May 15, 2007
PROVO, Utah - Utah Valley took an early 2-0 lead at BYU on Tuesday but the Cougars scored the final six runs to win 6-2, ending the Wolverines' three game winning streak.
With the win BYU (32-18) earned a 3-0 sweep of the season series and dropped UV to 22-28 on the year.
Tyler Garretson and Jace Brinkerhoff had two hits each for the Wolverines while Kasey Ko had two his and three runs batted in to lead BYU.
The Wolverines struck first with two runs in the top of the third on an RBI single from Eli Slesk and an RBI double to right from Derrick Thomas for his 51st run batted in of the year.
After UV starter Dan Christensen retired the first nine batters of the game, Stephen Wells singled through the middle to lead off the fourth inning and moved over to second when Dan Vargas sacrificed him over and reached on a Christensen error.
After Apana Nakayama grounded out to first, advancing Wells and Vargas, Ko singled on a soft liner to right-center to drive in Wells and cut the lead in half. Steve Parker then tied the game at two with a single to right, scoring Vargas.
BYU took the lead an inning later when Austin Hall doubled off the wall in left-center to score Leon Johnson. The Cougars added a solo run in the sixth on a two-out home run by freshman Parker, his sixth of the year.
The Wolverines had a chance in the seventh when Keiki Albino and Scott Croshaw hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning but Cougar reliever Michael Ward struck out Garretson and got Slesk to hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Utah Valley out-hit BYU but stranded seven runners on the night while struggling to come up with any clutch hits after the third inning.
Ko capped the night with a two-run single to left in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, giving Ko three RBI on the night.
Christensen (4-6) last 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and suffered the loss while Blaine Howell (2-2) struck out eight and allowed two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings to earn the win.
Utah Valley has a quick turnaround with a game tomorrow at Arizona State, who is ranked as high as 6th nationally (NCBWA). First pitch is scheduled for 7pm MT and the game can be heard live at www.WolverineGreen.com.
