April 26, 2001
PROVO, Utah - A first-inning grand slam from San Diego State third baseman Pilar Amaya was not enough to hold off Brigham Young University at BYU's Larry H. Miller Field, as the Cougars picked up a 15-9 win over the Aztecs in Provo, Utah on Thursday.
BYU moved into a tie for first place with SDSU in the Mountain West Conference standings, as both squads now sit at 15-7 in conference play. The Cougars improved to 27-17 overall on the year, while the Aztecs dropped to 27-18.
BYU right-hander and All-American candidate Nate Fernley upped his record to 12-2 on the year despite giving up eight runs (all unearned) in eight innings of work. His record makes him the winningest pitcher in the nation. Reliever John Skinner suffered the loss for SDSU, dropping to 3-3 after allowing eight runs (seven earned) in 4 1/3 innings.
In a game that was hyped as a matchup of the top two pitchers in the Mountain West Conference, with Fernley going up against the red-hot Marcos Mendoza, it was the two teams' respective offenses who put on a show.
SDSU set the tempo early, loading the bases in the first inning with two out. Pilar Amaya stepped up and rocked a 1-0 pitch from Fernley well over the 345 sign in right field to give the Aztecs an early 4-0 lead. The homer was Amaya's fourth of the year and his first grand slam.
However, the Cougars responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the first to tie things up. Despite the fact that BYU usually relies on the long ball, it was a flurry of singles that guided the Cougars through the first inning and the game in general, as BYU banged out 19 hits (16 of which were singles) without any home runs.
The Cougars forced SDSU head coach Jim Dietz to pull Mendoza after he allowed two more runs and loaded the bases in the second inning. Mendoza's final line -- six runs (all earned) on eight hits in 1 2/3 innings of work. Skinner came out of the pen to get BYU catcher Lars Birkeland to end the inning by striking out.
Down 6-4 in the top of the third, the Aztecs rallied to take a 7-6 lead after scoring three times in the inning on a run-scoring single from designated hitter Darrell Bowles, an RBI double from Amaya and an RBI single from first baseman Cody Haven.
BYU would answer, though, scoring two runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, then adding another three in the eighth to put the game away.
Cougar designated hitter Michael Wirrick led the charge for BYU, going 4-for-4 with four RBI. Cougar right fielder Matt Carson went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. SDSU and BYU hook up again tomorrow at 6 p.m. Mountain Time.