Christiansen Blast Lifts Cougars to Split with Aztecs

PROVO -- For the third consecutive conference home stand, the Cougars lost the first game of a doubleheader before coming on strong to win the second game.

BYU (27-22, 6-5) won the second game of the doubleheader against San Diego State (30-21, 5-7), shutting out the Aztecs, 4-0. The Cougars fell to the Aztecs, 3-1, in the first game Friday at Gail Miller Field.

Tough defense was the theme for the second game along with a pitcher's duel featuring SDSU's Sandra Durazo (18-11), who earned the win in the first game, and BYU's Mayron Dewitt-Wallentine (13-14).

In the first inning, BYU's Oli Keohohou made a spectacular play from right field, handling a drive from SDSU's Sarah Hershman and gunning the ball to first base for the final out.

The Cougars brought on the offense in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting Becca Erickson on second base with a base hit and a steal. BYU catcher Angie Christiansen dazzled the crowd, blasting a 210-foot shot over the left field wall to collect two RBIs and her second home run of the year.

In the sixth inning, the insurance runs came easy off of SDSU relief pitcher Olivia Catron. After Kari Pringle and Keohohou both took first base on walks and pinch runner Jill Roberts took Pringle's place on the field, BYU third basemen Elizabeth Boydston advanced both of the runners on a sacrifice bunt, and Roberts scored on a wild pitch. The final run was scored when first basemen Mindy Hanson doubled to left center, advancing Keohohou across home plate.

Dewitt-Wallentine played poised softball, throwing six strikeouts and allowing only two hits to close out the shutout victory.

"We played well enough to win both games, but we are still finding out who's going to come through for us in the clutch," said BYU head coach Mary Kay Amicone. "We had runners on and we couldn't come up with the key hits."

Regarding the slow start, Amicone said, "Christiansen came up with a big hit in the second game; that got us going."

The first game was a relatively low scoring game for BYU, the 15th leading scoring team in the nation. BYU's Meghann Pricer (10-5) picked up the loss and Sandra Durazo secured the win for SDSU. The loss snapped Pricer's five-game winning streak and the win was no surprise for Durazo who was last week's Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week.

With two runners on base in the top of the second inning, SDSU shortstop Joann Figuerora hit a single to drive in two runs to take the early 2-0 lead against the Cougars.

BYU remained quiet until the bottom of the fourth when Keohohou sent her 18tth home run of the year over the center field wall.

The Cougars let chances slip by as they left six of the seven hits stranded on base.

Up next for the Cougars is a noon doubleheader Saturday against UNLV (25-23, 12-3-1).

UNLV is coming off two close losses to conference leading Utah (34-18, 6-8), losing 1-0 and 3-2.

"UNLV is a very good hitting team," Amicone said. "We need to hit well to win Saturday."

The Automated ScoreBook
               SAN DIEGO AZTECS at BYU COUGARS (Game 1)
           Apr 27, 2001 at BYU PROVO UT (GAIL MILLER FIELD)
SAN DIEGO AZTECS 3 (30-20,5-6 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
NORDHAGEN, Kellie lf......  3  0  2  1    1  0  0  0
FIGUEROA, John ss.........  3  0  1  2    0  1  1  3
HERSHMAN, Sarah 2b........  4  0  0  0    0  0  0  1
GOUDY, Tiffany rf.........  2  0  0  0    1  1  0  0
KOVENSKY, Janna cf........  3  0  0  0    0  0  2  0
AGUINAGA, Tashie 3b.......  3  1  1  0    0  0  1  7
COBOS dh..................  2  1  0  0    0  0  0  0
DURAZO, Sandra p..........  2  0  0  0    0  1  0  1
 FLYNN, Shannon ph......... 1  1  1  0    0  0  0  0
EHRSAM, Summer 1b.........  1  0  0  0    0  0 11  0
FISHER, Shauna c..........  0  0  0  0    0  0  6  0
Totals.................... 24  3  5  3    2  3 21 12
BYU COUGARS 1 (26-22,5-5 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
HODGEN-KELLY, Lindse cf...  4  0  2  0    0  1  2  0
SMITH, Liz lf.............  3  0  0  0    0  0  1  0
PRINGLE, Kari 2b..........  3  0  0  0    0  0  4  2
KEOHOHOU, Oli rf..........  3  1  1  1    0  0  0  0
BOYDSTON, Liz 3b..........  3  0  1  0    0  0  1  3
 ROBERTS, Jill pr.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
CADIENTE, Brooke dh.......  3  0  2  0    0  0  0  0
HANSON, Mindy 1b..........  3  0  0  0    0  0  9  0
ERICKSON, Becca ss........  3  0  0  0    0  0  1  4
CHRISTIANSEN, Angie c.....  2  0  1  0    0  0  3  1
 HOLLAND, Laura pr......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
 ELLIS, Jackie ph.......... 1  0  0  0    0  1  0  0
PRICER, Meghann p.........  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  2
Totals.................... 28  1  7  1    0  2 21 12
Score by innings:                   R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
SAN DIEGO AZTECS      020 000 1  -  3  5  0
BYU COUGARS           000 100 0  -  1  7  1
-------------------------------------------
E - BOYDSTON.
LOB - AZTECS 6; COUGARS 6.
2B - AGUINAGA. 3B - NORDHAGEN.
HR - KEOHOHOU.
SH - FIGUEROA; EHRSAM 2.
SAN DIEGO AZTECS       IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
DURAZO, Sandra......  7.0   7   1   1   0   2
BYU COUGARS            IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
PRICER, Meghann.....  7.0   5   3   3   2   3
Win - DURAZO 18-10.  Loss - PRICER 10-5.  Save - None.
HBP - COBOS.
Umpires - Home:CHARLES HANSON  1st:TONY MADDOX  3rd:TJ BREWSTER
Start: 1:30 PM   Time: 2HR 10M   Attendance: 338
The Automated ScoreBook
               San Diego State at Brigham Young (Game 2)
            Apr 27, 2001 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
San Diego State 0 (30-21,5-7 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
NORDHAGEN, Kellie lf......  3  0  1  0    0  1  3  0
FIGUEROA, John ss.........  2  0  0  0    0  0  0  1
HERSHMAN, Sarah 2b........  2  0  0  0    0  0  2  1
GOUDY, Tiffany rf.........  3  0  0  0    0  0  1  0
KOVENSKY, Janna cf........  3  0  1  0    0  0  2  0
AGUINAGA, Tashie 3b.......  2  0  0  0    0  1  0  1
 KIRK, Kristina ph......... 1  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
FLYNN, Shannon dh.........  3  0  0  0    0  2  0  0
DURAZO, Sandra p..........  2  0  0  0    0  2  1  3
 CATRON, Olivia ph......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
 GREGORY, Korin p.......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
EHRSAM, Summer 1b.........  2  0  0  0    0  0  6  1
FISHER, Shauna c..........  0  0  0  0    0  0  3  1
Totals.................... 23  0  2  0    0  6 18  8
Brigham Young 4 (27-22,6-5 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
HODGEN-KELLY, Lindse cf...  3  0  0  0    0  0  2  0
SMITH, Liz lf.............  3  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
PRINGLE, Kari 2b..........  2  0  0  0    1  1  2  0
 ROBERTS, Jill pr.......... 0  1  0  0    0  0  0  0
KEOHOHOU, Oli rf..........  1  1  0  0    2  0  0  1
BOYDSTON, Liz 3b..........  2  0  0  0    0  0  0  3
CADIENTE, Brooke dh.......  3  0  0  0    0  2  0  0
HANSON, Mindy 1b..........  2  0  2  1    1  0  8  2
 FERNLEY, Emily pr......... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
ERICKSON, Becca ss........  2  1  0  0    0  0  3  1
CHRISTIANSEN, Angie c.....  2  1  1  2    0  0  6  0
WALLENTINE, Maryon p......  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  1
Totals.................... 20  4  3  3    4  3 21  8
Score by innings:                   R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
San Diego State       000 000 0  -  0  2  1
Brigham Young         000 022    -  4  3  2
-------------------------------------------
E - DURAZO; HANSON; ERICKSON.
LOB - SDSU 4; BYU 4.
2B - HANSON.
HR - CHRISTIANSEN.
SB - SMITH; FERNLEY.
SH - FIGUEROA; HERSHMAN; BOYDSTON; ERICKSON.
San Diego State        IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
DURAZO, Sandra......  5.0   2   2   2   2   2
CATRON, Olivia......  0.2   1   2   2   2   1
GREGORY, Korin......  0.1   0   0   0   0   0
Brigham Young          IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
WALLENTINE, Maryon..  7.0   2   0   0   0   6
Win - WALLENTINE 13-14.  Loss - DURAZO 19-11.  Save - None.
WP - CATRON.
Umpires - Home:Tony Maddox  1st:T.J. Brewster  3rd:Charles Henson
Start: 4:00 pm   Time: 1:55   Attendance: 338