PROVO -- Brandon Taylor struck again leading BYU to a 18-5 win and series sweep over the Air Force Academy Saturday night at Larry H. Miller Field.

Taylor, who homered twice Friday night, provided a two-dinger encore for the 1,759 fans that stayed up to watch the game. He finished 3-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI and moved into the team lead with 11 round-trippers on the season. The win improves the Cougars' record to 20-7-1 (8-1, Mountain West Conference) while the Falcons fall to 5-20 (0-6, MWC). The win keeps BYU at the top of the MWC.

The Cougars jumped to an early lead, scoring in the first inning when Sean McNaughton led off the game with a triple. He scored on a Marcos Villezcas sacrifice fly to give BYU a 1-0 first-inning lead. McNaughton ended up tying a BYU and MWC record by getting two triples in the game. His second three-bagger came with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth.

McNaughton said that getting bumped out of the MWC tournament by AFA last year only helped to motivate the Cougars to the sweep.

"[Pitching] Coach Applegate read us the article of the final game against Air Force last year and it got us kind of pumped," he said.

The Cougars came up big in the fifth, dropping seven runs on the board to extend their lead to 15-3. Six of those seven runs came on McNaugton's second triple and Taylor's second home run.

Marcos Villezcas added four RBI for BYU and true freshman Brandon Relf--who replaced Villezcas in the fifth--hit his first collegiate home run. Ryan Chambers added a two-run shot of his own.

The Cougars will try to carry their momentum on the road next week as they will visit Utah Valley State Monday night at 7 p.m. before returning to conference play for a three-game weekend series at UNLV. James Platt (1-1, 3.98 ERA) will make his first start of the year for the Cougars against UVSC. BYU led UNLV by a half game after the Cougars' victory Saturday night.

Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 02, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Air Force Academy 5 (5-20,0-6 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JEFFERS, Troy lf.........  5  0  0  1   0  2  3  1   2
LAMSON, Reid cf..........  5  1  2  0   0  0  4  0   0
GHIGNA, Matt rf..........  3  1  0  0   2  0  2  0   0
BOLT, Karl 1b............  5  0  1  1   0  0  5  0   0
TITTLE, Brent dh.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
SALAZAR, Geno 2b/ss......  4  1  1  0   0  1  3  4   2
PARAMORE, Price 3b.......  4  0  1  1   0  0  1  1   0
SMITH, Dustin ss/2b......  3  1  1  1   1  0  0  2   0
POLSTON, Jon c...........  3  1  1  0   0  1  5  2   3
 ADAMS, Billy c..........  1  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
MEYERS, John p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 VIGNOLA, Paul p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GOSS, Andrew p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ROSENER, Sam p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 37  5  9  4   3  4 24 11   8
Brigham Young Univ. 18 (20-7-1,8-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean 2b......  4  4  3  3   0  0  2  2   0
 LAW, Andrew 2b..........  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  3  2  2  4   0  1  0  4   0
 RELF, Brandon ss........  2  1  2  1   0  0  0  1   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  4  2  2  1   2  0  0  0   1
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  3  1  1  2   0  0  7  0   0
 NELSON, Casey 1b........  1  0  0  0   0  1  4  0   0
TAYLOR, Brandon 3b.......  4  2  3  5   0  1  0  1   0
 SLOAN, Kevin 3b.........  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
CHAMBERS, Ryan lf........  4  1  2  2   1  1  2  0   0
KNELL, Kory rf...........  4  1  2  0   0  1  4  0   3
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  3  1  0  0   1  0  3  0   2
CLOWARD, Casey c.........  3  2  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
 AYOSO, Bryce c..........  2  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0
TORGERSON, Blake p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WOOLF, Mitch p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 JENSEN, Matthew p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 40 18 19 18   4  7 27  9   6
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 031 100 -  5  9  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 130 471 20X - 18 19  1
-------------------------------------------
E - JEFFERS; PARAMORE; RELF. DP - AFA Falcons 1. LOB - AFA Falcons 8; BYU
Cougars 6. 2B - SALAZAR; McNAUGHTON; RELF; NAKAYAMA; CHAMBERS. 3B -
McNAUGHTON 2. HR - RELF(1); TAYLOR 2(11); CHAMBERS(7). HBP - KNELL; MOLINA.
SF - VILLEZCAS; HIESTAND. SB - LAMSON; PARAMORE.
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MEYERS, John........  2.0  5  4  4  3  1  9 13
VIGNOLA, Paul.......  2.0  5  4  4  0  1 10 11
GOSS, Andrew........  0.1  3  7  6  1  1  5  8
ROSENER, Sam........  3.2  6  3  3  0  4 16 16
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TORGERSON, Blake....  5.0  5  3  3  0  1 20 20
WOOLF, Mitch........  2.0  3  2  2  3  2 10 13
JENSEN, Matthew.....  2.0  1  0  0  0  1  7  7
Win - TORGERSON (4-1).  Loss - MEYERS (0-2).  Save - None.
WP - TORGERSON; WOOLF 2. HBP - by GOSS (KNELL); by GOSS (MOLINA). BK -
TORGERSON. PB - POLSTON.
Umpires - HP: Blyden Loutensock  1B: Mik Hendrickson  3B: Jason Rogers
Start: 8:04 pm   Time: 3:24   Attendance: 1759
Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Apr 02, 2005 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 000 031 100 -  5  9  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 130 471 20X - 18 19  1
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy starters: 12/lf JEFFERS; 1/cf LAMSON; 19/rf GHIGNA; 13/1b BOLT;
3/dh TITTLE; 2/2b SALAZAR; 10/3b PARAMORE; 15/ss SMITH; 14/c POLSTON; 4/p MEYERS;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 15/2b McNAUGHTON; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
16/1b HIESTAND; 3/3b TAYLOR; 22/lf CHAMBERS; 12/rf KNELL; 1/cf MOLINA; 9/c CLOWARD;
32/p TORGERSON;
Air Force Academy 1st - JEFFERS grounded out to 3b. LAMSON flied out to lf.
GHIGNA grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - McNAUGHTON tripled down the rf line. VILLEZCAS
flied out to rf, SF, RBI; McNAUGHTON scored. NAKAYAMA walked. HIESTAND flied out to
lf. TAYLOR singled to left field, advanced to second on a fielding error by lf;
NAKAYAMA advanced to third. SALAZAR to ss. SMITH to 2b. CHAMBERS walked. KNELL
struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - BOLT flied out to cf. TITTLE grounded out to ss.
SALAZAR grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - MOLINA walked. CLOWARD singled to right field,
advanced to second on the throw; MOLINA advanced to third. McNAUGHTON reached on a
fielder's choice, advanced to second; CLOWARD advanced to third; MOLINA out at home
3b to c to ss to p to ss. VILLEZCAS singled to right field, 2 RBI; McNAUGHTON
scored; CLOWARD scored. NAKAYAMA doubled, out at third lf to ss to 3b, RBI;
VILLEZCAS scored. HIESTAND flied out to lf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - PARAMORE singled to right field. SMITH flied out to
rf. POLSTON flied out to rf. PARAMORE stole second. JEFFERS struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - VIGNOLA to p for MEYERS. TAYLOR struck out
swinging. CHAMBERS doubled to left center. KNELL flied out to cf. CHAMBERS advanced
to third on a passed ball. MOLINA flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - LAMSON singled to right field. LAMSON stole second.
GHIGNA flied out to cf. BOLT popped up to 2b. TITTLE popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - CLOWARD flied out to cf. McNAUGHTON doubled to left
field. VILLEZCAS singled to right field, RBI; McNAUGHTON scored. NAKAYAMA singled to
right field; VILLEZCAS advanced to third. HIESTAND flied out to rf, SF, RBI;
VILLEZCAS scored. TAYLOR homered to left field, 2 RBI; NAKAYAMA scored. CHAMBERS
grounded out to ss. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - SALAZAR doubled down the rf line. PARAMORE grounded
out to 2b; SALAZAR advanced to third. SMITH singled to center field, RBI; SALAZAR
scored. POLSTON singled to center field; SMITH advanced to second. POLSTON advanced
to second on a wild pitch; SMITH advanced to third. POLSTON advanced to third; SMITH
scored on a balk. JEFFERS grounded out to ss, RBI; POLSTON scored. LAMSON grounded
out to ss. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - GOSS to p for VIGNOLA. KNELL hit by pitch. MOLINA
hit by pitch; KNELL advanced to second. CLOWARD reached on a fielding error by 3b;
MOLINA advanced to second; KNELL advanced to third. McNAUGHTON tripled to center
field, 3 RBI; CLOWARD scored, unearned; MOLINA scored; KNELL scored. VILLEZCAS
struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. NAKAYAMA walked. HIESTAND singled to
center field, RBI; NAKAYAMA advanced to second; McNAUGHTON scored. TAYLOR homered to
right field, 3 RBI; HIESTAND scored; NAKAYAMA scored. ROSENER to p for GOSS.
CHAMBERS struck out looking. KNELL singled through the left side. MOLINA flied out
to cf. 7 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - LAW to 2b for McNAUGHTON. RELF to ss for VILLEZCAS.
NELSON to 1b for HIESTAND. SLOAN to 3b for TAYLOR. AYOSO to c for CLOWARD. WOOLF to
p for TORGERSON. GHIGNA walked. BOLT popped up to 2b. TITTLE singled up the middle;
GHIGNA advanced to second. SALAZAR reached on a fielding error by ss; TITTLE
advanced to second; GHIGNA advanced to third. PARAMORE grounded out to 1b
unassisted, RBI; SALAZAR advanced to second; TITTLE advanced to third; GHIGNA
scored. SMITH walked. POLSTON struck out swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 3
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - AYOSO struck out swinging. LAW struck out looking.
RELF homered to left center, RBI. NAKAYAMA flied out to cf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - JEFFERS flied out to lf. LAMSON singled to shortstop.
LAMSON advanced to second on a wild pitch. GHIGNA walked; LAMSON advanced to third
on a wild pitch. BOLT singled up the middle, RBI; GHIGNA advanced to second; LAMSON
scored. TITTLE flied out to cf. SALAZAR struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - ADAMS to c for POLSTON. NELSON struck out swinging.
SLOAN singled to third base. CHAMBERS homered to right field, 2 RBI; SLOAN scored.
KNELL singled to center field. MOLINA grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b;
KNELL out on the play. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - JENSEN to p for WOOLF. PARAMORE grounded out to 1b
unassisted. SMITH flied out to rf. ADAMS singled to shortstop. JEFFERS struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - AYOSO popped up to ss. LAW grounded out to 2b. RELF
doubled to right field. NAKAYAMA fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Air Force Academy 9th - LAMSON grounded out to 3b. GHIGNA grounded out to ss.
BOLT flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Baseball games Monday and Tuesday at Oregon State will be a showdown for BYU as it travels to Corvallis, Ore.

The Cougars, 17-5-1 overall and tied for first place with UNLV at 5-1 in the Mountain West Conference, have a pair of games against Oregon State, 19-4.

This is the second-best start for BYU in school history. BYU was 18-5 in 1980, 17-6 in 1983 (the year we were ranked No. 1 going into the NCAA Regionals), 15-6 in 1969, 15-6-2 in 1986 and 16-7 in 1972.

BYU has won its last six games in a row, 15 of its past 17 games, and had an eight-game win streak earlier in the season. OSU has won 10 of its last 12 games.

"This will give us a good indicator where we stand," said BYU Coach Vance Law, whose team has victories over nationally ranked UC Irvine, Oklahoma State and Oral Roberts thus far.

OSU is the highest-ranked team BYU has played to date. The Beavers are No. 14 in the NCBWA Poll, No. 18 in Baseball America, No. 23 in Sports Weekly/ESPN and No. 28 in Collegiate Baseball. BYU has not received votes in any of these national polls this season, but the Cougars are currently rated No. 14 by Boyd's World, a power-ranking system which has OSU at No. 2.

The Beavers open their Pac-10 Conference season this weekend when they host the University of California, starting on Friday. OSU moved up last Saturday's finale of a three-game series in Corvallis against Dallas Baptist to a Friday doubleheader which the Beavers swept.

The Cougars probable starters for the OSU games are juniors Matt Jensen (4-0, 5.03) and Mitch Woolf (1-0, 4.30), respectively for Monday's game at 5 p.m. (PST) and Tuesday's 1 p.m. (PST) tilt. Mainline starters David Horlacher (1-1), Brandon Christiansen (2-0) and Blake Torgerson (2-1) will not make the trip to Oregon in order to be rested for their usual weekend rotation as BYU prepares to host Air Force, 4-16 and 0-3, on Thursday.

Fans can follow the BYU-OSU games live on the Internet through live webcasts (free) and live audiocasts (fee-based) on links found on www.byucougars.com.

Both BYU and OSU swept the only common opponent between the two this season, New Mexico State. OSU won a pair of games against NMSU at a tournament in Arizona to start the season, while BYU swept the Aggies in a three-game series three weeks ago at Las Cruces.

OSU leads the series with BYU, 8-6 in a series that started in 1971. The Beavers won the last meeting in 1995 at a tournament in Spokane, Wash., 19-3. BYU won the previous meeting in 1991 at the Riverside Baseball Invitational in California, 5-1. The two teams have played one game away from tournament action in 1972, which BYU won, 5-2.

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.