BYU-SUU
BASEBALL: Ryan Pond chalked up home run No. 16 as he led BYU to a 7-3 victory Friday, before winds and Southern Utah turned the tables in the nightcap with an 8-5 defeat over the Cougars.BYU scored three runs in the first inning, starting with Gary Johnson's bunt to score Michael Wirrick. SUU scored one in the first and tied the game at 3-all in the second when Kurtis Yocum scored off Pond's error.
Johnson's double down the right field line in the fifth scored Chris Circuit for the go-ahead run. Johnson scored off Pond's single. Circuit hit a homer in the seventh.
Pond's solo homer led off the seventh inning of the nightcap. He started the scoring for the Cougars with a one-run double in the first inning.
The Thunderbirds took a 5-3 lead in the three-run third inning. BYU's Isaac Iorg hit a solo homer in the fourth, but the T-birds' Gavin Duckworth scored off a Shane Belliston error in the bottom of the inning to score the deciding run.
BYU's record is 15-15, while SUU is 9-24 as both teams square off again for a doubleheader today at noon.
Brigham Young
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Looking to regain its position atop the national rankings, the third-ranked BYU men's volleyball team (20-1, 13-1) handed No. 2 Pepperdine (18-2, 13-2) a three-game sweep in front of 5,286 fans at the Smith Fieldhouse on Friday.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 20-1, marking the third time in BYU history the Cougars have won 20 or more matches in a season.
BYU tallied 33 blocks on the night, led by Ryan Millar with nine and Hector Lebron with seven. Offensively, five BYU starters tallied 11 or more kills, led by Ossie Antonetti with a team high 21.
The two teams will square off again tonight at 7 at the Smith Fieldhouse.
MEN'S SWIMMING: Starting strong at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships Friday, BYU's Dmitri Malinovski took seventh in the nation in the 100-yard breaststroke and Arunas Savickas took 13th in the 200-yard freestyle.
BYU finished the second day of competition in 22nd place with 15.5 points.
MEN'S GYMNASTICS: With the Cougars taking first on both vault and still rings, the BYU men's gymnastics team tied Stanford for third place Friday at the Mountain Pacific Championships. BYU finished with 224.275 points while Nebraska and Oklahoma tied for first with 228.775.
Junior Cortney Bramwell was the highlight for the Cougars, taking first on both the vault and the still rings. On vault he scored a 9.900, and on rings he came close to repeating last week's perfect score as one judge gave him 10 points and the other gave him 9.90 to officially record his score as 9.950.
Two Cougars led BYU on floor exercise, with Guard Young and Bramwell scoring 9.650.
On parallel bars, Bramwell and David Patten led the Cougars with 9.350 points and on the high bar, Brandon Fitt had the best score with 9.800 points.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: Picking up its second WAC win of the season, BYU defeated SMU 7-2, Friday in Dallas.
The Cougars swept the doubles competition and took four of six singles matches.
Utah
ACADEMICS: Sophomore gymnast Shannon Bowles has been named a GTE/CoSIDA District 8 Academic All-American.
Bowles, who has a 3.81 cumulative GPA in exercise and sport science (pre-med emphasis), is one of 10 at-large selections who are now eligible for the Academic All-America Team.
Utah State
KSL, USU INK CONTRACT: In a milestone for the 111-year university, Utah State has signed a three-year contract with KSL-TV for unprecedented coverage of the football, men's basketball and Title IX programs.
The three-year contract with Salt Lake City's top-rated television station calls for an annual minimum of five televised USU games -- two football, two basketball and one Title IX contest that likely will be women's gymnastics.
Weber State
FOOTBALL: With the conversion from quarters to semesters, Weber State's annual spring football practice sessions have been moved up nearly three weeks, with the Wildcats opening 1999 spring practice drills Monday.
The 'Cats will practice Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays each of the next four weeks, beginning at 2:50 p.m. and concluding at approximately 5:30 p.m. All weekday practice sessions are scheduled to be held at the WSU practice field on the southwest edge of campus, directly north of the high-rise Promontory Dormitory.
All practice sessions are open to the general public and media.
Junior colleges
UVSC BASEBALL: The College of Southern Idaho swamped Utah Valley State College 12-4 in the first game of a Scenic West twinbill Friday, then scored 12 runs in the final inning to take a 20-12 lead in the second game, which was suspended on account of darkness.
CSI improved to 21-9 on the year with the win, and 7-6 in Scenic West play. UVSC slipped to 12-17 and 5-4. The loss was the fourth in a row for the reeling Wolverines.