NCAA baseball: Utes outslug Cougars
The Utes did most of their offensive damage in the fifth inning, where they exploded for five runs, then, thanks to solid pitching and tough defense, held on for a 9-7 non-league victory over the Cougars before a crowd of 925.
For BYU, the only good news was that the setback didn't count in the Mountain West Conference standings.
Still, Cougar coach Vance Law said a loss to the Utes stings. "It always does. We try to tell especially the new guys what (the rivalry) means. Maybe it will be something more to them when we face (Utah) in six weeks."
BYU was sailing along with a 3-0 lead after three innings when Law replaced starter Jared Miller with Nelson Castleberry, who surrendered five hits, three walks and six earned runs over 1 2/3 innings as the Utes scored two runs in the fourth and five in the fifth.
"It's kind of been that way," Law said. "We don't know what we're getting when we go to our bullpen. It's been very frustrating. Things kind of unraveled in the fourth and the fifth. Big innings will kill you."
In the fifth, the Utes scored all five runs with two outs, including a two-run double by Austin Jones, who finished 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBI.
But Ute relievers Geoff Wolfgramm and Robert Chimpky slammed the door shut in the final two frames as they held the Cougars hitless and scoreless.
"We got some breaks today," said Utah coach Bill Kinneberg. "We put the ball in play and the ball bounced our way. I don't want to take anything away from the breaks we got because we earned the breaks we got. It was a great Tuesday win."
BYU (14-18 overall) and Utah (13-14) won't meet again until May 15-17, when they begin a three-game conference series at Franklin Covey Field.
This week, the Utes visit San Diego State for a thre-game series starting Thursday while the Cougars open a three-game non-conference set at Washington, which also begins Thursday.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com
Recent comments
that would be lame if byu won. shruberry or what ever his name had...
uuutawh | April 15, 2008 at 4:17 p.m.
Dem Cewgs did knot lern how to spel good at da why.
The...
Spell Much | April 9, 2008 at 4:45 p.m.
Oh no, dem ewets got us in gymnastics and baseball. I guess I'...
Kirty | April 9, 2008 at 2:35 p.m.
