Campus briefs

BYU

BASEBALL: The battle for first place in the Mountain West Conference continued on Friday as poor weather conditions in Provo forced a suspension of BYU's game against New Mexico.

The Cougars lead 11-9 through the seven complete innings.

Play was suspended at 10:03 p.m. with the two teams having played for 2 hours and 54 minutes at that point. There was a mandatory 30-minute delay because of rain. The game will be picked up at 11 a.m. MDT today.

"This game is certainly not over," said BYU head coach Vance Law. "We're going to come back and fight again Saturday."

Blake Torgerson pitched the first six innings for BYU, with Nathan Bunch relieving him, while the Lobos rotated five pitchers.

New Mexico was first to score after a home run to right field in the second inning. Two extra-base hits for a pair of runs gave the Lobos a 3-0 lead. BYU's Michael Bowen stepped to the plate and got hit by a pitch. Chad Nacapoy's fielder's choice advanced Bowen to third, putting Cougar runners on the corners. With two outs, a line drive to centerfield from Andrew Law brought Bowen in for BYU's first run.

The Cougars tied it up three-all after Stetson Banks doubled to left field, sending Nacapoy and Law home. BYU pulled ahead 5-3 after hits from Bryce Ayoso and Kent Walton. The big hits kept coming for the Cougars as Steve Parker tripled to left, allowing Walton to score, while Bowen knocked in Parker. The Cougars plated seven runs on eight hits in the second inning to go up 7-3.

"After New Mexico scored those first three runs, it was really important for us to answer," said Law. "To come back with seven runs, all with two outs, was really big."

The Lobos narrowed the deficit to 7-5 with two runs in the third inning.

In the fourth, BYU's Walton made it 3-for-3 on the night with a single to right field, then stole second before the pitcher toed the rubber. With runners on second and third, Parker stepped to the plate. The Cougars scored two more runs on Parker's base hit up the middle, giving BYU a 9-5 advantage.

After stealing second in the bottom of the fifth off a pitch in the dirt, Banks ran home on Ayoso's single to right field, giving BYU a 10-5 lead.

New Mexico's Mike Brownstein's triple to left-center field and another single to left field scored two runs for the Lobos.