STILLWATER -- A strong pitching effort and late inning lead were not enough as BYU lost a nail-biter at No. 25 Oklahoma State, 5-4 in Stillwater, Okla.

The Cougars, now 2-3-1, again out hit a nationally ranked team yet lose in a dramatic fashion. The Cowboys (8-4) battled back in the eighth inning to score what would prove to be the winning run.

Freshman pitcher Blake Torgerson (0-1) pitched well in his first career start. After he gave up two first-inning runs, Torgerson settled in giving up only one hit in the next five innings. He retired 14 consecutive batters until the seventh inning.

Meanwhile, the Cougar bats came alive over the middle innings. In the fifth, BYU strung together three singles, the last one a Sean McNaughton RBI belt. The Cougars tied the game 2-2 in the sixth inning with a Jeff Hiestand solo home run. McNaughton struck again in the seventh inning, this time hitting a two-run homer to take a 4-2 lead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Cowboys countered with a Chris Gutierrez two-run homer. Oklahoma State re-took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the ninth, BYU got a leadoff single from Kory Knell. On the next play, he was tagged out at second base while trying to advance on a Ben Saylor fly out to deep to right field.

The two-game series concludes Wednesday in Stillwater. Game time is 4 p.m. (CST). Mitch Woolf is scheduled to make his first career start division one start for the Cougars.

Brigham Young Univ. at Oklahoma St. Univ.
Mar 01, 2005 at Stillwater, Oklahoma (Allie P. Reynolds)
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (2-3-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  4  1  2  3   0  0  0  1   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan cf........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   2
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  3  1  2  1   1  1  9  1   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
KNELL, Kory lf...........  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  4  1  1  0   0  1  4  0   1
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  4  1  2  0   0  2  5  2   0
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  3  0  0  0   0  3  3  1   0
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 BARRETT, Joshua p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  4  8  4   1 11 24  9   4
Oklahoma St. Univ. 5 (8-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Colbert, Justin 2b.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   1
Ryal, Rusty 3b...........  4  1  2  0   0  0  0  2   0
Parrish, Jeff dh.........  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Carr, Adam 1b............  4  1  2  2   0  0  9  0   0
Wright, Ty lf............  4  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   1
Hernandez, Mike rf.......  4  0  1  1   0  0  3  1   1
Simon, Keanon cf.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   2
Clarkson, Matt c.........  2  1  1  0   1  0  9  2   0
Gutierrez, Chris ss......  3  1  1  2   0  0  1  4   0
Wright, Brae p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  5  8  5   1  3 27 10   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 011 200 -  4  8  2
Oklahoma St. Univ... 200 000 21X -  5  8  0
-------------------------------------------
E - TAYLOR; CLOWARD. DP - OSU Cowboys 1. LOB - BYU Cougars 4; OSU Cowboys 5.
2B - Ryal; Carr. HR - McNAUGHTON(2); HIESTAND(1); Gutierrez(3). SB -
HIESTAND. Reached on CI - Parrish.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  7.2  8  5  4  1  3 31 33
BARRETT, Joshua.....  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
Oklahoma St. Univ.     IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Wright, Brae........  9.0  8  4  4  1 11 34 35
Win - Wright, B. (3-0).  Loss - TORGERSON (0-1).  Save - None.
CI - CLOWARD.
Umpires - HP: Norman
Start: 7:05 pm   Time: 1:58   Attendance: 307
Play-by-Play
Brigham Young Univ. at Oklahoma St. Univ. - Play-by-Play
Mar 01, 2005 at Stillwater, Oklahoma (Allie P. Reynolds)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 011 200 -  4  8  2
Oklahoma St. Univ... 200 000 21X -  5  8  0
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 22/cf CHAMBERS; 3/3b TAYLOR;
   16/1b HIESTAND; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 12/lf KNELL; 25/rf SAYLOR; 10/ss
   VILLEZCAS; 9/c CLOWARD; 32/p TORGERSON;
Oklahoma St. Univ. starters: 9/2b Colbert; 10/3b Ryal; 27/dh Parrish; 13/1b
   Carr; 33/lf Wright, T.; 24/rf Hernandez; 1/cf Simon; 36/c Clarkson; 3/ss
   Gutierrez; 6/p Wright, B.;
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 1
   McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. CHAMBERS flied out to cf. TAYLOR flied out
   to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 1
   Colbert grounded out to ss. Ryal singled to right field. Parrish reached
   on catcher's interference; Ryal advanced to second. Carr doubled to left
   field, 2 RBI; Parrish scored, unearned; Ryal scored. Wright, T. grounded
   out to 3b. Hernandez flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 2
   HIESTAND walked. NAKAYAMA struck out swinging; HIESTAND stole second.
   KNELL struck out swinging. SAYLOR popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
   errors, 1 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 2
   Simon grounded out to p. Clarkson walked. Gutierrez popped up to ss.
   Colbert flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 3
   VILLEZCAS struck out looking. CLOWARD struck out looking. McNAUGHTON
   grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 3
   Ryal doubled down the lf line. Parrish grounded out to 2b. Carr fouled
   out to c. Wright, T. flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 4
   CHAMBERS grounded out to ss. TAYLOR flied out to rf. HIESTAND singled to
   center field. NAKAYAMA flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 4
   Hernandez grounded out to 3b. Simon struck out, out at first c to 1b.
   Clarkson flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 5
   KNELL grounded out to 2b. SAYLOR singled to right field. VILLEZCAS
   singled down the lf line; SAYLOR advanced to second. CLOWARD struck out.
   McNAUGHTON singled to right field, RBI; VILLEZCAS advanced to third;
   SAYLOR scored. CHAMBERS struck out, out at first c to 1b. 1 run, 3 hits,
   0 errors, 2 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 5
   Gutierrez grounded out to p. Colbert struck out. Ryal popped up to ss. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 6
   TAYLOR grounded out to 3b. HIESTAND homered, RBI. NAKAYAMA grounded out
   to ss. KNELL grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 6
   Parrish flied out to rf. Carr grounded out to ss. Wright, T. flied out to
   rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 7
   SAYLOR struck out looking. VILLEZCAS singled to right field. CLOWARD
   struck out looking. McNAUGHTON homered to left field, 2 RBI; VILLEZCAS
   scored. CHAMBERS flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 7
   Hernandez grounded out to 1b unassisted. Simon popped up to ss. Clarkson
   singled to left center. Gutierrez homered down the lf line, 2 RBI;
   Clarkson scored. Colbert popped up to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
   LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 8
   TAYLOR struck out swinging. HIESTAND struck out swinging, out at first c
   to 1b. NAKAYAMA flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Oklahoma St. Univ. - inning 8
   Ryal reached on an error by 3b, advanced to second on the throw, out at
   second 1b to ss. Parrish struck out swinging. Carr singled to third base.
   Wright, T. singled to left field; Carr advanced to second. Hernandez
   singled to center field, advanced to second on the throw, RBI; Wright, T.
   advanced to third; Carr scored. BARRETT to p for TORGERSON. Simon flied
   out to rf. 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. - inning 9
   KNELL singled to left field. SAYLOR flied into double play rf to ss;
   KNELL out on the play. VILLEZCAS struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
   errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- After a 1-1-1 series split against San Jose State, BYU heads to Oklahoma to play five games in as many days.

The Cougars (2-2-1) will first travel to Stillwater, Okla., for a two-game stint with No. 27 Oklahoma State (7-4) Tuesday and Wednesday before moving on to Tulsa for a three-game series against Oral Roberts (5-3). Game time for the Tuesday game will be 7 p.m. (CST). Wednesday will be a 4 p.m. start. Against Oral Roberts, game times for the games Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be 3 p.m., 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. (CST), respectively.

Freshman Blake Torgerson (0-0, 10.80 ERA) and junior college transfer Mitch Woolf (0-0, 0.00) will make their first career division one starts against Oklahoma State. BYU will use the same rotation as it has the past two weekends of Dave Horlacher (1-0, 2.70), Patrick Wells (1-1, 5.23) and Brandon Christiansen (0-0, 2.70) in the respective Oral Roberts' games Thursday through Saturday.

The Cougars are coming off a series in which they won convincingly once, lost on a 10th-inning error and tied so they could catch a plane. BYU head coach Vance Law is pleased with the way his team is playing.

"We had a chance to win all three of those games [against San Jose State]," Law said.

Law believes the Oklahoma trip will be a good early season test for the Cougars' pitching staff.

"It will be a good challenge," Law said about the Oklahoma trip. "I believe that we have more depth in our pitching staff this year than in the past."

Lefty Lance Beus and team co-captain pitcher Michel Bergeron, who are both recovering from injuries, will make the trip with the team to add a few extra arms to the bullpen. Beus, a senior from Meridian, Idaho, played fall baseball for Oklahoma State before transferring to BYU for the winter semester of 2004.

Upon returning from Oklahoma, the Cougars will play host to Utah Valley State College on Tuesday, March 8 at 3 p.m., in their first home game of the season.

The Oklahoma State games and the first two Oral Roberts games will have a live audio feed on the Internet. 

Also, Oklahoma State offers a paid Internet video feed of the games. The cost is $9.95.

A multi-page release can be found by downloading the PDF file at the top of this story, which gives a detailed analysis of the Cougars.