Bullpen, Batters Beat Wolverines

OREM (May 4, 2010)—Before a record 3,744 fans, BYU baseball beat Utah Valley University 14-10 behind pitcher Kevin Sloan and Jonathan Cluff on Tuesday night at Brent Brown Ballpark.

Sloan remained undefeated at 8-0, BYU improved to 19-23 and Cluff went 4-for-4 in the come-from-behind victory, but the catalyst was Cougar sophomore Austin Hall.

Hall drew a one-out walk in the sixth inning and ran like a gazelle on a hit-and-run single by Dane Nielsen to right field for the tying run at eight-all.

“Austin (Hall) running hard was the biggest momentum-changer,” said Cluff. “It lit a spark underneath us.” BYU was down 8-2 through two full innings.

In the sixth, Cluff hit a three-run homer to rightfield, his second in as many innings to that same field as BYU batted around in the top of the frame, scoring seven runs off four hits.

“We started off the sixth with a couple base hits and Hall ran hard the whole way,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “It’s a play that we practice. He got a good jump, I got a good read and he kept going for a big emotional lift for us.”

After Hall scored, Stephen Wells ripped a two-run triple down the rightfield line two batters later as BYU ended the sixth with an 11-8 lead.

UVU jumped out to a 3-0 thanks to a pair of doubles and strong base running in the first inning.

The Cougars picked up a pair of runs off a two-run double by Hall in the second to make the score 3-2.

The Cougars could have been out of the second inning unscathed. With two runners on base, Matthew Neil battled Jace Brinkerhoff through five consecutive foul balls before he struck out looking for the second out, but a long fly ball was dropped on the warning track. Consequently, the Wolverines scored five unearned runs to make the score 8-2.

After an hour of play, the Cougars were finally able to retire UVU in order in the third, thanks to a 1-6-3 double play.

Bryce Ayoso led off the fourth with a leftfield home run. Two batters later Cluff knocked a homer to rightfield to make the score 8-4.

With two on in the fifth, Law elected to remove Justin Shutt from the mound so that Sloan could face lefty Brinkerhoff, who grounded out weakly to him to end the inning.

“The key to the whole thing was in the bottom of the fifth,” said Law. “Our bullpen was really good. Shutt (Justin) kept us close and Kevin (Sloan) did a tremendous job.

A couple other homers added insurance for BYU as the game wound down. Ryan Bernal clouted a lead-off homer in the seventh just west of the rightfield scoreboard equaled the Wolverine run tacked on in the earlier frame as BYU maintained its three-run lead, 12-9.

Brandon Relf led off with a homer to left-center in the eighth for BYU. Brinkerhoff led off with a double in the bottom of that frame and was doubled in by Billy Burgess to make the score 13-10.

UVU, now 25-15, has a rematch with BYU on May 18 in Provo. The Cougars now return to league play with a three-game series starting Thursday in Las Vegas in a rematch versus UNLV.

BYU at Utah Valley
May 04, 2010 at Orem, Utah (Brent Brown Ballpark)
BYU 14 (19-23)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
RELF, Brandon ss.........  6  2  2  1   0  0  1  2   0
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  1  1  2   1  0  3  0   0
WOLFE, Alex 1b...........  5  0  0  1   0  1 10  0   4
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  5  1  2  1   0  0  5  2   0
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  3  2  1   0  1  0  0   1
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  4  1  0  0   1  1  2  0   0
 ANDERSON, Mark lf.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf.......  4  4  4  4   1  0  3  0   0
HALL, Austin 3b..........  3  1  1  2   2  2  0  4   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  5  1  2  2   0  0  3  3   2
NEIL, Matthew p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SHUTT, Justin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SLOAN, Kevin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McKNIGHT, David p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 40 14 14 14   5  5 27 12   7
Utah Valley 10 (25-15)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
RICKENBACH ss............  5  0  1  0   0  1  1  2   0
ZUNDEL, J. lf............  6  2  2  0   0  1  3  0   1
BRINKERHOFF 3b...........  4  2  2  1   1  1  1  0   2
BURGESS, B. rf...........  5  2  2  1   0  1  5  0   0
BENSON, C. cf............  5  2  2  1   0  0  3  0   0
KALLUNKI, G. 1b..........  5  1  3  1   0  0  8  1   0
ARENDSE, K. c............  5  0  2  2   0  1  5  0   3
HEAPS, A. dh.............  5  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   4
McWHORTER, C 2b..........  4  1  2  0   1  0  0  4   0
KRAHENBUHL p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 BRIMHALL, C. p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CHADWICK, R. p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ARMSTRONG, S p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 POOLE, B. p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HEALEY, C p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 AYOSO, T. p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 44 10 17  6   2  6 27  8  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 020 207 111 - 14 14  3
Utah Valley......... 350 001 010 - 10 17  1
-------------------------------------------
E - RELF(22); McNAUGHTON(5); HALL(12); KRAHENBUHL(1). DP - BYU 1. LOB - BYU
7; Utah Valley 10. 2B - HALL(8); BRINKERHOFF 2(18); BURGESS, B. 2(15);
KALLUNKI, G. 2(17). 3B - WELLS(3). HR - RELF(3); AYOSO(6); BERNAL(11); CLUFF
2(4). HBP - WELLS; BERNAL. SH - RICKENBACH(2). SF - WOLFE(2). SB -
CLUFF(10).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
NEIL, Matthew.......  1.2  8  8  1  0  4 15 15  51
SHUTT, Justin.......  3.0  4  0  0  2  1 11 14  55
SLOAN, Kevin........  3.1  4  2  1  0  1 14 14  43
McKNIGHT, David.....  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4  16
Utah Valley            IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
KRAHENBUHL..........  5.0  4  4  4  2  3 19 21  84
BRIMHALL, C.........  0.1  0  2  2  1  0  1  3  15
CHADWICK, R.........  0.0  1  2  2  1  0  1  2   8
ARMSTRONG, S........  2.1  7  5  5  0  1 13 14  45
POOLE, B............  0.2  1  1  1  1  1  3  4  19
HEALEY, C...........  0.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  2   5
AYOSO, T............  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  2   6
Win - SLOAN (8-0).  Loss - ARMSTRONG, S (3-2).  Save - None.
WP - ARMSTRONG, S(3). HBP - by BRIMHALL, C. (BERNAL); by AYOSO, T. (WELLS).
Inherited runners/scored: SHUTT 2/2; SLOAN 2/0; CHADWICK, R. 2/2; ARMSTRONG, S
1/1; POOLE, B. 1/0; HEALEY, C 2/1; AYOSO, T. 2/0. Pitches/strikes: NEIL 51/38;
SHUTT 55/34; SLOAN 43/31; McKNIGHT 16/11; KRAHENBUHL 84/51; BRIMHALL, C. 15/5;
CHADWICK, R. 8/2; ARMSTRONG, S 45/30; POOLE, B. 19/10; HEALEY, C 5/4; AYOSO, T.
6/2.
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Jeff Richardson  3B: Blake Jensen
Start: 6:04pm   Time: 3:19   Attendance: 3744
Weather: Sunny, 52 degrees
CHADWICK, R. faced 2 batters in the 6th.
BYU 1st - RELF popped up to ss (1-2). WELLS out at first 1b to p (0-0).
WOLFE struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Valley 1st - RICKENBACH flied out to rf (0-0). ZUNDEL, J. singled
up the middle (2-2). BRINKERHOFF doubled to left center, advanced to third on
the throw, RBI (1-0); ZUNDEL, J. scored. BURGESS, B. struck out swinging (0-2).
BENSON, C. reached on a throwing error by 3b (0-1); BRINKERHOFF scored,
unearned. KALLUNKI, G. doubled to right field, RBI (0-0); BENSON, C. scored,
unearned. ARENDSE, K. singled to right field (1-1); KALLUNKI, G. advanced to
third. HEAPS, A. struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (0-2). 3 runs, 4
hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - AYOSO grounded out to ss (0-1). BERNAL singled up the middle
(0-0). BERNAL advanced to second on a throwing error by p. McNAUGHTON struck
out swinging (3-2). CLUFF walked (3-1). HALL doubled to left center, 2 RBI
(0-0); CLUFF scored; BERNAL scored. NIELSEN flied out to rf (1-1). 2 runs, 2
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Utah Valley 2nd - McWHORTER, C singled to second base (0-2). RICKENBACH
struck out looking (1-2). ZUNDEL, J. singled through the left side (0-0);
McWHORTER, C advanced to second. BRINKERHOFF struck out looking (2-2). BURGESS,
B. reached on a fielding error by lf, advanced to third (3-0); ZUNDEL, J.
scored, unearned; McWHORTER, C scored, unearned. BENSON, C. singled to right
field, RBI (3-2); BURGESS, B. scored, unearned. KALLUNKI, G. doubled down the
lf line (0-0); BENSON, C. advanced to third. SHUTT to p for NEIL. ARENDSE, K.
singled to right field, 2 RBI (1-1); KALLUNKI, G. scored, unearned; BENSON, C.
scored, unearned. HEAPS, A. grounded out to 2b (1-0). 5 runs, 5 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - RELF grounded out to 2b (1-1). WELLS popped up to 3b (2-2).
WOLFE grounded out to 2b (1-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Valley 3rd - McWHORTER, C walked (3-2). RICKENBACH grounded into
double play p to ss to 1b (0-0); McWHORTER, C out on the play. ZUNDEL, J.
grounded out to 3b (0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - AYOSO homered to left field, RBI (3-1). BERNAL grounded out to
ss (3-2). McNAUGHTON flied out to rf (3-2). CLUFF homered to right field, RBI
(0-0). HALL struck out swinging (2-2). 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Valley 4th - BRINKERHOFF walked (3-0). BURGESS, B. reached on a
fielder's choice (0-0); BRINKERHOFF out at second 3b to 2b. BENSON, C. flied
out to cf to left center (0-1). KALLUNKI, G. singled through the right side
(2-2); BURGESS, B. advanced to third. ARENDSE, K. struck out swinging (2-2).
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 5th - NIELSEN flied out to rf (0-1). RELF grounded out to 2b (2-1).
WELLS walked (3-2). WOLFE flied out to lf (0-0). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Utah Valley 5th - HEAPS, A. singled up the middle (3-2). McWHORTER, C
singled through the left side (1-2); HEAPS, A. advanced to second. RICKENBACH
out at first 3b to 2b, SAC (2-1); McWHORTER, C advanced to second; HEAPS, A.
advanced to third. ZUNDEL, J. grounded out to 2b (1-2). SLOAN to p for SHUTT.
BRINKERHOFF grounded out to c (1-0). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 6th - BRIMHALL, C. to p for KRAHENBUHL. AYOSO flied out to lf (3-2).
BERNAL hit by pitch (3-1). McNAUGHTON walked (3-1); BERNAL advanced to second.
CHADWICK, R. to p for BRIMHALL, C.. CLUFF homered to right field, 3 RBI (2-0);
McNAUGHTON scored; BERNAL scored. HALL walked (3-1). ARMSTRONG, S to p for
CHADWICK, R.. NIELSEN singled through the right side, RBI (0-0); HALL scored.
RELF singled to left field (0-1); NIELSEN advanced to second. WELLS tripled
down the rf line, 2 RBI (1-2); RELF scored; NIELSEN scored. WOLFE flied out to
cf to right center, SF, RBI (1-2); WELLS scored. AYOSO grounded out to p (1-2).
7 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah Valley 6th - BURGESS, B. doubled down the lf line (1-2). BENSON, C.
singled to shortstop (1-1); BURGESS, B. advanced to third, scored on a throwing
error by ss, unearned. KALLUNKI, G. popped up to 2b (2-2). ARENDSE, K. flied
out to lf (0-1). HEAPS, A. flied out to cf (0-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
BYU 7th - BERNAL homered to right center, RBI (0-0). McNAUGHTON flied
out to cf (1-0). CLUFF singled to right center (3-2). CLUFF stole second. HALL
struck out swinging (2-2). CLUFF advanced to third on a wild pitch. NIELSEN
fouled out to rf (2-0). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah Valley 7th - McWHORTER, C flied out to rf (2-2). RICKENBACH
grounded out to 3b (1-1). ZUNDEL, J. struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - RELF homered to left field, RBI (1-0). WELLS grounded out to
2b (1-0). WOLFE flied out to lf (2-2). AYOSO singled to left field (0-0).
POOLE, B. to p for ARMSTRONG, S. BERNAL struck out swinging (1-2). 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah Valley 8th - BRINKERHOFF doubled to center field (1-1). BURGESS, B.
doubled to left field, RBI (1-2); BRINKERHOFF scored. BENSON, C. flied out to
rf (0-0). KALLUNKI, G. flied out to lf (1-1). ARENDSE, K. grounded out to ss
(0-0). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - McNAUGHTON flied out to rf (2-1). CLUFF singled to right
center (2-2). HALL walked (3-1); CLUFF advanced to second. HEALEY, C to p for
POOLE, B.. NIELSEN singled to left field, RBI (1-1); HALL advanced to third;
CLUFF scored. RELF popped up to 1b (0-1). AYOSO, T. to p for HEALEY, C. WELLS
hit by pitch (1-0); NIELSEN advanced to second. WOLFE flied out to cf (3-1).
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Utah Valley 9th - McKNIGHT to p for SLOAN. ANDERSON to lf for
McNAUGHTON. HEAPS, A. grounded out to 2b (3-2). McWHORTER, C flied out to cf to
right center (1-2). RICKENBACH singled up the middle (1-0). ZUNDEL, J. fouled
out to 1b (0-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.