Slim Lead Escapes at Creighton

OMAHA, Neb. -- A slim BYU 5-4 lead evaporated Monday afternoon into a 6-5 baseball loss at Creighton University.

Alex Wolfe gave BYU a 5-4 lead in the seventh with a one-out solo homer, his second of the season. That was BYU’s only lead in the game after battling back from ties of 2-2 and 4-4.

“We continue to fight and are in positions to make threats, but we have got to make a concerted effort when we score to not led their leadoff guy get on base,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We need to do a better job holding the lead.”

For BYU, Austin Hall led off with a walk in the second, advanced on Chase Frampton’s single and scored on Dillon Robinson’s single to close the score to 2-1. Stephen Wells got hit by a pitch with two outs and the bases loaded to tie the score at 2-all.

BYU got a pair of defensive plays to end the third inning, the first of which was a snap throw by catcher Wolfe to pickoff a Bluejay at third base.

Creighton countered with a defensive gem of its own in the fourth when Cougar Dane Nielsen was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

BYU’s Andrew Law got aboard via error as the leadoff in the fifth and Wolfe walked. Both were driven in by Frampton’s two-out single, which tied the score 4-4.

The Cougars, now 9-10 overall, have a Tuesday rematch with Creighton, 16-4.

Brigham Young Univ. at Creighton
03-21-11 at Omaha, Neb. (CU Sports Complex)
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (9-10)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  4  0  2  1   0  0  1  0   1
LAW, Andrew ss...........  5  1  1  0   0  1  0  4   3
WOLFE, Alex c............  4  2  1  1   1  2  7  1   0
BERNAL, Ryan lf..........  3  0  1  0   1  1  0  1   0
HALL, Austin 1b..........  4  1  0  0   1  2  7  1   3
FRAMPTON, Chase dh.......  3  1  2  2   0  1  0  0   1
 GUENTHER, Wes ph........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  4  0  2  1   0  0  3  2   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  2  0  1  0   1  0  4  2   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
ANDERSON, Mark p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SECHREST, Daniel p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MILLER, Jared p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 MAHONEY, Kolton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 34  5 10  5   4  8 24 14   9
Creighton 6 (16-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Mutcheson dh.............  4  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Judkins 1b...............  4  1  1  0   0  1  9  1   1
Swift ss.................  3  2  3  2   1  0  2  2   0
Adams rf.................  4  1  4  3   0  0  0  1   0
Staehely 2b..............  3  1  3  0   1  0  3  4   0
Bemboom c................  2  0  0  0   0  1  9  1   4
Ross 3b..................  4  0  0  0   0  2  1  1   1
Gerber cf................  3  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
Bowens lf................  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   1
 Mattingly ph............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Blatchford lf...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Hellhake p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Spomer p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 VanLeur p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 Webb p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Winkelman p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McGraw p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 30  6 12  6   2  7 27 12   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 020 020 100 -  5 10  3
Creighton........... 201 100 20X -  6 12  1
-------------------------------------------
E - WOLFE; HALL; ROBINSON; Ross(3). DP - BYU 1; Creighton 1. LOB - BYU 9;
Creighton 8. 2B - WELLS; Adams(7); Staehely(12); Gerber(2). 3B - Judkins(1);
Swift(1). HR - WOLFE; Adams(4). HBP - WELLS; NIELSEN; Mutcheson. SH -
BERNAL; Judkins(8); Bemboom 2(3); Gerber(2); Blatchford(1). SB -
Blatchford(1). CS - FRAMPTON.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ANDERSON, Mark......  5.1  8  4  3  1  5 21 26
SECHREST, Daniel....  0.2  3  2  1  1  0  5  6
MILLER, Jared.......  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  2  3
MAHONEY, Kolton.....  1.0  0  0  0  0  2  2  3
Creighton              IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Hellhake............  1.2  2  2  2  1  4  7 10
Spomer..............  2.1  3  1  0  0  1 10 10
VanLeur.............  2.2  2  2  2  2  0  8 11
Webb................  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  4  4
Winkelman...........  0.2  2  0  0  1  1  4  5
McGraw..............  0.1  0  0  0  0  1  1  1
Win - Webb (2-0).  Loss - SECHREST (0-1).  Save - McGraw (4).
HBP - by Hellhake (NIELSEN); by Hellhake (WELLS); by ANDERSON (Mutcheson). PB -
WOLFE 2.
Umpires - HP: George Drouches  1B: Andre Lanoue  3B: Bill McGuire
Start: 3:00   Time: 2:43   Attendance: 280
Weather: Mid 50's, cloudy
Spomer faced 1 batter in the 5th.
SECHREST faced 4 batters in the 7th.
MILLER faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 18/c WOLFE; 10/lf BERNAL;
26/1b HALL; 30/dh FRAMPTON; 3/3b ROBINSON; 16/2b NIELSEN; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 23/p
ANDERSON;
Creighton starters: 16/dh Mutcheson; 4/1b Judkins; 3/ss Swift; 30/rf Adams;
11/2b Staehely; 10/c Bemboom; 2/3b Ross; 17/cf Gerber; 1/lf Bowens; 13/p
Hellhake;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS lined out to 2b. LAW struck out
swinging. WOLFE struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Creighton 1st - Mutcheson grounded out to 2b. Judkins lined out to rf.
Swift walked. Adams homered down the lf line, 2 RBI; Swift scored. Staehely
singled to center field. Bemboom grounded out to 1b unassisted. 2 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - BERNAL struck out swinging. HALL walked.
FRAMPTON singled to right field; HALL advanced to second. ROBINSON singled up
the middle, RBI; FRAMPTON advanced to second; HALL scored. NIELSEN hit by
pitch; ROBINSON advanced to second; FRAMPTON advanced to third. BRUGMAN struck
out swinging. WELLS hit by pitch, RBI; NIELSEN advanced to second; ROBINSON
advanced to third; FRAMPTON scored. Spomer to p for Hellhake. LAW popped up to
3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Creighton 2nd - Ross struck out swinging. Gerber grounded out to ss.
Bowens struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WOLFE grounded out to ss. BERNAL singled to
right field. HALL grounded out to p; BERNAL advanced to second. FRAMPTON struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Creighton 3rd - Mutcheson hit by pitch. Judkins out at first 1b to 2b,
SAC, bunt; Mutcheson advanced to second. Mutcheson advanced to third on a
passed ball. Swift tripled down the lf line, RBI; Mutcheson scored. Swift
picked off, out at third c to 3b. Adams singled, out at second lf to 3b to 2b.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - ROBINSON grounded out to 1b unassisted.
NIELSEN singled to right center. BRUGMAN flied out to lf. WELLS doubled to
right field; NIELSEN advanced to third, out at home rf to 2b to c. 0 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Creighton 4th - Staehely doubled down the lf line. Bemboom grounded out
to 3b, SAC, bunt; Staehely advanced to third. Ross struck out swinging. Gerber
reached on a fielding error by 1b, RBI; Staehely scored, unearned. Bowens
struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - LAW reached on a throwing error by 3b. VanLeur
to p for Spomer. WOLFE walked; LAW advanced to second. BERNAL grounded out to
3b, SAC, bunt; WOLFE advanced to second; LAW advanced to third. HALL popped up
to ss. FRAMPTON singled to right field, 2 RBI; WOLFE scored, team unearned; LAW
scored, unearned. FRAMPTON out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 2 runs, 1
hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Creighton 5th - Mutcheson grounded out to ss. Judkins grounded out to
ss. Swift singled up the middle. Adams singled to left field; Swift advanced to
second. Staehely singled to shortstop; Adams advanced to second; Swift advanced
to third. Bemboom struck out looking. 0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - ROBINSON out at first 1b to p. NIELSEN walked.
BRUGMAN grounded out to 1b unassisted; NIELSEN advanced to second. WELLS
grounded out to p, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Creighton 6th - Ross reached on a fielding error by 3b. Gerber out at
first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; Ross advanced to second. SECHREST to p for ANDERSON.
Mattingly pinch hit for Bowens. Mattingly flied out to rf; Ross advanced to
third. Mutcheson flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Blatchford to lf for Mattingly. LAW flied out
to ss. WOLFE homered to right field, RBI. BERNAL grounded out to 2b. Webb to p
for VanLeur. HALL struck out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Creighton 7th - Judkins tripled to right center. Swift singled through
the left side, RBI; Judkins scored. Swift advanced to second on a passed ball.
Adams doubled down the lf line, RBI; Swift scored, unearned. Staehely walked.
MILLER to p for SECHREST. Miller came into game with runners on first and
second. Bemboom reached on a fielder's choice, SAC, bunt; Staehely advanced to
second; Adams out at third p to 3b. Ross grounded into double play ss to 2b to
1b; Bemboom out on the play. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - GUENTHER pinch hit for FRAMPTON. GUENTHER
flied out to lf. ROBINSON singled up the middle. NIELSEN grounded into double
play ss to 2b to 1b; ROBINSON out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Creighton 8th - Gerber doubled to left center. MAHONEY to p for MILLER.
Blatchford reached on a fielder's choice, SAC, bunt; Gerber out at third p to
3b. Mutcheson struck out looking. Blatchford stole second, advanced to third on
a throwing error by c. Judkins struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error,
1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - Winkelman to p for Webb. BRUGMAN grounded out
to 2b. WELLS singled through the right side. LAW singled, bunt; WELLS advanced
to second. WOLFE struck out swinging. BERNAL walked; LAW advanced to second;
WELLS advanced to third. McGraw to p for Winkelman. McGraw came in with bases
loaded. HALL struck out looking. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.