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BYU Advances To Championship Game Of MWC Baseball Tournament Cougars post 10-4 win over UNLV on Friday night. May 26, 2006 LAS VEGAS - The second-seeded BYU Cougars (33-27) defeated the fourth-seeded UNLV Rebels (29-30) Friday evening 10-4 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament elimination bracket game. With the victory the Cougars advance to Saturday's 3 p.m. (PST) championship game with the top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs. BYU will need to win that game to force a 7 p.m. championship game against TCU. The champion will earn the MWC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. UNLV jumped out to a short-lived one-run lead in the top of the first on a run-scoring single by Chris Bonnell. C.J. Lang scored from second base on the play after reaching on a single and moving up a base with help from an errant pickoff throw. The 1-0 deficit didn't last long for BYU, as the Cougars reeled off eight unanswered runs through three innings of play to take an 8-1 lead. Over the first three innings BYU scattered 11 hits and finished with 19 in the game. The Cougars used a three-run first inning to take control of the ball game. Marcos Villezcas notched an RBI-single to right to score Seth Johnson from second. Johnson began the game with a single of his own. Villezcas wound up scoring the go-ahead run on a two-run home run by Jeff Hiestand to deep center. Hiestand's homer was the 13th for the first baseman on the year. UNLV picked up its second run of the game in the fourth on Zach Borba second home run of the season, but BYU got the run back with help from a sacrifice fly by Kasey Ko that scored Ben Saylor. The Cougars picked up its 10th run in the sixth on Hiestand's fourth hit of the game. Hiestand was looking for a triple to round out the cycle, but nailed his second single to center to score Saylor from second. He later got that triple in the eighth with a shot that carried to left center.
Hiestand wound up perfect at the plate with a 5-for-5 performance. He plated three RBI and scored two runs, as well. The Rebels made a late charge in the seventh by scoring two runs on a shot clearing the fence in left center by Xavier Scruggs. Albert Zerega had reached on a single prior to Scruggs fifth home run of the season. Patrick Wells (7-6) went the distance on the mound for BYU in picking up the complete game win. Wells allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He struck out two, while walking three. Chris Saddoris (6-8) suffered the loss in 2.0 innings of work. Saddoris was touched for six runs on seven hits. The Rebels used a total of four pitchers in the contest.
Game 11 Notes: • BYU advances to its second straight (fourth overall) MWC Tournament championship game. The Cougars are 2-1 all-time in MWC Tournament championship contests. • BYU is averaging 8.0 runs per game in this season's tournament. The Cougars have averaged at least five runs per game in five of six MWC Tournaments. The Cougars' highest scoring average came in the 2002 tournament, where they averaged 10 runs per game, while their lowest per game average came in 2004 (3.5 runs per game). • The Cougars fell behind UNLV 1-0 in the top of the first inning before scoring three runs in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead on the way to the victory. BYU has trailed in 13 of its last 14 games, coming back to win nine of those contests. • TCU defeated BYU, 13-6, on Thursday. When BYU loses to a team in MWC Tournament play, they are 2-1 in rematches vs. those teams in the same tournament. In 2002, the Cougars lost to San Diego State, 11-10, then defeated the Aztecs two straight times the next day (6-4 and 5-3) on the way to the championship. • BYU's Jeff Hiestand became the first player in MWC Tournament history to hit for the cycle tonight, going 5-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored tonight vs. the Rebels. • Each Cougar that came to the plate recorded at least one hit. • Patrick Wells collected his first complete game victory, giving up four runs on seven hits, while striking out two batters. • With its loss to BYU tonight, UNLV ends its season at 29-30, marking the first losing season for the Rebels since 2001. • Zach Borba led UNLV going 2-for-4 from the plate with a home run. |
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