DAVIS -- Pitching came through for BYU as it held on to win a suspended game Saturday, 8-4, over UC Davis.

The Cougars, now 2-4, were three outs away from completing the fifth inning Friday, leading the Aggies 7-1 before rain caused the baseball game to be suspended.

"I was proud of the way we pitched," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "(Kevin) Sloan was outstanding. He got us out of a jam and all of our relievers did well."

The hard-throwing Sloan earned the win and started Saturday with a runner on first and a 3-0 count. He gave up a hit on that batter, but held the Aggies hitless for the next three innings. The three relievers that replaced Sloan were also quite effective.

"We got an important insurance run in the ninth to bring the momentum back in our favor," said Law.

That run came from Brandon Relf, who led off with a single as the Cougars proceeded to load the bases and get a sac-fly from Bryce Ayoso.

Relf walked in the first inning and Jonathan Cluff belted a two-out triple to score him. Ryan Bernal lined a single to centerfield to score Cluff, putting the Cougars up 2-0.

BYU loaded the bases in the fifth through singles, bunts and an error as Relf’s single scored Dane Nielsen to make the score 3-1. Then Bernal hit a two-run single to score Sean McNaughton and Relf. Austin Hall’s double scored Cluff to make it 7-1.

Both Cluff and Bernal were two-for-four with multiple RBI.

The Cougars now ready for a five-game stand in Texas starting on Tuesday in as many days. BYU plays Baylor, then Texas A & M, concluding with a three-game series at Texas-Arlington.

BYU at UC Davis
Feb 26, 2010 at Davis, Calif. (Dobbins Stadium)
BYU 8 (2-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  1  1  0   0  0  3  0   0
RELF, Brandon ss.........  3  3  2  1   2  0  1  5   0
WOLFE, Alex 1b...........  5  0  2  0   0  2 12  0   0
CLUFF, Jonathan rf/cf....  4  2  2  2   0  1  3  0   0
BERNAL, Ryan dh..........  4  0  2  3   1  2  0  0   0
 ISOM, Andy pr...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
AYOSO, Bryce c...........  3  0  1  1   1  0  4  0   0
HALL, Austin 3b..........  4  0  1  1   1  1  1  5   4
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  5  1  2  0   0  0  2  2   5
WELLS, Stephen cf........  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 HANCOCK, Alex rf........  1  1  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
NYBERG, Chunner p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 SLOAN, Kevin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MICHON, Brandon p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BIRCH, Nick p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 McKNIGHT, David p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 35  8 13  8   6  7 27 13   9
UC Davis 4 (4-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Heylman 2b...............  4  1  0  0   1  1  4  1   0
Cepin cf.................  4  0  1  0   1  1  2  0   0
Schafer ss...............  4  0  2  1   0  0  1  3   1
Lyman lf.................  3  1  0  0   1  0  2  0   1
Popkins dh...............  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   1
 Batty ph................  1  1  0  0   1  0  0  0   2
Johnson 1b...............  4  0  2  0   0  0  6  1   0
Mihaylo rf...............  4  1  1  0   0  1  3  0   0
Politi 3b................  3  0  2  2   0  0  1  2   0
Dreyfuss c...............  4  0  0  0   0  0  7  3   5
Kupbens p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Lewis p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Heinig p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Briner p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  4  8  3   5  4 27 11  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 200 050 001 -  8 13  3
UC Davis............ 000 110 020 -  4  8  1
-------------------------------------------
E - McNAUGHTON; WOLFE; NIELSEN; Kupbens. DP - BYU 1. LOB - BYU 9; Aggies 10.
2B - WOLFE; HALL; Politi. 3B - CLUFF. HBP - Lyman. SH - CLUFF; HANCOCK. SF -
AYOSO; Schafer; Politi. SB - Cepin; Mihaylo. CS - NIELSEN; HANCOCK.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
NYBERG, Chunner.....  4.0  4  2  1  2  1 15 19
SLOAN, Kevin........  3.0  1  0  0  1  1  9 11
MICHON, Brandon.....  0.2  2  2  2  1  0  4  5
BIRCH, Nick.........  0.1  0  0  0  0  0  1  1
McKNIGHT, David.....  1.0  1  0  0  1  2  4  5
UC Davis               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Kupbens.............  5.0  9  7  5  2  4 23 26
Lewis...............  2.0  1  0  0  2  2  6  8
Heinig..............  1.0  1  0  0  0  1  3  3
Briner..............  1.0  2  1  1  2  0  3  7
Win - SLOAN (1-0).  Loss - Kupbens (0-2).  Save - None.
WP - NYBERG; BIRCH. HBP - by NYBERG (Lyman).
Umpires - HP: Ruben Candelaria  1B: Jeff Henrichs  3B: Jason Venzon
Start: 12:30 pm   Time: 2:53   Attendance: 234
Weather: Overcast, 50's
NYBERG faced 1 batter in the 5th.
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. RELF walked. WOLFE flied out to
cf. CLUFF tripled, RBI; RELF scored. BERNAL singled to center field, RBI; CLUFF
scored. AYOSO singled to center field; BERNAL advanced to second. HALL grounded
out to ss. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UC Davis 1st - Heylman grounded out to ss. Cepin walked. Schafer singled
up the middle; Cepin advanced to third. Lyman grounded into double play p to ss
to 1b; Schafer out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - NIELSEN popped up to 2b. WELLS fouled out to 3b. McNAUGHTON
grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Davis 2nd - Popkins popped up to rf. Johnson lined out to cf. Mihaylo
singled to left field. Politi singled through the left side; Mihaylo advanced
to second. Dreyfuss popped up to lf. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 3rd - RELF walked. WOLFE struck out swinging. RELF out at second p
to 1b to 2b, picked off. CLUFF struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
UC Davis 3rd - Heylman grounded out to ss. Cepin flied out to lf.
Schafer lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - BERNAL struck out looking. AYOSO flied out to lf. HALL
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Davis 4th - CLUFF to cf. HANCOCK to rf for WELLS. Lyman hit by pitch.
Popkins walked; Lyman advanced to second. Johnson singled to center field;
Popkins advanced to second; Lyman advanced to third. Mihaylo struck out
swinging. Politi flied out to cf, SF, RBI; Lyman scored. Popkins advanced to
third on a wild pitch. Dreyfuss grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
BYU 5th - NIELSEN singled through the right side. HANCOCK reached on a
fielding error by p, SAC, bunt; NIELSEN advanced to second. McNAUGHTON singled
to catcher, bunt; HANCOCK advanced to second; NIELSEN advanced to third. RELF
singled to left field, RBI; McNAUGHTON advanced to second; HANCOCK advanced to
third; NIELSEN scored. WOLFE struck out swinging. CLUFF singled to center
field, RBI; RELF advanced to second; McNAUGHTON advanced to third; HANCOCK
scored, unearned. BERNAL singled to center field, 2 RBI; CLUFF advanced to
second; RELF scored; McNAUGHTON scored. AYOSO reached on a fielder's choice;
BERNAL out at second 3b to 2b; CLUFF advanced to third. HALL doubled to left
center, RBI; AYOSO advanced to third; CLUFF scored, unearned. NIELSEN grounded
out to 2b. 5 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
UC Davis 5th - Heylman reached on a fielding error by 1b. SLOAN to p for
NYBERG. Cepin singled to left center; Heylman advanced to second, advanced to
third on a fielding error by lf. Schafer flied out to lf, SF, RBI; Heylman
scored, unearned. Cepin stole second. Lyman flied out to cf. Popkins struck out
swinging. 1 run, 1 hit, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - Lewis to p for Kupbens. HANCOCK walked. McNAUGHTON popped up
to p, bunt. HANCOCK out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. RELF flied out to
rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Davis 6th - Johnson popped up to 2b. Mihaylo grounded out to 3b.
Politi fouled out to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 7th - WOLFE doubled to left field. CLUFF popped up to lf. BERNAL
struck out swinging. AYOSO walked. HALL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit,
0 errors, 2 LOB.
UC Davis 7th - Dreyfuss grounded out to ss. Heylman walked. Cepin
grounded out to 3b; Heylman advanced to second. Schafer grounded out to ss.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - Heinig to p for Lewis. NIELSEN singled to left field. NIELSEN
out at second c to ss, caught stealing. HANCOCK struck out swinging. McNAUGHTON
flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Davis 8th - MICHON to p for SLOAN. Lyman grounded out to 2b. Batty
pinch hit for Popkins. Batty walked. Johnson singled through the left side;
Batty advanced to second. Mihaylo reached on a fielder's choice; Johnson out at
second 3b to 2b; Batty advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by 2b.
Mihaylo stole second. Politi doubled down the lf line, RBI; Mihaylo scored.
BIRCH to p for MICHON. Politi advanced to third on a wild pitch. Dreyfuss
grounded out to 3b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - Briner to p for Heinig. RELF singled to left field. WOLFE
singled to right field; RELF advanced to second. CLUFF grounded out to c, SAC,
bunt; WOLFE advanced to second; RELF advanced to third. BERNAL intentionally
walked. ISOM pinch ran for BERNAL. AYOSO flied out to cf, SF, RBI; WOLFE
advanced to third; RELF scored. HALL walked; ISOM advanced to second. NIELSEN
flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
UC Davis 9th - McKNIGHT to p for BIRCH. Heylman struck out swinging.
Cepin struck out swinging. Schafer singled through the left side. Lyman walked;
Schafer advanced to second. Batty grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 2 LOB.

This weekend another three-game series in California will add to the growth of BYU’s baseball team as it takes on UC Davis.

On Thursday the Cougars, now 0-3, will now play a doubleheader because of forecasted weather issues on Friday. Originally there was supposed to be a game on Friday, but the schedule was changed late Tuesday.

BYU will again start with junior Justin Shutt (0-1, 13.50) on the mound. The starter has been changed in the rotation for game two, as sophomore Matt Neil (0-0, 0.00) takes the hill in the second game on Thursday. Freshman Chunner Nyberg (0-1, 19.64) remains in the role as the game-three starter on Saturday.

“We are still getting our feet wet with our younger players getting experience and learning,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “I like the way we swung the bats and competed well. We just needed some key outs.”

Neil leads the Mountain West Conference in opposing batting average at .158 in 5.1 innings of relief and in fewest hits allowed, three. Teammate Alex Wolfe leads the MWC in doubles with three and the Cougars lead the league with nine doubles.

The Cougars lost three games last weekend at UC Riverside in their first outdoor action of the season. This week BYU has been able to have its first full practices outdoors.

UC Davis brought a 2-1 record into the week before playing the University of California on Tuesday.