CS - BERNAL(3).
Univ. of Washington    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
West, Aaron.........  1.2  4  3  3  3  2  8 12
Rohde, Brandon......  1.2  2  3  2  2  0  6  9
Brown, Geoff........  3.2  5  2  2  1  2 15 16
Bielaski, Colton....  1.0  2  2  2  0  0  5  5
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SHUTT, Justin.......  5.0  7  4  4  2  4 20 24
CAPPER, Chris.......  4.0  2  0  0  0  4 15 15
Win - SHUTT (1-2).  Loss - West (0-1).  Save - CAPPER (1).
WP - West(2). HBP - by SHUTT (Bentrott). PB - Rankin 2(2).
Umpires - HP: Blake Jensen  1B: Randy Upton  3B: Jeff Richardson
Start: 3:05   Time: 2:52   Attendance: 872
Weather: 45 degrees, partly cloudy
Game notes:
This week's games are on live free video, but there is no audio.
Univ. of Washington 1st - Pollard singled through the left side. Boyer
grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; Pollard advanced to second. Scott walked. Rankin
flied into double play cf to ss to 1b; Scott out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON singled up the middle. RELF flied out to cf.
McNAUGHTON stole second. WOLFE homered to right field, 2 RBI; McNAUGHTON
scored. BERNAL struck out swinging. AYOSO walked. HALL popped up to 2b. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 2nd - Lamb struck out swinging. C. Brown singled to
right field. Anselment out at first 1b to p; C. Brown advanced to second.
Meehan fouled out to c. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - CLUFF singled to right center. CLUFF stole second. NIELSEN
grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; CLUFF advanced to third. WELLS singled to
shortstop. McNAUGHTON struck out swinging. WELLS stole second. WELLS advanced
to third; CLUFF scored on a wild pitch. RELF walked. WOLFE walked; RELF
advanced to second. Rohde to p for West. BERNAL flied out to lf. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 3rd - Bentrott hit by pitch. Pollard struck out
swinging. Boyer singled to right center; Bentrott advanced to third. Scott
walked; Boyer advanced to second. Rankin struck out looking. Lamb singled
through the right side, 2 RBI; Scott advanced to second; Boyer scored; Bentrott
scored. C. Brown grounded out to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 3rd - AYOSO grounded out to ss. HALL singled through the left side.
CLUFF singled, bunt; HALL advanced to third. NIELSEN flied out to cf, SF, RBI;
HALL scored. WELLS flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 4th - Anselment flied out to lf. Meehan struck out
swinging. Bentrott grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - McNAUGHTON popped up to 3b. RELF walked. WOLFE walked; RELF
advanced to second. G. Brown to p for Rohde. WOLFE advanced to second; RELF
advanced to third on a passed ball. BERNAL walked; WOLFE advanced to third;
RELF scored on a passed ball. AYOSO singled through the left side, RBI; BERNAL
advanced to second; WOLFE scored, unearned. BERNAL out at third c to 3b, caught
stealing. HALL struck out swinging. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 5th - Pollard out at first 1b to p. Boyer doubled
down the rf line. Scott doubled to left field, RBI; Boyer scored. Rankin
doubled to left field, RBI; Scott scored. Lamb lined out to ss. C. Brown lined
out to cf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - CLUFF singled to shortstop. NIELSEN flied out to cf. CLUFF
stole second. WELLS singled, out at second lf to 2b, RBI; CLUFF scored.
McNAUGHTON singled up the middle. RELF grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 6th - CAPPER to p for SHUTT. Anselment flied out to
cf. Meehan singled to right center. Bentrott reached on a fielder's choice;
Meehan out at second 2b to ss. Pollard reached on a fielder's choice; Bentrott
out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - WOLFE grounded out to ss. BERNAL flied out to cf. AYOSO
homered to right center, RBI. HALL lined out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 7th - Boyer reached on a throwing error by 3b,
advanced to second. Scott struck out swinging. Rankin reached on a fielder's
choice, advanced to second; Boyer out at second 3b to 2b to ss. Lamb flied out
to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - CLUFF struck out looking. NIELSEN reached on a fielding error
by 3b. WELLS flied out to rf. NIELSEN stole second. McNAUGHTON flied out to rf.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 8th - C. Brown struck out swinging. Anselment flied
out to cf. Meehan singled to center field. Bentrott struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - Bielaski to p for G. Brown. RELF singled to left field. WOLFE
grounded out to 1b unassisted; RELF advanced to second. BERNAL homered to left
field, 2 RBI; RELF scored. AYOSO flied out to cf. HALL flied out to rf. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Univ. of Washington 9th - Pollard struck out swinging. Boyer grounded
out to ss. Scott lined out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.