May 12, 2001
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Third-seeded San Diego State's remarkable late season run fell just short as top-seeded Brigham Young claimed a 4-3 victory in the 2001 Mountain West Conference championship on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Cougars earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament while the Aztecs will learn their fate tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. PDT when the tournament field is announced.
The Aztecs, which entered the contest having won eight of nine and 10 of their last 12, loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, but center fielder Janna Kovensky's lined shot was snared by first baseman Mindy Hanson, who easily stepped on first base to complete the double play and allow Brigham Young to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
Brigham Young took advantage of Aztec errors in each of the first two innings to score two unearned runs. In the first, Kari Pringle lifted a two-out single to right field that scored Oli Keohohou and an error in right field allowed Liz Smith to score from second giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.
The Aztecs got one run back in the bottom of the first. Center fielder Joann Figueroa singled to open the frame, advanced to second base on an illegal pitch and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Left fielder Kellie Nordhagen singled home Figueroa as San Diego State cut the deficit to 2-1. Nordhagen, a junior from Valencia, Calif., was 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs in the contest.
The Cougars added to their lead in the second in unconventional fashion. Hanson reached on a passed ball on strike three. Following a sacrifice, BYU scored its second unearned run in as many innings when Keohohou singled to right, where the ball was bobbled, allowing Hanson to score from second base.
Brigham Young stretched the lead to 4-1 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Hanson scoring second baseman Kari Pringle.
The Aztecs battled back in the fourth inning, scoring twice. With two outs and no one on, the Aztecs got a pinch hit by right fielder Tiffany Goudy. Nordhagen followed with a single, that scored Goudy following an error on the throw from the outfield. Kovensky followed with an RBI single to center field and the Aztecs cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Aztecs had opportunities to tie the game in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the fifth, first baseman Summer Ehrsam, who was 2-for-3 on the day, leadoff the frame with a base hit. But the Cougars worked out of a jam when right fielder Tiffany Goudy bunted into a 5-3 double play.
The next inning, the Aztecs loaded the bases with only one out, but a chopper to short forced the runner at home and a strike out ended the threat.
In the seventh, San Diego State had runners on second and third with one out when Kovensky lined into a double play to end the Aztecs final threat of the day. Cougar pitcher Maryon DeWitt-Wallentine pitched out of trouble over the last three innings to earn her first save of the season.
The loss went to San Diego State senior right-hander Sandra Durazo. The Aztecs all-time leader in every pitching category scattered six hits and allowed two earned runs on the afternoon in falling to 27-13 on the season.
Brigham Young improved to 35-24 while San Diego State fell to 38-23. The 38 victories are a single-season school record for the Aztecs.
(1) Brigham Young 4, (4) San Diego State 3
Brigham Young 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 6 1San Diego State 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 8 2Sandra Durazo and Kristina Kirk, Brooke Johnson. Meghan Pricer, Maryon DeWitt-Wallentine (5th) and Angie Christiansen. W - Pricer (14-6). LP Durazo (27-13). S DeWitt-Wallentine (1).. LOB San Diego State 7, Brigham Young 6. DP Brigham Young 2, San Diego State 1. 2B none. 3B none. HR none. SB none. CS none. SH BYU: Boydston, Pringle, Erickson. SDSU: Figueroa, Goudy, Kovensky, Aguinaga. SF BYU: Hanson. T 2:35. A TBA.