May 14, 2010
PROVO, Utah - A grand slam by Brigham Young center fielder Stephen Wells capped off a seven-run fourth inning as the Cougars defeated San Diego State, 13-5, Friday night at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo, Utah. The BYU rally broke open a one-run contest and allowed the Cougars to go on to improve their season record to 22-27 overall and 9-11 in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs, meanwhile, slid back to the .500 mark both overall (25-25) and in league play (10-10).
SDSU totaled just eight hits on the night with three of their five runs being unearned as a result of errors. Brigham Young had five miscues over the course of the game, four of which aided the Aztecs in scoring.
San Diego State grabbed the early lead as a single by Mitch Blackburn in the opening frame was followed by an errant pickoff throw by Cougar starter Chris Capper that allowed him to move all the way to third base. He then scored on an RBI grounder to shortstop by Brandon Meredith.
The Aztecs' lead was short-lived, however, as the home side scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to go up 2-1, a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way. Those two runs were the lone markers allowed by SDSU freshman starting pitcher Bryan Crabb, but in the end were enough to tag him with the loss as he fell to4-5.
Brigham Young's seven-run outburst in the fourth came off SDSU reliever Stephen Moranda. In addition to Wells' grand slam in the frame, Moranda also conceded a three-run homer to Sean McNaughton to account for the other three runs. Three walks and a pair of singles also contributed to the Cougar rally.
Three more BYU runs in the fifth made it a 12-1 game and were more than enough to secure the victory for Clapper, who went six innings to claim the win and improve to 3-3. Reliever David Parry recorded a save as he pitched the final three innings.
SDSU's two runs in the sixth were both unearned and were scored on sacrifice flies by Blair Moore and Matt Parker. The Aztecs scored once in both the seventh and eighth on an RBI single by Cory Vaughn and an RBI fielder's choice ground out by Brandon Decker that followed a double by Chris Wilson and a BYU throwing error.
Wilson's double was the Aztecs' lone extra-base hit in the game as Blackburn, Meredith and Moore had two singles apiece.
San Diego State and Brigham Young conclude their weekend series on Saturday, May 15, with a single game slated for a 1:00 p.m. (MT) start in Provo.