PROVO, Utah -- Stephen Wells was a home run shy of the cycle Friday, going 5-for-5 as the BYU baseball team (17-12, 5-3) defeated Air Force (12-19, 0-6) 10-1 at Larry H. Miller Field.

"It was important that we got off to a good start," said BYU head coach Vance Law. "Pitchers throw a lot better when they are ahead and don't have to worry about one pitch costing them the game."

Wells tallied two RBI and two runs while improving his average to 53 points to .351. Designated hitter Alex Wolfe added three hits of his own, with his fourth home run of the season and three RBI.

“I had a rough start yesterday so I wanted to come out and swing it well,” Wells said. “I saw some good pitches to hit and I was feeling confident.”

Making his eighth appearance of the season for the Cougars, starting pitcher Chris Capper struck out the side in the first inning, the first of his five strikeouts in seven innings of work. Capper walked only one en route to improving his record to 3-2.

After a leadoff triple from Wells in the first inning, shortstop Andrew Law put the Cougars on the board with an RBI single. The Cougars would add two more on a passed ball and an RBI single by right fielder Jaycob Brugman. Brugman extended his team-leading hit streak to 11 games in the process.

A second-inning, three-run home run by Wolfe extended BYU’s lead to 6-1. The Cougars would add two more in the inning and take an 8-1 lead.

A two-run single by Wells in the BYU half of the fourth gave the Cougars a nine-run advantage. Sophomore Chunner Nybert and junior David Parry pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the Cougars.

The Cougars look to complete the sweep in the final game of the series Saturday at 1 p.m. at Larry H. Miller Field.

Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 08, 2011 at Provo, Utah (Larry H Miller Field)
Air Force Academy 1 (12-19,0-7 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CUSTONS, Garrett c/lf....  4  0  1  0   0  2  3  0   0
SCHIERHOLTZ, Vai ss......  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  1   1
CARTER, Nathan cf........  4  0  1  0   0  2  4  0   0
BAST, Alex lf/1b.........  3  1  1  0   1  0  4  0   0
McMAHON, Jon rf..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   3
 LOBO, Patrick rf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
KLINE, Seth dh...........  3  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
THORNE, Matt 3b..........  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  1   0
MAYO, Parker 1b/c........  3  0  1  0   0  0  7  0   2
 KRAMER, Ryan ph.........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ROBERTS, Blair 2b........  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   1
 ROBERTS, Matthew 2b.....  2  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   1
ABRECHT, Evan p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 WHITE, Cameron p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 HOURIN, Jack p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  1  9  1   1  7 24  4   8
Brigham Young Univ. 10 (17-12,5-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  5  2  5  2   0  0  3  0   0
LAW, Andrew ss...........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  1   2
 LOPEZ, Bret ss..........  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
WOLFE, Alex dh...........  4  2  2  3   1  0  0  0   1
BERNAL, Ryan lf..........  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   2
 HANCOCK, Alex lf........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf.......  4  2  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
 LUKER, Brock rf.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
HALL, Austin 1b..........  3  1  1  1   1  2  9  0   0
GUENTHER, Wes c..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  7  1   0
ROBINSON, Dillon 3b......  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   3
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  2  1  0  0   2  0  5  1   0
CAPPER, Chris p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
 NYBERG, Chunner p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 PARRY, David p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 36 10 13  9   4  6 27 13   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 010 000 000 -  1  9  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 350 200 00X - 10 13  0
-------------------------------------------
LOB - AF 8; BYU 8. 2B - CUSTONS(10); BAST(7); WELLS 2(15). 3B - WELLS(1);
BRUGMAN(4). HR - WOLFE(4). HBP - GUENTHER. SF - KLINE(1); HALL(3). CS -
McMAHON(1).
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ABRECHT, Evan.......  3.2 12 10 10  4  1 22 28
WHITE, Cameron......  3.1  1  0  0  0  2 11 11
HOURIN, Jack........  1.0  0  0  0  0  3  3  3
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CAPPER, Chris.......  7.0  5  1  1  1  5 24 26
NYBERG, Chunner.....  1.0  3  0  0  0  2  6  6
PARRY, David........  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  4  4
Win - CAPPER (3-2).  Loss - ABRECHT (5-3).  Save - None.
WP - ABRECHT(3). HBP - by ABRECHT (GUENTHER).
Umpires - HP: John Ausmus  1B: Jeff Richardson  3B: Jeff Macias
Start: 6:08 pm   Time: 2:05   Attendance: 275
Weather: 39 degrees,clearing from rain
Game notes:
Game 2 of 3, carried live on BYUtv, 960 AM & links on www.byucougars.com
Game: BY-AFA2
Air Force Academy starters: 4/c CUSTONS; 15/ss SCHIERHOLTZ; 5/cf CARTER; 20/lf
BAST; 40/rf McMAHON; 35/dh KLINE; 7/3b THORNE; 31/1b MAYO; 10/2b ROBERTS, B.;
30/p ABRECHT;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 18/dh WOLFE; 10/lf BERNAL;
4/rf BRUGMAN; 26/1b HALL; 9/c GUENTHER; 3/3b ROBINSON; 16/2b NIELSEN; 15/p
CAPPER;
Air Force Academy 1st - CUSTONS struck out swinging. SCHIERHOLTZ struck
out swinging. CARTER struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS tripled down the rf line. LAW singled
through the left side, RBI; WELLS scored. WOLFE singled to right field; LAW
advanced to third. BERNAL fouled out to 3b. BRUGMAN singled through the right
side, RBI; WOLFE advanced to third; LAW scored. BRUGMAN advanced to second on a
wild pitch; WOLFE scored on a wild pitch. HALL walked. GUENTHER grounded out to
3b; HALL advanced to second; BRUGMAN advanced to third. ROBINSON grounded out
to 2b. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - BAST doubled to left center. McMAHON singled to
center field; BAST advanced to third. KLINE flied out to cf, SF, RBI; BAST
scored. McMAHON out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. THORNE grounded out to
3b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - NIELSEN walked. WELLS singled to center field;
NIELSEN advanced to second. LAW struck out looking. WOLFE homered to right
field, 3 RBI; WELLS scored; NIELSEN scored. BERNAL singled to right field.
BRUGMAN tripled down the rf line, RBI; BERNAL scored. HALL flied out to rf, SF,
RBI; BRUGMAN scored. GUENTHER hit by pitch. ROBINSON popped up to 2b. 5
runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - MAYO grounded out to p. ROBERTS, B. grounded out
to p. CUSTONS doubled to center field. SCHIERHOLTZ flied out to rf. 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - NIELSEN flied out to cf. WELLS doubled to left
center. LAW flied out to lf. WOLFE walked. BERNAL flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - CARTER struck out looking. BAST flied out to cf.
McMAHON flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - BRUGMAN singled to right field. HALL singled
through the left side; BRUGMAN advanced to second. GUENTHER flied out to lf.
ROBINSON flied out to lf. NIELSEN walked; HALL advanced to second; BRUGMAN
advanced to third. WELLS singled through the left side, advanced to second on
the throw, 2 RBI; NIELSEN advanced to third on the throw; HALL scored; BRUGMAN
scored. WHITE to p for ABRECHT. LAW flied out to lf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - KLINE grounded out to 3b. THORNE struck out
looking. MAYO singled to left field. ROBERTS, B. reached on a fielder's choice;
MAYO out at second ss to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - WOLFE flied out to cf. BERNAL popped up to ss.
BRUGMAN popped up to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - CUSTONS grounded out to 3b. SCHIERHOLTZ grounded
out to p, bunt. CARTER popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - ROBERTS, M. to 2b for ROBERTS, B.. HALL struck
out swinging. GUENTHER out at first 2b to p. ROBINSON struck out swinging. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - LOPEZ to ss for LAW. HANCOCK to lf for BERNAL.
LUKER to rf for BRUGMAN. BAST walked. McMAHON reached on a fielder's choice;
BAST out at second 3b to 2b. KLINE singled down the rf line; McMAHON advanced
to third on the throw. THORNE grounded out to p; KLINE advanced to second. MAYO
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - NIELSEN grounded out to ss. WELLS doubled to
left field. LOPEZ flied out to cf; WELLS advanced to third. WOLFE lined out to
1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 8th - CUSTONS to lf. BAST to 1b. MAYO to c. NYBERG to
p for CAPPER. ROBERTS, M. singled to left field. CUSTONS struck out looking.
SCHIERHOLTZ singled to left field; ROBERTS, M. advanced to second. CARTER
singled to center field; SCHIERHOLTZ advanced to second; ROBERTS, M. advanced
to third. BAST popped up to 2b. McMAHON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 3 hits,
0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - HOURIN to p for WHITE. LOBO to rf for McMAHON.
HANCOCK struck out swinging. LUKER struck out swinging. HALL struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Air Force Academy 9th - PARRY to p for NYBERG. KLINE grounded out to ss.
THORNE singled to left field. KRAMER pinch hit for MAYO. KRAMER flied out to
cf. ROBERTS, M. reached on a fielder's choice; THORNE out at second 2b to ss.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Deceptive records and weather are concerns for BYU’s baseball team as it hosts Utah Valley University on Tuesday and the Air Force Academy this weekend.

BYU, now 14-12, first hosts UVU , 7-16, on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the first of 13 live televised games this season by BYUtv. Freshman Desmond Poulson (2-0, 6.75) has been tabbed as BYU’s starting pitcher against the Wolverines.

All three games against Air Force will be televised live by BYUtv with Jarom Jordan calling the play-by-play and Gary Sheide as color analyst. Thursday and Friday’s games are scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be rebroadcast by BYUtv at 10 p.m. those nights, while Saturday’s contest starts at 1 p.m.

Both BYU and Air Force, who had an 11-17 overall record coming into the week, have scheduled games with UVU and Northern Colorado, respectively, on Tuesday before meeting in Provo.

On the mound for BYU against Air Force will be Taylor Cole (3-1, 2.20), Chris Capper (2-2, 3.95) and Matthew Neil (1-2, 2.30) in that order. BYU is 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference, while AFA is 0-5.

“Weather will be a challenge, but our groundskeeper Brian Hill does a nice job and we’ll figure out a way to get the games in,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “Air Force is a solid team and UVU is playing better the last while. We will need to be on top of our game and can’t assume anything against these teams even though their records don’t appear to be stellar.”