By Drew Sellers The Daily Universe

March 13, 2008

Provo, UT (UWIRE) -- On a picturesque Tuesday afternoon, BYU baseball won its home opener against crosstown rival UVSC, 5-4. The Cougars were led by Bryce Ayoso, who had three hits in four at-bats and two stolen bases.

"He's a very capable hitter," said coach Vance Law of Ayoso. "I expect him to have a great year."

BYU got on the scoreboard early, scoring two runs in the first inning with the help of a pair of stolen bases by Dan Vargas and Ayoso.

Pitcher Nelson Castleberry got out of a jam early after the Wolverines put two men on base with zero outs in the top of the second inning. Castleberry struck out A.J. Palmer on a full count after UVSC loaded the bases toward the end of the inning.

Castleberry got some help defensively when shortstop Dan Vargas made a difficult stop on a hard groundball and catcher J.T. Musso threw out a runner trying to steal second.

UVSC battled back in the middle innings, scoring a run in both the fourth and fifth. BYU, which got off to a good start, scoring four runs in the first three innings, leveled out in the middle innings, allowing UVSC to catch up.

Castleberry allowed seven hits and two runs in his five innings of work. He was replaced by Jared Miller in the top of the sixth inning. Miller retired the first three batters he faced in the sixth. Although he walked two batters in the seventh, Miller escaped the inning without allowing any runs.

BYU got restarted offensively in the seventh but that threat was shut down when Vargas grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Miller was relieved by righthand pitcher Michael Ward to start the eighth inning. Ward gave up a single but forced two Wolverines to pop out and struck out another.

The Cougars ended the scoring drought in the eighth inning with one run, but left two runners stranded.

In the top of the ninth inning the game got interesting when UVSC put runners on the corners. Wolverine third baseman Jace Brinkerhoff hit a base hit past a diving Andrew Law to score a run for UVSC and put the score at 5-3. Following the run, Kai Hatch hit a one-out blooper over the outstretched arms of Vargas to load the bases.

With the bases loaded the Cougars brought in righthand pitcher Daniel Welch. On the second pitch Welch threw a fastball inside that apparently struck the end of the bat of UVSC batter Adam Openshaw. Openshaw argued that he was hit by the pitch, which would have walked in a run, but the umpire stuck with the foul ball call, putting a second strike on Openshaw.

UVSC coach Steve Gardner vehemently argued the call and was subsequently tossed from the game.

Openshaw eventually grounded out to Law at second, marking the second out of the inning. BYU then brought in freshman Justin Shutt, who threw four straight balls to load the bases. Shutt then threw three straight strikes to get Scott Croshaw to strike out swinging.

Castleberry got his first win of the season and Shutt notched his second save.

"We've got to try and save enough pitching for the weekend series for conference play too," Law said. "It worked out well tonight to have these two young freshmen step in and do a good job."

BYU improves to 7-7 and is in action next at San Diego State for a three-game series starting Thursday.

(C) 2008 The Daily Universe via UWIRE