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BYU Claws Past Utah, 9-8, At MWC Baseball Tournament BYU's Daniel Vargas hits a two-out RBI single in bottom of ninth to secure Cougars' victory.
May 24, 2006 LAS VEGAS - BYU's Daniel Vargas hit a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to complete an amazing rally and give the second-seeded Cougars a 9-8 win over sixth-seeded Utah on Wednesday afternoon at the 2006 Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament from Earl E. Wilson Stadium. After trailing 7-0 after five innings, BYU scored nine runs over the last four, including five in the ninth inning to claim the win and move into the third round, where the Cougars will meet the winner of Wednesday's TCU-New Mexico game on Thursday afternoon at 4 pm. The Utes dropped to the elimination bracket, where they will play the loser of the TCU-New Mexico game on Thursday at 12:30 pm.
Utah struck for three runs in the first inning, as Ryan Khoury was hit by a pitch, and Bret Baldwin doubled before Jay Brossman brought them all home with a three-run home run. The Utes posted another three-run inning in the fourth inning. Joe Mozeleski and Adam Frank both singled in the inning, and were plated by Khoury's two-run triple. Khoury would score on Baldwin's RBI double for a 6-0 Utah edge.
Frank added a RBI single in the fifth to push Utah up 7-0, before the Cougars got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer from Marcos Villezcas. BYU scored once in the seventh, and twice in the eighth after recording four straight hits to begin the inning to make the score 7-4. Utah scored its final run of the game in the top of the ninth, scoring from third on a wild pitch on an attempted intentional walk for an 8-4 edge.
BYU began its rally in the ninth inning after Blake Crosby doubled to lead off. He was replaced by Vargas as a pinch runner, and he scored after two consecutive singles. That was followed by an Austin Carter RBI single, a sac fly from Villezcas, and a Ben Saylor RBI single that plated Carter and knotted the score at 8-8. Brian Lane then came in for relief for Utah, and after intentionally walking two batters, Vargas sent a full-count pitch through the left side to score Saylor for the winning run.
Kasey Ko was 3-for-4 to pace the Cougars at the plate, while Jeff Hiestand was 2-for-4 with one run and two RBI. Carter and Saylor also finished with two hits each. John Barrett earned the win for the Cougars to move to 4-0.
Erich Kemp and Frank both finished 3-for-5 from the plate for Utah, while Brossman was 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Khoury was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Brad Devore was credited with the loss, as he came in relief in the bottom of the eighth and gave up seven runs on nine hits over the last two innings.
Game 5 Notes:
· The Cougars scored all nine of their runs in the final four innings, saving the best for last as they plated five runs in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the victory.
· BYU's Kent Walton and Ben Saylor both extended their hitting streaks today. Walton now sports a 10-game hitting streak, while Saylor now has a current hitting streak of nine games.
· BYU's Jordan Muir allowed a season-high seven earned runs today. His previous season-high prior to today's game was five.
· MWC Player of the Year Ryan Khoury went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored today vs. the Cougars. Khoury is now hitting .571 (4-for-7), with three RBI and four runs scored through his first two games of this year's tournament. Khoury now has 198 runs scored in his career, which is two behind New Mexico's Matt Young (2002-04) for third on the MWC Career Records list.
· Utah pitcher Lucas Trinnaman allowed eight earned runs for an ERA of 5.84 in 12.1 innings pitched vs. BYU this season, but allowed just two earned runs in 7.0 innings pitched, while striking out seven and allowing only one walk to earn the win today.
· In his 1.1 innings on the mound, Utah reliever Brad DeVore gave up season-highs in runs (six) and hits (nine). |
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