Oregon Fends Off BYU, 4-2

EUGENE -- Twice BYU knocked on the door Friday, then couldn’t open it as Oregon claimed a 4-2 baseball victory.

BYU tied the game, one-all, in the eighth when Dane Nielsen led off with a base on balls. Stephen Wells advanced Nielsen to second on a sac-bunt. Nielsen then scored from second on Alex Wolfe’s two-out single.

Ryan Bernal then singled, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, followed by Austin Hall’s walk to load the bases, but Oregon dodged its first bullet.

"We made a critical error that opened the gates after we got rid of their starting pitcher," said BYU coach Vance Law. "I'm still proud of our guys. We are getting good starting pitching ourselves."

The Ducks responded in the bottom of the eighth with three runs, to go up 4-1, chasing Cougar starter Taylor Cole from the mound.

Then BYU rallied again in the ninth when Nielsen singled with two outs. He advanced to third on Wells’ double and scored on a wild pitch, making the score 4-2. Wells advanced to third and Andrew Law drew a walk before Oregon locked up its second win in as many nights.

BYU, now 8-6, prepares for a third game on Saturday afternoon with Oregon, now 7-7.

Brigham Young at University of Oregon
Mar 11, 2011 at Eugene, Ore. (PK Park)
Brigham Young 2 (8-6)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS cf.................  4  0  1  0   0  0  8  0   0
LAW ss...................  3  0  0  0   2  1  1  1   0
WOLFE c..................  4  0  2  1   1  0  2  1   2
BERNAL lf................  3  0  1  0   1  1  2  0   1
HALL 1b..................  2  0  1  0   2  1  5  1   0
ROBINSON 3b..............  4  0  1  0   0  2  0  1   3
CALDWELL rf..............  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
GUENTHER dh..............  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   3
NIELSEN 2b...............  3  2  1  0   1  1  4  0   0
COLE p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
 MAHONEY p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 NYBERG p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 31  2  7  1   7  8 24  7  10
University of Oregon 4 (7-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Serna, KC ss.............  3  1  1  0   0  0  1  2   0
Piazzisi, M lf...........  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
Marder, J dh.............  3  2  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
Kuresa, T 1b.............  3  0  0  0   1  1 11  0   1
Jones, A rf..............  4  0  1  2   0  0  4  0   1
Altobelli, J 3b..........  2  0  1  1   0  0  1  1   0
 Gavin, D 3b.............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Mendenhall cf............  3  0  0  0   1  1  1  1   1
Hambright, B c...........  3  0  0  0   1  1  8  1   3
Payne, A 2b..............  2  1  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Boer, M p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Housey, J p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Clayton, P p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27  4  5  3   3  3 27  9   7
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 000 011 -  2  7  1
University of Oregon 000 100 03X -  4  5  0
-------------------------------------------
E - BERNAL. LOB - Cougars 10; Ducks 7. 2B - WELLS; Marder, J; Altobelli, J.
HBP - Serna, KC; Marder, J. SH - WELLS; Piazzisi, M 2; Payne, A.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
COLE................  7.1  4  3  2  1  2 24 29
MAHONEY.............  0.0  0  1  1  1  0  0  2
NYBERG..............  0.2  1  0  0  1  1  3  4
University of Oregon   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Boer, M.............  7.2  5  1  1  5  6 25 31
Housey, J...........  1.0  2  1  1  2  2  5  7
Clayton, P..........  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Win - Housey, J (1-0).  Loss - COLE (2-1).  Save - Clayton, P (1).
WP - COLE; Housey, J. HBP - by COLE (Serna, KC); by MAHONEY (Marder, J). PB -
WOLFE.
Umpires - HP: Brent Cunningham  1B: Todd Ellis  3B: Randy Sutton
Start: 6:03 pm   Time: 2:45   Attendance: 1538
Weather: 56 and partly cloudy
MAHONEY faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Brigham Young starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 18/c WOLFE; 10/lf BERNAL; 26/1b
HALL; 3/3b ROBINSON; 12/rf CALDWELL; 9/dh GUENTHER; 16/2b NIELSEN; 8/p COLE;
University of Oregon starters: 6/ss Serna, KC; 28/lf Piazzisi, M; 7/dh Marder,
J; 22/1b Kuresa, T; 9/rf Jones, A; 49/3b Altobelli, J; 15/cf Mendenhall; 33/c
Hambright, B; 20/2b Payne, A; 41/p Boer, M;
Brigham Young 1st - WELLS flied out to rf. LAW grounded out to ss. WOLFE
walked. BERNAL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Oregon 1st - Serna, KC singled up the middle. Piazzisi, M
out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; Serna, KC advanced to second. Marder, J flied
out to cf. Kuresa, T grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - HALL struck out swinging. ROBINSON singled to left
field. CALDWELL grounded out to 3b; ROBINSON advanced to second. GUENTHER
struck out swinging, grounded out to c unassisted. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
University of Oregon 2nd - Jones, A grounded out to 3b. Altobelli, J
grounded out to p. Mendenhall grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - NIELSEN lined out to ss. WELLS grounded out to 2b.
LAW walked. WOLFE singled to center field; LAW advanced to second, out at third
cf to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
University of Oregon 3rd - Hambright, B walked. Payne, A out at first 1b
to 2b, SAC, bunt; Hambright, B advanced to second. Serna, KC flied out to cf.
Piazzisi, M popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - BERNAL flied out to rf. HALL walked. HALL out at
first p to 1b, picked off. ROBINSON lined out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
University of Oregon 4th - Marder, J singled, bunt. Kuresa, T flied out
to lf. Jones, A lined out to cf. Altobelli, J doubled to left center, RBI;
Marder, J scored. Mendenhall struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - CALDWELL grounded out to 2b. GUENTHER grounded out
to ss. NIELSEN struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Oregon 5th - Hambright, B flied out to rf. Payne, A flied
out to lf. Serna, KC flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - Gavin, D to 3b for Altobelli, J. WELLS grounded out
to 1b unassisted. LAW struck out swinging. WOLFE flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
University of Oregon 6th - Piazzisi, M popped up to ss. Marder, J
doubled down the lf line. Kuresa, T struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b;
Marder, J advanced to third on a passed ball. Jones, A flied out to rf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - BERNAL walked. HALL singled, bunt; BERNAL advanced
to second. ROBINSON struck out swinging. CALDWELL flied out to lf. GUENTHER
lined out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
University of Oregon 7th - Gavin, D flied out to cf. Mendenhall flied
out to cf. Hambright, B flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - NIELSEN walked. WELLS grounded out to c, SAC, bunt;
NIELSEN advanced to second. LAW grounded out to 3b. WOLFE singled down the lf
line, RBI; NIELSEN scored. BERNAL singled to center field; WOLFE advanced to
second. Housey, J to p for Boer, M. HALL walked; BERNAL advanced to second;
WOLFE advanced to third. ROBINSON struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 3 LOB.
University of Oregon 8th - Payne, A reached on an error by lf, advanced
to third. Payne, A scored on a wild pitch, unearned. Serna, KC hit by pitch.
Piazzisi, M out at first p to 2b, SAC; Serna, KC advanced to second. MAHONEY to
p for COLE. Marder, J hit by pitch. Kuresa, T walked; Marder, J advanced to
second; Serna, KC advanced to third. NYBERG to p for MAHONEY. Jones, A singled
to right center, 2 RBI; Kuresa, T advanced to second; Marder, J scored; Serna,
KC scored. Gavin, D lined out to cf. Mendenhall walked; Jones, A advanced to
second; Kuresa, T advanced to third. Hambright, B struck out looking. 3
runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - CALDWELL struck out looking. GUENTHER grounded out
to 1b unassisted. NIELSEN singled to center field. WELLS doubled down the rf
line; NIELSEN advanced to third. WELLS advanced to third on a wild pitch;
NIELSEN scored on a wild pitch. LAW walked. Clayton, P to p for Housey, J.
WOLFE grounded out to 1b unassisted. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.