May 18, 2005
SAN DIEGO - Brandon Taylor's three-run homer in the top of the ninth erased a two-run deficit as Brigham Young came from behind to defeat San Diego State, 6-4, Wednesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The victory improved the Cougars to 36-16-1 overall and 20-8 in the Mountain West Conference as the win insured that they will finish no lower than second in the league standings.
SDSU, meanwhile, dropped to 22-32 overall (16-12 MWC). Although the Aztecs have clinched at least a tie for third place, they could be caught by New Mexico and be edged for the number-three seed at next week's conference tournament.
San Diego State wasted an excellent pitching performance from starter Alex Hinshaw, who tossed seven innings of shutout ball. He was removed from the game at the start of the eighth inning with a 3-0 lead, and three SDSU relievers were unable to hold on for the win.
The Aztecs opened the contest with a pair of runs in the first, courtesy of three hits and a pair of Cougar errors. Brock Ungricht had an RBI double, and the second run crossed the plate on a misplayed ground ball to third.
Another BYU miscue in the third allowed Jordan Swaydan to reach base, and he scored on a two-out single by James Guerrero.
For his part, Hinshaw allowed five hits and struck out five over the first five innings. He did not allow a Cougar runner to advance past second base.
Freshman right-hander Andres Esquibel came on to start the top of the eighth and he gave up a run on two hits and a walk before being relieved by Dan Bruckart, who gave up a single to Ryan Chambers to score the second run of the inning and make it a 3-2 game.
The Aztecs added what appeared to be an insurance run in their half of the eighth, as Quintin Berry's two-out single scored Jordan Swaydan, who had tripled with one out. It was Berry's second hit of the night as he and teammate Jake McLintock (two) were the lone Aztecs with more than one.
In the ninth, a one-out double by Apana Nakayama and a walk to Jake Molina saw Bruckart removed from the contest in favor of junior Will Miller. Miller's first pitch to Brandon Taylor was sent over the wall in center field to give the visitors their first lead of the night at 5-4. One out later, Miller was again tagged for a home run, this one a solo shot to left by Cory Knell.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Aztec put two men on, but Joseph Scaperotta's fly to deep center was grabbed at the wall by Cougar outfielder Adrian Molina.
BYU reliever Mathew Jensen, who had come on to start the sixth inning, allowed four hits and struck out four as he picked up the win to improve to 6-1. SDSU's Miler took the loss to fall to 1-4 on the season.
The Cougars and Aztecs continue their three-game series on Thursday (May 19), with game time set for 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Brigham Young 6, San Diego State 4BYU 000 000 024 - 6 11 4SDS 201 000 010 - 4 8 0Horlacher, Jensen and Cloward, Nelson (8)Hinshaw, Esquibel (8), Bruckart (8), Miller (9) and SwaydanW - Jensen (6-1)L - Miller (1-4)Sv - NoneHR - BYU: Taylor (20), Knell (6)Time - 3:20Att. - 783