PROVO — During their four-hour, 12-inning baseball game late Saturday night, BYU and Utah combined for 38 hits.
But the outcome was decided by, of all things, a bases-loaded walk.
With two outs and the bags full of Cougars in the 12th inning, Utah freshman pitcher Jared Snyder walked BYU freshman outfielder Ryan Chambers to score Matt Carson from third base. That lifted the Cougars to a wild 10-9 victory in the finale of a three-game series between the arch rivals. Many of the 2,611 fans in attendance at Larry H. Miller Field stuck around until the end.
The game, which began at 8 p.m. in order to avoid conflicting with LDS Church General Conference, concluded a few minutes after midnight Sunday. In the eighth inning, it appeared that Chambers had won the contest for BYU when he poked a two-run single that put BYU on top, 9-8. "I thought the game was over," Chambers said. "I was pretty confident. But things happen."
Like an RBI single by Utah's Brit Pannier to tie the score (9-9) in the ninth.
Still, it appeared the Cougars had the win sewn up, again, in the 10th. BYU's Dave Jensen singled to lead off that frame and, two batters later, after Jensen had advanced to second base, Ranger Wiens singled for the Cougars. When Jensen tried to score on the play, he was caught in a rundown between third and home and was tagged out. BYU eventually stranded Wiens at third.
Then, in the 12th, the Cougars enjoyed a zero-out, bases-loaded situation. At that point, Chambers, who had Rob Itri and Wiens ahead of him in the batting order, never dreamed he'd have the opportunity to step into the batter's box.
Instead, Itri and Wiens both hit the ball in the infield and suddenly the bases were loaded with two outs. So Chambers got his chance to be the hero again.
Snyder, an Alta High product, walked Chambers on four straight pitches to end the marathon. "As soon as I got up, the game plan was to take the first strike," he said. "Once I got two balls on me, I was taking all the way."
Amazingly, Snyder, who's also a catcher, caught the first eight innings before taking the mound to pitch the final 3 2/3 innings. He also went 3-for-5 from the plate.
Cougar relief pitcher Tyler Dabo tossed the last 3 2/3 innings and yielded only one hit. Dabo earned his first victory.
E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com