March 11, 2008
PROVO, Utah - Utah Valley scored two in the ninth but ultimately the tying run was stranded 90 feet away as BYU held on for a 5-4 win on Tuesday in front of 1,883 fans in the Cougars' season opener at Larry H. Miller Field.
The Wolverines (3-10-1) trailed 5-2 entering the ninth when Josh Hinckley just missed a home run with a pinch-hit, one-out double off the wall in center to start the rally.
After Dick Bargewell pinch ran for Hinckley, Ryan Jones singled to right moving Bargewell to third. Jace Brinkerhoff then hit a hard grounder up the middle to plate Bargewell and put runners at first and second with one out.
Kai Hatch followed with a single on a high chopper over the outstretched glove of Dan Vargas a short to load the bases, bringing Adam Openshaw to the plate.
Openshaw's at bat ended with an RBI groundout to second that scored Jones, but the situation was overshadowed by a controversial call after he was declared to have swung on a pitch that hit him in the forearm and would have put the tying run at third with one out.
After a pitching change, Kevin Arendse walked to load the bases again before Justin Shutt struck out Scott Croshaw to end the game and earn his second save of the season.
Marcus Moore (1-3) went the distance for the Wolverines, allowing five runs (four earned) on 11 hits, all of which were singles by the BYU (7-7) batters. Moore struck out seven on the night. Nelson Castleberry (1-2) earned the win after giving up two runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
The Cougars scored twice in the first, thanks in part to two UV errors and added single runs in the second and third to take a 4-0 lead.
Jake Rickenbach drove in the first run for Utah Valley on an RBI groundout to score Arendse in the fourth and Kai Hatch's high-bouncing grounder over third base with two outs in the fifth scored Brinkerhoff to cut the BYU lead to 4-2.
That score held up until the bottom of the eighth when Jonathan Cluff singled off the glove of a diving Jones at second base and Bryce Ayoso scored from second to give the Cougars the three-run cushion heading into the ninth.
The BYU win evens the season series at one win apiece after Dan Christensen complete game last week in Sacramento at the River City Classic. The Wolverines and Cougars will meet one more time this season when BYU comes to Orem on May 5th in Brent Brown Ballpark in head coach Steve Gardner's final home game after 18 seasons at Utah Valley.
The Wolverines will be off until Monday when they travel to Spokane, Washington for a three-game series at Gonzaga. From there they'll head to Seattle for three games at Pac-10 Washington and a single game against Portland.
