Thank goodness for the rare triple play Utah pulled off in the second inning of Thursday's game with BYU. If not for that 8-4-2 play with the bases loaded, who knows how many runs the Cougars would have scored off the Utes in the first of a three-game series at Franklin Covey Field.
As it was, the Cougars scored plenty in their 19-4 victory by putting up numbers in every inning except the second when the Utes got out of a jam with the unusual play.
The triple play developed like this: Ute center fielder Matt Ciaramella caught Lars Birkeland's line drive and fired to second baseman Adam Castleton to force a runner. Then Castleton turned and threw to catcher Donald Hawes who tagged out BYU's Rob Itri trying to score from third.
It was the only highlight of the day for the Utes, who dropped to 12-13 in the Mountain West Conference. Otherwise it was all BYU, which improved to 13-11 in the tight race for second place.
After what coach Vance Law called a base-running "fiasco," the Cougars came back in the third to score four runs and go up 5-2 and added at least one run every inning through the ninth when they tacked on six more.
Law was thrilled with his team's hitting, which has taken off recently as the Cougars have reeled of five straight victories after losing six of their previous seven. He was especially happy with sophomore shortstop Ranger Wiens who smashed two home runs after coming into the game with just one on the season.
"He hits a lot of line drives, but we made a little bit of an adjustment," said Law.
Wiens opened the fifth inning with a solo homer and smacked a two-run homer in the eighth.
He was one of four Cougars who had three hits on the day, including Doug Jackson, Matt Carson and Birkeland.
Jeff Mousser pitched six innings and improved to 8-4 with the win and Sam Fernley shut out the Utes over the last three innings. Cheyenne Rushton lasted only until the fourth for Utah and fell to 7-5 with the loss.
The Utes and Cougars were to play Friday afternoon and will conclude the series Saturday at noon.
"The beauty of baseball is that you get to play the next day no matter if it's 4-3 or 19-4," said Ute coach Tim Esmay. "We're going to have to dig down."
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