Relf's Home Run Beats Wazu

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PROVO -- After a rare lightning delay, Brandon Relf hit the winning home run Monday in BYU’s 3-2 win over Washington State.

The blue Cougars improved to 12-14 on the year with the victory, while the red Cougars record is 15-10.

“There’s a lot of pressure on our players and they are handling it very well,” BYU coach Vance Law said. “I’m proud of the way they are improving.”

In the first seven and two-thirds innings, freshman lefty Mark Anderson allowed only one run and three hits. The Derek Jones’ solo homer came in Washington State’s first at-bat and barely cleared the centerfield wall to put the red Cougars up by one.

“Our team has so much power this year and a lot of veteran hitters,” Anderson said, who threw a career-high 124 pitches. “You don’t feel pressure on the mound with the players we have.”

BYU had its chances throughout the ball game, leaving Bryce Ayoso and Dane Nielsen on base after nearly identical doubles to the left field wall in the second and fifth innings, respectively.

Sean McNaughton finally evened the score in the sixth inning, hitting a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall and into the scoreboard. The senior’s homer breathed life into the home team and rattled WSU’s pitcher Spencer Jackson. The red Cougar hit Alex Wolfe who advanced two bases after the first error of the game. Ryan Bernal fielder’s choice ground scored Wolfe and secured BYU’s first lead of the day.

Bernal not only gained the lead for the blue Cougars but also kept it by holding off Wazu in the top of the seventh inning. He turned an unassisted double play, catching a line drive and then tagging first base before the runner could get back to the bag.

A wild throw from Brandon Relf, BYU’s first error of the day, put WSU back in the game. With two outs and runners on the corners for the red Cougars in the top of the eighth, Chris Capper took over for Anderson on the mound and later picked up a "vulture win." His fresh arm could not stop the Washington State from tying the game with a single to left field. Capper got BYU out of the inning with a short toss to first base.

“Relf makes that play nine times out of ten,” Law said. “He helped to atone for his error, and he has been a fine player for us over the past four years.”

Lead-off hitter Relf made up for his error in the next inning jumping on the first pitch for the winning run, a solo homer to the trees behind left field. After David McKnight took over as the pitcher, the blue Cougars got a double play and a fly out to finish the game at 3-2. McKnight was credited with his fifth save of the season.

The series against Washington State continues Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Washington St. at BYU
Apr 05, 2010 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Washington St. 2 (15-10)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Kuykendall, Garry cf.....  3  0  0  0   2  1  1  0   4
Jacobs, Brett dh.........  5  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jones, Derek rf..........  4  1  1  1   0  0  3  0   0
Fanelli, Matt 1b.........  4  0  1  0   0  0 12  0   0
Argyropoulos, Matt 3b....  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  2   5
Vucinich, Shea ss........  3  1  0  0   0  0  1  4   0
Claussen, Patrick lf.....  3  0  0  0   1  2  2  0   0
Weber, Michael 2b........  2  0  0  0   2  0  1  7   0
Ponciano, Jay c..........  2  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   2
 Richards, Tommy ph......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Steiger, Brady ph.......  1  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
 Clingan, Paul c.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jackson, Spencer p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Harvey, Seth p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Lambert, Connor p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  2  5  2   5  5 24 13  11
BYU 3 (13-14)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  1  1  1   0  0  1  0   1
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  1  1  1   0  0  4  1   1
WOLFE, Alex 3b...........  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  4  0  1  0   0  0  6  0   0
BERNAL, Ryan 1b..........  4  0  0  1   0  1  8  1   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   1
FRAMPTON, Chase dh.......  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  4   0
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   1
ANDERSON, Mark p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 CAPPER, Chris p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 McKNIGHT, David p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  3  7  3   0  3 27  7   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Washington St....... 100 000 010 -  2  5  1
BYU................. 000 002 01X -  3  7  2
-------------------------------------------
E - Vucinich, S(6); RELF(13); AYOSO(2). DP - WSU 1; Cougars 2. LOB - WSU 11;
Cougars 5. 2B - AYOSO(11); NIELSEN(5). HR - Jones, D(5); McNAUGHTON(5);
RELF(2). HBP - Jones, D; Vucinich, S; Ponciano, J; WOLFE. SB - Vucinich,
S(4); Claussen, P(1). Reached on CI - Fanelli, M.
Washington St.         IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Jackson, Spencer....  5.2  5  2  1  0  2 22 23
Harvey, Seth........  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
Lambert, Connor.....  1.1  1  1  1  0  0  5  5
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ANDERSON, Mark......  7.2  3  2  1  5  5 26 35
CAPPER, Chris.......  0.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  2
McKNIGHT, David.....  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  3  3
Win - CAPPER (2-0).  Loss - Lambert, C (1-1).  Save - McKNIGHT (5).
HBP - by ANDERSON (Vucinich, S); by ANDERSON (Jones, D); by ANDERSON (Ponciano,
J); by Jackson, S (WOLFE). CI - AYOSO.
Umpires - HP: Lew Carleton  1B: Jeff Cluff  3B: Mike Reimer
Start: 3:16 pm   Time: 2:17   Attendance: 430
Weather: Windy, overcast, 47 degrees
Washington St. 1st - Alert: experiencing a lightning delay. Kuykendall
grounded out to 1b unassisted. Jacobs, B lined out to ss. Jones, D homered to
center field, RBI. Fanelli, M singled up the middle. Argyropoulos struck out
swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to 3b. RELF grounded out to 2b. WOLFE
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington St. 2nd - Vucinich, S hit by pitch. Vucinich, S stole second.
Claussen, P struck out swinging. Weber, M grounded out to p. Ponciano, J
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - AYOSO doubled to left field. BERNAL grounded out to 3b. CLUFF
flied out to lf. FRAMPTON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Washington St. 3rd - Kuykendall walked. Jacobs, B fouled out to rf;
Kuykendall advanced to second. Jones, D hit by pitch. Fanelli, M flied out to
lf. Argyropoulos flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 3rd - NIELSEN singled to second base. WELLS grounded out to 2b;
NIELSEN advanced to second. McNAUGHTON reached on a fielder's choice; NIELSEN
out at third ss to 3b. RELF popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Washington St. 4th - Vucinich, S popped up to c. Claussen, P walked.
Claussen, P stole second. Weber, M popped up to ss. Ponciano, J grounded out to
2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - WOLFE singled up the middle. AYOSO grounded into double play
ss to 2b to 1b; WOLFE out on the play. BERNAL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington St. 5th - Kuykendall walked. Jacobs, B flied out to cf.
Jones, D flied out to cf. Fanelli, M reached on catcher's interference;
Kuykendall advanced to second. Argyropoulos flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits,
1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 5th - CLUFF flied out to cf. FRAMPTON flied out to rf. NIELSEN
doubled to left field. WELLS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Washington St. 6th - Vucinich, S flied out to cf. Claussen, P struck out
swinging. Weber, M walked. Ponciano, J hit by pitch; Weber, M advanced to
second. Kuykendall struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 6th - McNAUGHTON homered to left field, RBI. RELF grounded out to
ss. WOLFE hit by pitch. AYOSO reached on a fielding error by ss; WOLFE advanced
to third. BERNAL grounded out to 2b, RBI; AYOSO advanced to second; WOLFE
scored, unearned. Harvey, S to p for Jackson, S. CLUFF struck out swinging.
2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Washington St. 7th - Jacobs, B singled to shortstop. Jones, D lined into
double play 1b unassisted; Jacobs, B out on the play. Fanelli, M fouled out to
ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - FRAMPTON flied out to rf. NIELSEN fouled out to 1b. WELLS
singled to center field. Lambert, C to p for Harvey, S. McNAUGHTON popped up to
rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Washington St. 8th - Argyropoulos struck out swinging. Vucinich, S
reached on a throwing error by ss, advanced to second. Claussen, P grounded out
to 2b; Vucinich, S advanced to third. Weber, M walked. Richards, T pinch hit
for Ponciano, J. CAPPER to p for ANDERSON. Steiger, B pinch hit for Richards,
T. Steiger, B singled through the left side, RBI; Weber, M advanced to second;
Vucinich, S scored, unearned. Kuykendall out at first 1b to p. 1 run, 1 hit,
1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 8th - Clingan, P to c. RELF homered to left field, RBI. WOLFE
grounded out to 2b. AYOSO flied out to lf. BERNAL grounded out to 2b. 1 run,
1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington St. 9th - McKNIGHT to p for CAPPER. Jacobs, B singled to
right field. Jones, D grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Jacobs, B out
on the play. Fanelli, M flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.