AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Matthew Neil scattered six hits Thursday as BYU took advantage of big blasts and errors to claim a 9-4 victory at the Air Force Academy.

BYU improved its record to 27-24 overall and 9-11 in the Mountain West Conference, while AFA fell to 18-34 and 3-18.

Neil lowered his earned run average from 2.25 to 2.22 as his record improved to 6-4 in a seven-inning game postponed last month from Provo, hence the doubleheader starting with a seven-inning game. The 9-4 Cougar victory was the first of a four-game series at the Academy between the two this week, but the second of the twinbill was suspended.

Game two was suspended in the bottom of the fifth inning with two out and two on as BYU was ahead 2-0. The second of those runs was a one-out solo homer by Alex Wolfe to right field.

Wolfe was robbed of a home run earlier in the day when his high shot to left field was lost in the sun and ruled an error as he and two other Cougars scored with two outs to give BYU a 5-1 lead in game one.

”I’m not a big fan of seven-inning games, but I’m pleased we came out with a win,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “We had very good execution getting bunts down to move runners. Brugman’s (Jaycob) home run was big and gave us a cushion. Mahoney (Kolton) shut the door when we needed it.”

Jaycob Brugman’s three-run homer to right field in the sixth put BYU up 9-4. Kolton Mahoney picked up his fourth save when he struck out the side in the seventh after extinguishing a Falcon rally in the sixth.

As a storm moved in during game two, BYU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning off an unearned run. Pitcher Taylor Cole started game two for the Cougars and gave up a hit in the first and fourth innings, recording five strikeouts.

“Taylor (Cole) really pitched well today and I feel bad about it because he pitched well enough for the win,” said Law.

The Cougars are scheduled to go with righthander Chris Capper when play resumes on Friday at noon, followed by game three of the four-game series later in the afternoon. Both games will be broadcast live on Radio 960 AM.

Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ. (Game 1)
May 19, 2011 at USAF Academy, Colo. (Falcon Field)
Air Force Academy 4 (18-34,3-18 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BAST, Alex 1b............  4  0  2  1   0  0  7  0   2
LOBO, Patrick rf.........  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CUSTONS, Garrett lf......  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
CARTER, Nathan cf........  4  0  1  1   0  2  1  1   0
McMAHON, Jon dh..........  4  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   4
MAYO, Parker c...........  4  1  2  0   0  1  4  0   0
SCHIERHOLTZ, Vai ss......  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  3   1
ROBERTS, Matthew 3b/2b...  2  1  2  0   0  0  2  1   0
ROBERTS, Blair 2b........  2  0  0  0   0  0  4  4   1
 THORNE, Matt ph/3b......  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  1   0
BERTELSON, Ben p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 BAKER, Alex p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 30  4 10  4   0  4 18 11   9
Brigham Young Univ. 9 (27-24,9-11 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  2  1  0   0  0  4  0   0
 HANCOCK, Alex rf........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
LAW, Andrew ss...........  3  2  3  1   1  0  2  1   0
BRUGMAN, Jaycob rf/cf....  3  1  1  3   1  1  1  0   0
BERNAL, Ryan lf..........  3  1  1  0   1  1  0  0   2
FRAMPTON, Chase dh.......  4  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WOLFE, Alex c............  3  1  0  0   1  0  4  0   1
HALL, Austin 1b..........  3  0  1  0   0  1  7  0   0
LOPEZ, Bret 3b...........  2  1  1  0   1  1  1  4   1
NIELSEN, Dane 2b.........  2  0  0  0   0  0  2  3   2
NEIL, Matthew p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SHUTT, Justin p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 MAHONEY, Kolton p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 26  9  8  4   5  4 21  8   6
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 001 003 0 -  4 10  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 054 X -  9  8  2
-----------------------------------------
E - CUSTONS(7); ROBERTS, M.(14); LAW(17); BERNAL(4). DP - Falcons 1; BYU 1.
LOB - Falcons 9; BYU 6. 2B - BAST(20); CUSTONS(19); ROBERTS, M.(4);
HALL(14); LOPEZ(3). 3B - CARTER(7). HR - BRUGMAN(7). HBP - LOBO; WELLS. SH -
LOBO(8); ROBERTS, M.(3); NIELSEN(6). SF - THORNE(3). SB - WELLS(7);
FRAMPTON(2).
Air Force Academy      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BERTELSON, Ben......  5.1  7  9  4  5  4 23 30
BAKER, Alex.........  0.2  1  0  0  0  0  3  3
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
NEIL, Matthew.......  5.0  6  1  1  0  1 20 23
SHUTT, Justin.......  0.0  2  3  2  0  0  3  3
MAHONEY, Kolton.....  2.0  2  0  0  0  3  7  8
Win - NEIL (6-4).  Loss - BERTELSON (2-7).  Save - MAHONEY (4).
WP - BERTELSON(10). HBP - by NEIL (LOBO); by BERTELSON (WELLS). BK -
BERTELSON(1).
Umpires - HP: Jon Wolfe  1B: Ray Belfiore  3B: Marc Lewis
Start: 12 p.m.   Time: 2:08   Attendance:
Weather: 50 degrees, cloudy, light wind
SHUTT faced 3 batters in the 6th.
Game: AFA3
Play-by-Play
                               2011 BYU Baseball
        Air Force Academy at Brigham Young Univ. (Game 1) - Play-by-Play
               May 19, 2011 at USAF Academy, Colo. (Falcon Field)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Air Force Academy... 001 003 0 -  4 10  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 054 X -  9  8  2
-----------------------------------------
Air Force Academy starters: 20/1b BAST; 11/rf LOBO; 4/lf CUSTONS; 5/cf CARTER;
40/dh McMAHON; 31/c MAYO; 15/ss SCHIERHOLTZ; 14/3b ROBERTS, M.; 10/2b ROBERTS,
B.; 24/p BERTELSON;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 5/cf WELLS; 6/ss LAW; 4/rf BRUGMAN; 10/lf BERNAL;
30/dh FRAMPTON; 18/c WOLFE; 26/1b HALL; 13/3b LOPEZ; 16/2b NIELSEN; 36/p NEIL;
Air Force Academy 1st - BAST singled to center field. LOBO grounded out
to 3b, SAC, bunt; BAST advanced to second. CUSTONS popped up to ss. CARTER
reached on a fielder's choice; BAST advanced to third. McMAHON flied out to rf.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - WELLS grounded out to 2b. LAW singled through
the left side. BRUGMAN walked; LAW advanced to second. BRUGMAN advanced to
second on a balk; LAW advanced to third on a balk. BERNAL flied into double
play cf to 3b; BRUGMAN out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 2nd - MAYO singled down the lf line. SCHIERHOLTZ
grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; MAYO out on the play. ROBERTS, M.
singled to right field. ROBERTS, B. reached on a fielder's choice; ROBERTS, M.
out at second 3b to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - FRAMPTON popped up to 2b. WOLFE grounded out
to 2b. HALL doubled down the rf line. LOPEZ walked. NIELSEN grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Air Force Academy 3rd - BAST flied out to cf. LOBO grounded out to 2b.
CUSTONS doubled to left field. CARTER tripled down the lf line, RBI; CUSTONS
scored. McMAHON flied out to cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WELLS grounded out to 2b. LAW singled, bunt.
BRUGMAN reached on a fielder's choice; LAW out at second ss to 2b. BRUGMAN
advanced to second on a wild pitch. BERNAL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 4th - MAYO singled through the left side. SCHIERHOLTZ
reached on a fielder's choice; MAYO advanced to second on a throwing error by
ss. ROBERTS, M. grounded out to 3b, SAC, bunt; SCHIERHOLTZ advanced to second;
MAYO advanced to third. ROBERTS, B. grounded out to 3b. BAST fouled out to 1b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - FRAMPTON grounded out to ss. WOLFE walked.
HALL reached on a fielder's choice; WOLFE out at second ss to 2b. LOPEZ struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 5th - LOBO hit by pitch. CUSTONS flied out to cf.
CARTER struck out swinging. McMAHON popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - NIELSEN flied out to 2b. WELLS singled to
center field. WELLS stole second. LAW walked. BRUGMAN struck out swinging.
BERNAL walked; LAW advanced to second; WELLS advanced to third. FRAMPTON
reached on a throwing error by 3b; BERNAL advanced to third; LAW scored,
unearned; WELLS scored, unearned. FRAMPTON stole second. WOLFE reached on a
fielding error by lf, scored, unearned; FRAMPTON scored, unearned; BERNAL
scored, unearned. HALL struck out swinging. 5 runs, 1 hit, 2 errors, 0
LOB.
Air Force Academy 6th - SHUTT to p for NEIL. MAYO reached on a fielding
error by lf, advanced to second. SCHIERHOLTZ singled up the middle, RBI; MAYO
scored, unearned. ROBERTS, M. doubled down the rf line; SCHIERHOLTZ advanced to
third. THORNE pinch hit for ROBERTS, B.. MAHONEY to p for SHUTT. THORNE flied
out to cf, SF, RBI; SCHIERHOLTZ scored. BAST doubled to left field, RBI;
ROBERTS, M. scored. LOBO grounded out to 2b; BAST advanced to third. CUSTONS
lined out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - ROBERTS, M. to 2b. THORNE to 3b. LOPEZ doubled
to left field. NIELSEN out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; LOPEZ advanced to
third. WELLS hit by pitch. LAW singled to pitcher, bunt, RBI; WELLS advanced to
second; LOPEZ scored. BRUGMAN homered down the rf line, 3 RBI; LAW scored;
WELLS scored. BAKER to p for BERTELSON. BERNAL singled to right center.
FRAMPTON grounded out to 3b; BERNAL advanced to second. WOLFE grounded out to
2b. 4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Air Force Academy 7th - HANCOCK to rf for WELLS. BRUGMAN to cf. CARTER
struck out swinging. McMAHON singled up the middle. MAYO struck out swinging.
SCHIERHOLTZ struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

This weekend’s four-game series at the Air Force Academy put BYU’s baseball team more in focus for next week’s Mountain West Conference Tournament.

The Cougars, now 26-24 and 8-11 in the MWC, can climb back into third place in the league standings as they position their pitching rotation against Air Force.

“These games can affect our seed and we want to create momentum going into the tournament,” said BYU coach Vance Law. “They (AFA) put up stiff competition.”

Senior Matthew Neil (5-4, 2.25) is scheduled to start the seven-inning first game on Thursday at noon, followed by Taylor Cole (4-5, 3.33) in the nightcap which will be broadcast live locally by Radio 960 AM and BYU radio on the Internet. The Cougars will be the home team in game one, which is a make-up game for a rain-out last month in Provo.

Freshman Desmond Poulson (4-0, 5.23) will start Friday afternoon’s game, while sophomore southpaw Mark Anderson (3-2, 4.50) starts the final game of the regular season on Saturday at the Academy.

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