ARLINGTON -- A 12-run explosion in the fourth and fifth innings lifted UT Arlington to a 17-2 victory Thursday night over BYU’s baseball team.

Behind the pitching of national pitcher of the week Jason Mitchell and the bat of pre-season All-American Michael Choice, the Mavericks quieted the Cougars. Mitchell struck out 18 last week when he got no decision versus Missouri State. Against BYU he struck out six, but got his first victory of the year.

Choice hit a three-run homer to right centerfield in the seven-run fourth inning.

“We hit bullets the first four innings, but everything we hit went right at them and everything they hit went through,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We didn’t pitch or play well. This is not in line with the tradition we’ve tried to establish and not an indication of the team we think we can become.”

The Cougars got on the board first when Jonathan Cluff doubled down the leftfield line with one out to drive in Brandon Relf in the first inning.

BYU’s other run came when Sean McNaughton hit a two-out double to leftfield to score Chase Frampton, making the score 15-2.

BYU, now 3-6, and UTA, now 3-5, again Friday night in the second of a three-game series.

BYU at UT Arlington
Mar 04, 2010 at Arlington, TX (Clay Gould Ballpark)
BYU 2 (3-6)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
McNAUGHTON, Sean lf......  5  0  1  1   0  0  4  0   2
RELF, Brandon ss.........  4  1  1  0   0  2  2  2   1
WOLFE, Alex 3b...........  3  0  1  0   1  2  2  2   2
CLUFF, Jonathan cf.......  4  0  1  1   0  1  3  0   0
AYOSO, Bryce dh..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
GUENTHER, Wes c..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  6  1   3
FRAMPTON, Chase 1b.......  4  1  2  0   0  1  5  0   0
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  3   0
HANCOCK, Alex rf.........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 LUKER, Brock ph/rf......  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
SHUTT, Justin p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WHITE, Coltin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 STANLEY, D.J. p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BIRCH, Nick p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36  2  8  2   1  7 24  9   8
UT Arlington 17 (3-5)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Orr, N. lf...............  3  2  1  0   2  0  1  0   0
 Wright, E. ph/lf........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Hopkins, S. 1b...........  5  3  2  1   1  1 12  0   0
Choice, M. cf............  4  3  2  3   2  0  2  0   0
 Lopez, B. cf............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Guest, S. dh/c...........  5  2  3  1   1  1  1  0   1
Beck, P. rf..............  5  2  4  1   1  0  4  0   0
Comer, C. c..............  4  1  4  3   0  0  4  1   0
 Watson, B. p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Pinchback, J ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 Krolick, S. p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Nephew, B. 3b............  5  1  1  1   0  2  0  3   4
Payne, J. ss.............  4  3  3  0   0  1  0  3   1
 Dyvig, C. ph/2b.........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Jordan, D. 2b/ss.........  5  0  0  2   0  0  2  4   2
Mitchell, J. p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 43 17 20 12   7  5 27 13  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 100 000 100 -  2  8  3
UT Arlington........ 010 752 02X - 17 20  1
-------------------------------------------
E - McNAUGHTON(3); RELF(4); FRAMPTON(1); Krolick, S.. DP - BY 1; UTA 1. LOB
- BY 8; UTA 10. 2B - McNAUGHTON(1); CLUFF(4); Hopkins, S. 2(3); Comer,
C.(1); Payne, J.(2). HR - Choice, M.(3). HBP - Comer, C.. SB - Orr, N.(1).
CS - Orr, N.(2).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SHUTT, Justin.......  3.2  6  6  4  3  3 16 19
WHITE, Coltin.......  0.1  4  3  3  1  1  5  7
STANLEY, D.J........  1.0  3  4  4  2  0  6  8
BIRCH, Nick.........  3.0  7  4  2  1  1 16 17
UT Arlington           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Mitchell, J.........  7.0  8  2  2  1  6 29 30
Watson, B...........  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  3
Krolick, S..........  1.0  0  0  0  0  1  4  4
Win - Mitchell, J. (1-1).  Loss - SHUTT (0-2).  Save - None.
WP - SHUTT(1); WHITE(1); STANLEY 2; Krolick, S.; Mitchell, J. 3(3). HBP - by
WHITE (Comer, C.).
Umpires - HP: Scott Johnston  1B: Jon Wolfe  3B: Cale Smith
Start: 6:30 PM   Time: 2:48   Attendance: 286
Weather: 64 degrees/16 MPH, L-to-R
WHITE faced 1 batter in the 5th.
BYU 1st - McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. RELF singled up the middle.
WOLFE walked; RELF advanced to second. CLUFF doubled down the lf line, RBI;
WOLFE advanced to third; RELF scored. AYOSO grounded out to 3b. GUENTHER
grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UT Arlington 1st - Orr, N. fouled out to c. Hopkins, S. flied out to cf.
Choice, M. lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 2nd - FRAMPTON singled to right field. NIELSEN fouled out to rf;
FRAMPTON advanced to second. HANCOCK grounded out to 2b; FRAMPTON advanced to
third. McNAUGHTON lined out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 2nd - Guest, S. grounded out to 2b. Beck, P. walked. Beck,
P. advanced to second on a wild pitch. Comer, C. singled down the rf line, RBI;
Beck, P. scored. Nephew, B. struck out swinging. Payne, J. struck out swinging.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - RELF struck out swinging. WOLFE singled up the middle. CLUFF
grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; WOLFE out on the play. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UT Arlington 3rd - Jordan, D. grounded out to ss. Orr, N. singled up the
middle. Hopkins, S. struck out swinging. Orr, N. stole second. Choice, M.
walked. Orr, N. out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - AYOSO lined out to rf. GUENTHER grounded out to ss. FRAMPTON
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UT Arlington 4th - Guest, S. singled to right center. Beck, P. flied out
to lf. Comer, C. singled down the lf line; Guest, S. advanced to third. Nephew,
B. singled through the left side, RBI; Comer, C. advanced to second; Guest, S.
scored. Payne, J. singled to right field; Nephew, B. advanced to second; Comer,
C. advanced to third. Jordan, D. reached on a fielding error by 1b, out at
second rf to 2b, 2 RBI; Payne, J. scored, unearned; Nephew, B. scored; Comer,
C. scored. Orr, N. walked. WHITE to p for SHUTT. Orr, N. advanced to second on
a wild pitch. Hopkins, S. walked. Choice, M. homered to right center, 3 RBI,
team unearned; Hopkins, S. scored, team unearned; Orr, N. scored, unearned.
Guest, S. singled to shortstop. Beck, P. singled through the left side; Guest,
S. advanced to second. Comer, C. hit by pitch; Beck, P. advanced to second;
Guest, S. advanced to third. Nephew, B. struck out looking. 7 runs, 7 hits,
1 error, 3 LOB.
BYU 5th - NIELSEN singled to center field. HANCOCK popped up to 2b.
McNAUGHTON flied out to rf. NIELSEN advanced to second on a wild pitch. RELF
flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 5th - Payne, J. doubled to left center. STANLEY to p for
WHITE. Jordan, D. flied out to lf. Orr, N. flied out to cf. Hopkins, S. doubled
down the lf line, RBI; Payne, J. scored. Hopkins, S. advanced to third on a
wild pitch. Choice, M. walked. Choice, M. advanced to second on a wild pitch;
Hopkins, S. scored on a wild pitch. Guest, S. walked. Beck, P. singled to left
field, RBI; Guest, S. advanced to second; Choice, M. scored. Comer, C. doubled
to left field, 2 RBI; Beck, P. scored; Guest, S. scored. Nephew, B. flied out
to lf. 5 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - WOLFE struck out swinging. CLUFF struck out swinging, out at
first c to 1b. AYOSO singled up the middle. GUENTHER struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UT Arlington 6th - BIRCH to p for STANLEY. Payne, J. singled up the
middle. Jordan, D. flied out to cf. Orr, N. walked; Payne, J. advanced to
second. Hopkins, S. grounded out to 3b; Orr, N. advanced to second; Payne, J.
advanced to third. Choice, M. reached on a throwing error by ss; Orr, N.
scored, unearned; Payne, J. scored, unearned. Guest, S. struck out looking.
2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - FRAMPTON singled up the middle. FRAMPTON advanced to second on
a wild pitch. NIELSEN grounded out to ss; FRAMPTON advanced to third. LUKER
pinch hit for HANCOCK. LUKER flied out to rf. McNAUGHTON doubled down the lf
line, RBI; FRAMPTON scored. RELF struck out swinging, reached first on a wild
pitch; McNAUGHTON advanced to third. WOLFE struck out looking. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UT Arlington 7th - LUKER to rf. Beck, P. singled through the right side.
Comer, C. singled through the right side; Beck, P. advanced to second. Nephew,
B. flied out to rf. Dyvig, C. pinch hit for Payne, J.. Dyvig, C. reached on a
fielder's choice to second base; Comer, C. out at second 2b to ss; Beck, P.
advanced to third. Jordan, D. grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
BYU 8th - Guest, S. to c. Watson, B. to p for Comer, C.. Dyvig, C. to
2b. Jordan, D. to ss. /  for Mitchell, J.. CLUFF grounded out to p, bunt. AYOSO
popped up to 1b. GUENTHER flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
UT Arlington 8th - Wright, E. pinch hit for Orr, N.. Wright, E. flied
out to lf. Hopkins, S. doubled down the lf line. Choice, M. singled through the
left side, advanced to third; Hopkins, S. scored on a fielding error by lf.
Guest, S. singled up the middle, RBI; Choice, M. scored. Beck, P. singled to
right field; Guest, S. advanced to third. Pinchback, J pinch hit for Watson,
B.. Pinchback, J grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Beck, P. out on the
play. 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - Wright, E. to lf. Lopez, B. to cf for Choice, M.. Krolick, S.
to p for Pinchback, J. FRAMPTON struck out swinging. NIELSEN reached on a
fielding error by p, assist by 2b. NIELSEN advanced to second on a wild pitch.
LUKER flied out to cf. McNAUGHTON grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.

Five straight days of baseball in Texas for BYU, with a 2-4 record, begins Tuesday evening at Baylor University (4-3).

After meeting the Bears, the Cougars have a contest at Texas A & M (5-2), followed by a three-game series at UT Arlington (2-4).

Shawn Hardesty (0-1, 16.88) gets the start on the mound for BYU against Baylor. Freshman lefty Mark Anderson starts for the Cougars at Texas A & M on Wednesday. Then BYU returns to its regular rotation at UT Arlington with righthanders Justin Shutt (0-1, 8.00), Matt Neil (1-0, 1.74) and Chunner Nyberg (0-1, 10.57).

“We are looking forward to playing quality programs,” said BYU Coach Vance Law. “These games will be a good measuring stick for our players.”

UT Arlington senior Jason Mitchell was named one of the national pitchers of the week for his 18-strikeout performance against Missouri State last Friday, a no-hitter for 8.2 innings.

For more information, please download the PDF at the top of this page.