LAS VEGAS -- Top-seeded New Mexico was eliminated by BYU Friday afternoon, 6-3, to start the third round of the Mountain West Conference Baseball Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, they were eliminated themselves later in the evening when San Diego State downed BYU, 11-7.The Utah baseball team also fell out of the Mountain West Conference Tournament after a 10-5 loss to Air Force on Friday. The Utes made it through the third round of competition before succumbing to their second defeat of the tournament.
Utah scored five runs on 11 hits but was unable to capitalize on five Falcon errors. Air Force consequently scored 10 runs on 13 hits, going through six Utah pitchers in the game. The Utes finished the 2000 season with a 26-30 record and tied for third in the Mountain West Conference.
In BYU's first game of the day, senior pitchers Micah Mangrum and Rusty Gray combined for the victory and save in holding the Lobos at bay in the 91-degree heat to advance for a rematch Friday evening against San Diego State.
"I was going to leave it all out there and put it on the table," said Mangrum in what may be his final appearance for the Cougars. "When they got on I focused harder and seemed to bear down more."
Doubles in the second inning by Matt Carson, Seth King and Cameron Coughlan gave BYU a 3-0 lead. A 6-4-3 double play with two Lobos on and one out spared Mangrum in the second.
Las Vegas native Nick Day led off with a BYU single in the third and he ran the bases well enough to score off Kainoa Obrey's single. Another double play cut short a Lobo rally after Troy Cairns scored following his leadoff double in the third.
Another leadoff runner scored for UNM as more drama unfolded in the fourth. With two outs, BYU second baseman Nate Mathis' tag on Mark Okano was stripped to move runners to third and second before the inning ended.
Day scored again through alert base-running after being hit by a pitch in the fifth after Carson beat out a double play. Mangrum struck out Dusty Young to end the sixth with two men on. Again with two men on in the seventh and no outs, Mangrum struck out MWC Player of the Year Aaron Sisk for the second time.
Rusty Gray replaced Mangrum in the eighth with two on and no outs. After Carson made a diving catch on the right field line, Gray struck out the next two Lobos looking and Aaron Stanley was ejected for arguing the call.
"The name of the game is pitching and if we got that we had a chance to win," said BYU coach Vance Law. "Micah came right out in the first inning and went after people and that set the tone for the game. We played solid and turned a couple of key double plays."
Mangrum ended his season with an 8-8 record as a starter with a career 16-19 mark in 61 appearances.