PROVO — It was Hitters' Revenge Day at Cougar Field on Thursday.
Prior to the season, BYU pushed back its outfield fences and, as a result, outrageous slugfests that for years had been so common in Provo became a dying breed. After six Mountain West Conference games this year, the scoring average — for the Cougars and their opponents combined — was a little more than seven runs per contest.
Then came Thursday. UNLV, the MWC cellar-dwellers, arrived to face BYU pitching ace Jeff Stone. No matter. The batters ruled.
Together, the two teams banged out 26 hits, including five home runs, two of which were grand slams. In the end, the Rebels defeated the Cougars, 12-6.
BYU coach Vance Law wasn't surprised to see balls flying out of Cougar Field like in days of yore. "I know if you hit it well, the ball is going to carry in this altitude," he said. "The home runs hit today were legitimate. There were no cheap ones. I'd just prefer us hitting more than the other team."
The longest homer belonged to Cougar third baseman Kainoa Obrey, who drilled a solo shot in the fifth inning that traveled to the deepest part of the ballpark, over the 400-foot sign in straightaway center field. It put BYU on the scoreboard, but by then UNLV had already posted five runs.
Fielding miscues and poor pitching doomed the Cougars, who dropped to 10-6 in the MWC (they remain in second place behind 12-2 New Mexico) and 22-18 overall. BYU committed four errors and tossed a few pitches they wish they could have back. To its credit, UNLV (4-10, 11-25) capitalized.
First baseman Trent Kitsch walloped a three-run homer in the top of the first inning and two frames later, he hit another.
Kitsch went 4-for-5 with four runs batted in while catcher Brad Beasley had two hits in four at-bats and knocked in five runs. Beasley all but sealed the win for the Rebels when he got around on a slider offered by Nate Fernley for a ninth-inning grand slam over the left field wall. Prior to that, Law opted to intentionally walk right fielder Adam Manley to load the bases in an attempt to set up a double play.
Beasley's blast followed a furious rally by the Cougars. BYU closed the deficit to 7-5 on a grand slam by right fielder Matt Carson in the sixth inning, which appeared to give the Cougars new life. UNLV added a run in the seventh and BYU answered with a score in the eighth.
Ryan Olson (3-1) earned the win while Stone (7-4) was saddled with the loss.
From the outset, it was obvious Stone didn't have his best stuff. "We got off to a rocky start because Stone got started late and wasn't entirely warmed up," Law said, explaining his No. 1 pitcher wasn't sure of the game's starting time. "Not to take away from what UNLV did today. They played a great game. We kept a couple of balls up in the zone."
For the Cougars, it was not the way they wanted to open this three-game homestand and the second-half of the MWC schedule. With road series at Air Force and Utah in the next couple of weeks, they were looking for a sweep. But that idea was quickly dashed and BYU has now lost three in a row. "We need to take care of business at home," Law said.
UNLV, meanwhile, is rolling, having now won four straight after opening league play with an 0-10 mark.
UTAH 12, SAN DIEGO STATE 4: The Utah baseball team boosts its season and conference records to 17-22 and 8-9, respectively, after defeating San Diego State. The Utes dominated the game with 12 hits.