Air Force Academy
BYU
BYU beats Air Force, 3-2
4/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 26, 2002
BYU scored two runs in the sixth inning and held off Air Force for a 3-2 win in a Mountain West Conference baseball game, Thursday, April 25, at Larry Miller Field in Provo, Utah.
BYU's Jeff Mousser and AFA's Matt Kaercher battled in a pitcher's duel Kaercher threw his fifth complete game of the season while Mousser went 8.1 innings. Kaercher gave up just three runs, all earned, on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He held the Cougars without a hit in the first, second, fourth, fifth and eighth. Mousser earned his seventh win of the season as he gave up two runs, both earned, on five hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk. Tyler Dabo came on in the ninth and picked up the save. Mousser held the Falcons without a hit in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
Air Force, 21-22 overall and 8-11 in the MWC, took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Adam Howes singled up the middle and then stole second. Josh Phifer's single to left center put the Falcons on the board.
BYU, 17-23-1 overall and 10-9 in the conference, scored two in the sixth for a 2-1 lead. Matt Carson was hit by pitch and Dave Jensen reached on an infield single. With one out, Rob Itri's double to left-center field scored both runs. The Cougars took a 3-1 lead in the seventh. Lars Birkeland and Doug Jackson reached on ground ball singles. Birkeland scored on Cameron Coughlan's sacrifice fly.
The Falcons' rally in the ninth came up short. Phifer reached base when he was hit by pitch for the 11th time this season. Dabo came on in relief and Bowie Frost singled to left field to put runners on second and third with two outs. Steve Winters' infield single to third base scored Phifer to make the score 3-2. The game ended with Falcons on first and third.
Winters led the Falcons, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. He was the only Falcon with more than one hit. Howes stole two bases in the game, increasing his season total to a league-leading 22.
The win for BYU broke a four-game losing streak and ended Air Force's three-game winning streak.
Game two of the series is Friday, April 26, at 7 p.m. at Larry Miller Field. Pitcher Ryan Adams, 3-5, will start for the Cougars and battle Falcon hurler Johnny Koegel (5-4). The series concludes Saturday, April 27, at 1 p.m.
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