By Adam Olsen
By: Adam Olsen
The BYU baseball team was cool as could be Thursday (May 24, 2007) in the Nevada desert, dispatching the New Mexico Lobos 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference baseball tournament.
New Mexico jumped on the Cougars early and led twice during the game, but a calm, composed BYU team ended up leaving the Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas triumphant.
?I thought our guys had a real quiet confidence today,? coach Vance Law said. ?There were no pre-game jitters, and we played really well. We came through when we needed to.?
?We just tried to treat this game like any other,? Cougar pitcher Jake Worthem said. ?I?m just glad I got the chance to help the team start out right.?
Worthem started on the mound for BYU, and, despite giving up three early runs to the Lobos, guided the Cougars to a win.
?Jake dominated the strike zone and played extremely well,? Law said.
Teammate Apana Nakayama said Worthem controlled the tempo and allowed the Cougars to come back and win the game.
?Jake got guys off balance,? he said. ?It seemed like they were hitting at his tempo, not their own. Jake?s such a competitor. He wants to win every time he?s out there.?
?I felt like I was in good control of the game,? Worthem said. ?The Lobos are a solid team. They?ve got good speed and good bats. We were just a little better in each category.?
While Worthem anchored the Cougar defense, Nakayama led a steady BYU offense. Nakayama put the Cougars? first two runs on the board with a home run in the third inning, and again sparked the offense in a three-run seventh to give BYU the win.
?I just found some balls to drive today,? Nakayama said. ?I found my pitch in the third inning, and it felt really good to score some runs. When we?re down early sometimes we feel the pressure, but everyone started rolling and feeling our groove. Our bats really started waking up.?
New Mexico scored the game?s first two runs in the second inning when sophomore outfielder Max Willett singled to center field to score teammate Adam Courcha. Lobo senior Jay Russell then caught the Cougars off guard, stealing home plate after Cougar catcher J.T. Musso tried to pick off Willett at second base.
Nakayama brought in center fielder Stephen Wells with his home run over the right-field wall to tie the game at two, but the Lobos scored again in the fifth when Worthem was called for a balk, sending Russell home.
Worthem said the call made him a little frustrated, but then he settled down to take care of the game.
Worthem didn?t allow any more runs, and fellow pitcher Matt Jensen, who came into the game in the eighth inning, earned his fourth save of the season.
Law said the early deficits didn?t affect the Cougars? confidence.
?We know that it?s never over till the last out is made,? he said. ?One team can appear to be controlling the game, but one error, one walk or a base hit can change the game.?
The Cougars took the lead for good in the seventh inning. Wells scored after an errant throw from Lobo first baseman Daniel Stovall, and then BYU third baseman Steve Parker brought in two more with a double to left field.