SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah won a pitchers' duel in the league opener over BYU Thursday at Spring Mobile Ballpark, 3-2, on a one-out single in the ninth inning.

Despite striking out ten Utes, BYU hurler Taylor Cole ended up losing a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning. Utah starter Rick Anton didn’t get the win either even though he went eight-plus innings as well.

“It was a well-pitched game from both sides,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “I thought once we got the go-ahead run we’d be okay. Our offense is a lot stronger than we showed today.”

BYU took a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Alex Wolfe battled through a full count, including a check swing on a high Anton ball to drive in Jaycob Brugman. Brugman led off that inning with a single.

Brugman gave BYU a 2-1 lead in the eighth when he led off with a double and scored from Andrew Law’s one-out double. Law, who led BYU with three hits, was later tagged out when he stole second, but slide through the bag.

Utah snuffed out BYU opportunities in the first and second innings on 1-3-6 pick off plays. In the fourth and seventh innings BYU had a runner stranded at second.

Cole, a sophomore, struck out a Ute in every inning except his last, capturing the intrigue of some of the scouts on-hand. He put Utah down in order in the second and third innings and nearly matched Anton in pitch counts each inning.

“Taylor pitched well. We had a couple of well-executed plays that didn’t go our way and didn’t swing the bats the way we are capable of doing.”

On Friday afternoon BYU, now 8-8, plays the second of the three-game series at Utah, now 5-7.

Brigham Young Univ. at Utah
Mar 17, 2011 at Salt Lake City (Spring Mobile)
Brigham Young Univ. 2 (8-8,0-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
LAW, Andrew ss...........  4  0  3  1   0  0  0  2   0
WOLFE, Alex c............  3  0  0  1   0  2 10  2   0
BERNAL, Ryan lf..........  3  0  0  0   1  2  1  0   1
HALL, Austin 1b..........  4  0  0  0   0  2  9  0   1
FRAMPTON, Chase dh.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  3  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   1
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  3   1
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  3  2  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
COLE, Taylor p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 NYBERG, Chunner p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MAHONEY, Kolton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 30  2  7  2   1  8 25  9   4
Utah 3 (5-7,1-0 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BROOKS ss................  5  0  1  0   0  3  3  1   0
BELTRAN 2b...............  4  0  1  1   0  1  1  3   3
CRON 1b..................  4  1  3  0   0  0  8  2   0
COOPER lf................  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   2
GUYMON dh................  4  0  1  1   0  3  0  0   1
 HUNT pr.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
NIELSEN 3b...............  4  1  2  0   0  1  0  1   0
SHARRAR c................  4  0  1  0   0  2  8  1   1
RELF, Tyler cf...........  2  1  0  0   2  0  1  0   0
GREEN, Gavin rf..........  3  0  1  1   1  0  4  0   1
ANTON p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  5   0
 WAGNER p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 33  3 10  3   3 11 27 13  10
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 001 010 -  2  7  1
Utah................ 000 000 111 -  3 10  1
-------------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - LAW; BROOKS. LOB - BY 4; Utah 10. 2B - ROBINSON; BRUGMAN. SH - WELLS;
WOLFE; BELTRAN; COOPER. SB - LAW. CS - HUNT.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
COLE, Taylor........  7.1  8  2  2  1 10 29 32
NYBERG, Chunner.....  0.2  1  1  1  2  1  2  4
MAHONEY, Kolton.....  0.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  2
Utah                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ANTON...............  8.1  7  2  2  1  7 28 31
WAGNER..............  0.2  0  0  0  0  1  2  2
Win - WAGNER (1-0).  Loss - NYBERG (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - COLE.
Umpires - HP: Dave Yeast  1B: Scott Higgins  3B: Randy Upton
Start: 6:00 pm   Time: 2:17   Attendance: 350
Weather: Partly cloudy and cool
NYBERG faced 2 batters in the 9th.
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 18/c WOLFE; 10/lf BERNAL;
26/1b HALL; 30/dh FRAMPTON; 3/3b ROBINSON; 16/2b NIELSEN; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 8/p
COLE;
Utah starters: 10/ss BROOKS; 8/2b BELTRAN; 24/1b CRON; 30/lf COOPER; 5/dh
GUYMON; 9/3b NIELSEN; 39/c SHARRAR; 7/cf RELF, Tyler; 40/rf GREEN, Gavin; 27/p
ANTON;
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS struck out swinging. LAW reached on an
error by ss. LAW out at second p to 1b to ss, picked off. WOLFE struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Utah 1st - BROOKS singled through the right side. BELTRAN grounded out
to 1b unassisted, SAC, bunt; BROOKS advanced to second. CRON grounded out to
2b; BROOKS advanced to third. COOPER struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - BERNAL walked. BERNAL out at second p to 1b to
ss, picked off. HALL struck out swinging. FRAMPTON singled up the middle.
ROBINSON flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 2nd - GUYMON struck out swinging. NIELSEN flied out to rf. SHARRAR
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - NIELSEN grounded out to 1b unassisted. BRUGMAN
lined out to rf. WELLS grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Utah 3rd - RELF, Tyler grounded out to 2b. GREEN, Gavin grounded out to
1b unassisted. BROOKS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - LAW singled up the middle. WOLFE grounded out
to p, bunt, SAC; LAW advanced to second. BERNAL struck out swinging. HALL
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 4th - BELTRAN grounded out to p. CRON singled through the left
side. COOPER flied out to 2b. GUYMON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - FRAMPTON lined out to 2b. ROBINSON struck out
swinging. NIELSEN grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 5th - NIELSEN struck out looking. SHARRAR grounded out to 2b. RELF,
Tyler reached on an error by ss. GREEN, Gavin grounded out to 1b unassisted.
0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - BRUGMAN singled through the left side. WELLS
grounded out to p, bunt, SAC; BRUGMAN advanced to second. LAW singled to
shortstop; BRUGMAN advanced to third. WOLFE grounded out to 2b, RBI; LAW
advanced to second; BRUGMAN scored. BERNAL struck out swinging. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 6th - BROOKS struck out swinging. BELTRAN grounded out to ss. CRON
singled to right field. COOPER reached on a fielder's choice; CRON out at
second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - HALL out at first p to 2b to 1b. FRAMPTON
flied out to rf. ROBINSON doubled down the lf line. NIELSEN lined out to lf.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Utah 7th - GUYMON struck out swinging. NIELSEN singled to left field.
SHARRAR singled down the rf line; NIELSEN advanced to second. SHARRAR advanced
to second on a wild pitch; NIELSEN advanced to third. RELF, Tyler walked.
GREEN, Gavin singled through the right side, RBI; RELF, Tyler advanced to
second; SHARRAR advanced to third; NIELSEN scored. BROOKS struck out looking.
BELTRAN struck out swinging. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - BRUGMAN doubled to left center. WELLS popped
up to p, bunt. LAW singled through the right side, RBI; BRUGMAN scored. LAW out
at second c to ss, stole second. WOLFE struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 8th - CRON singled to center field. COOPER out at first p to 2b,
bunt, SAC; CRON advanced to second. GUYMON singled to right field, RBI; CRON
scored. NYBERG to p for COLE. HUNT pinch ran for GUYMON. NIELSEN singled
through the left side; HUNT advanced to second. NIELSEN advanced to second;
HUNT out at third c to 3b, caught stealing. SHARRAR struck out swinging, out at
first c to 1b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - BERNAL flied out to rf. WAGNER to p for ANTON.
HALL struck out swinging. FRAMPTON flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 9th - RELF, Tyler walked. GREEN, Gavin walked; RELF, Tyler advanced
to second. MAHONEY to p for NYBERG. BROOKS flied out to lf. BELTRAN singled to
right field, RBI; GREEN, Gavin advanced to second; RELF, Tyler scored. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

A final league series between BYU and Utah in baseball starts Thursday night in Salt Lake City at Spring Mobile Ballpark as play begins this week in the Mountain West Conference.

BYU (8-7) travels to Utah (4-7) for what also could decide this year’s overall outcome in the Deseret Duel between the two schools. On Thursday BYU’s starting pitcher will be sophomore Taylor Cole (2-1, 1.75), followed by sophomore Chris Capper (0-2, 4.71) on Friday—both games start at 6 p.m. On the mound for the Cougars in Saturday’s 1 p.m. game is junior Matthew Neil (1-0, 2.25).

“Any time we play Utah it’s always a big series,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “Our conference should be strong this year, but our increased pitching depth gives us a much better chance to compete.”

The Utah series also marks the start of Cougar baseball being broadcast live by Radio 960 AM with Brent Norton calling the play-by-play for his 21st season with BYU baseball.

These are the first of four games between BYU and Utah--the first three are MWC games in Salt Lake City, while the April 19 game is a non-conference tilt in Provo. There are 4.5 points at stake in this week’s three-game series, which factors in the annual Deseret First Duel. BYU can pick up enough points to claim the Deseret First Duel trophy with two wins in the series. BYU won the first and third overall duel competitions.