May 24, 2011

Mick McGrane
Mountain West Senior Writer

• 2011 MW Baseball Championship Central
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SAN DIEGO - Junior Trey Porras' one-out single to center in the top of the 11th inning scored Jacob Nelson with the winning run as No. 6 seed New Mexico beat No. 3 seed BYU 5-4 Tuesday in the opening round of the 2011 Mountain West Baseball Championship at San Diego State's Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The Lobos (17-39), who took two of three from the Cougars during the regular season, will face No. 1 seed TCU (40-15) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT.

Nelson, who came into the game batting .207, tied the game 4-4 with a one-out pinch-hit homer to right in the ninth off BYU starter Matthew Neil. It was the first home run of the season for Nelson.

Lobos freshman third baseman D.J. Peterson, who came into the game as the fifth-leading hitter in the league, finished 4-for-5 with an RBI triple in the fourth and a run-scoring single in the eighth that helped New Mexico erase and two-run deficit and tie the game 3-3.

"When you've got a young team like we do, it's just a matter of keeping them up and not letting them beat themselves up," said Lobos coach Ray Birmingham. "They have to have the attitude that 'I want to pitch in those situations; I want to hit in those situations.' You've got nothing to lose."

BYU, which fell to 29-26, will face the loser of Tuesday night's contest between No. 4 seed San Diego State and No. 5 seed UNLV at 3 p.m. PT on Wednesday.

"We're really disappointed we didn't come out with a win," said Cougars coach Vance Law. "Pitchers from both sides fought well, but we were not able to come up with a big hit with two outs. That's the way baseball is. The breaks went New Mexico's way."

Junior centerfielder Stephen Wells went 3-for-5 for BYU, while second baseman Dane Nielsen finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• New Mexico (17-39) ... improves to 15-22 in Mountain West tournament games ... sophomore Jacob Nelson delivered a pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth inning, his first homer of the season ... senior righthander Rudy Jaramillo matched a career-high with nine strikeouts ... junior righthander Gera Sanchez picked up the win in relief, his second of the season.

• BYU (29-26) ... falls to 24-21 in Mountain West tournament games ... set a new MW single-game record with six double plays turned in the contest, one off the NCAA record of seven ... freshman Jaycob Brugman in two of those double plays from the outfield ... used four pitchers in the game ... tied for the fourth-most team at-bats (44) in MW tournament history.

OTHER NOTES:

• 11-inning contest tied the Mountain West tournament record for longest game in terms of innings.

• Third time in the MW tournament's 12-year history that the opening game went extra innings.

• Fourth extra-inning game in Mountain West tournament history overall.

For more information on the 2011 Mountain West Baseball Championship, follow the MW on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TheMWC and www.Twitter.com/TheMWCOlySports. For the latest news from around the league, become a Facebook fan at www.Facebook.com/MountainWestConference, check out its official YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/MountainWestConf, and read the league's official blog at www.TheMWC.com/blog.