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Show DAILY THE CHR UTAH 00 y fill JEN SMOCK Chronicle Sports Writer Utah-BY- U series. V!SrrvS5i Low-Scori- Series ng show up." The Cougars were able to score just enough to PROVO Used to be when the Utes and Cougars got together fans had to wear earplugs because the sound of baseballs cracking off bats would eventually make their ears bleed, Now. 11 s e sound f e ball whizzing past the batter and into the catcher's mitt that annoys Adam Castieton cou!J not connect on this pitch. That sums up the 77 Sweeps Utes in BYL7 people. "It was an anemic performance by the offense," Utah baseball coach Tim Esmay said. "Everything else was finc.our offense did not hold off the Utes. sweeping the three-gam- e series. The Cougars moved to 8- in the MWC, 2 overall, while the Utes dropped to 5 in the con- overall. BYU took the games ference and -i 17-1- 4-- 5- 13-- and The sweep enabled the Cougars to remain in first place in the MWC. The Utes plummeted to fourth. Both teams' pitching were comparable this series; the only deciding factor was the Cougars 2, 4-- 2 E 1 M M ONICL 4-- 3. r x ability to put more people on base than could the Utes. The Friday and Saturday games would see the Utes get eight and 10 hits, but score only two and three runs, respectively. "We're not getting good quality bats when the game is on the line," Esmay said. "When you leave eight on base and you don't score, then you're not doing your job." Eight of BYU's pitchers climbed the mound against the Utes. Led by sophomore Jeff Stone, who gave up eight hits in his nine innings, the Cougars gave up only 26 hits in the series. Utah used only six pitchers and gave up only two more hits than BYU. But the Utes couldn't score, as they left 18 runners stranded in the series. That meant Utah had few standout performances at the plate. Utah sophomore Adam Castleton hit theonly home run of the series during Friday's game, recording two RBI. Utah's right fielder Jed Chrisman stepped up Saturday, going 3 and drove in the first run of the game. BYU answered Utah in convincing fashion by immediately scoring three runs in the same inning. The Cougars held the lead and eventually won Saturday's game was similar, as the Cougars won "These are two evenly matched teams and both programs have good pitching right now," Esmay said. "BYU just got some timely hitting and we didn't." Utah held the Cougars to a relatively low number of runs, but struggled and recorded seven errors in the three-gam- e series. "Our defense has been pretty solid all season," Esmay said. "Our errors didn't cost us anything.. .the offense just had a tough weekend." Adding to Utah's frustration were the calls made by the umpires throughout the series. Esmay ventured out on the field twice to exchange words with umpires. "When you have 23 away games this far into the seasori, you get tired of calls going against you," Esmay said. "Every call that meant something in the series went against us; you can see our frustration." Utah will have only a short time to recuperate from the losses to BYU, as it takes on New Mexico this weekend.. "We have three days to get ready and focused for New Mexico next weekend," Esmay said. The Lobos currently stand in second place in the MWC, behind only BYU. Chronicle Sports Editor Brandon Winn contributed to this story, 3-- 4-- 3. " h ' - 4-- 2. " Nate Weese slid into BYU shortstop Nate Mathis but could not break up this double play. Flab Not Finding A Spot With Utes BRANDON WINN Chronicle Sports Editor Ron McBride doesn't have outrageously curly hair, nor does he oil his body up so much it glistens in the sun like a freshly-waxe- d Corvette, but he's doing his best to act like Richard Simmons during spring football. NCAA Pushed Barkley Out Emc McBride isn't pumping out weight-los- s videos, but he on some the of is keeping a close eye the portlier Utes. During the offseason, McBrrde made getting in shape a priority for his players. And he has his players under close inspection. From what McBride has seen, his poorly-produc- see FOOTB ALL, page CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR ed WALDEN Chronicle Sports Columnist Year after year, the NCAA why its underclassman bas ketball players abandon their eligibility to pursue their NBA dreams a year or two or three in advance. It also is befuddled as to why an increasing number cf hoops stars opt to bypass the college game altogether for a chance to go straight to the pros. The organization which over high-scho- ol 11 BRANDON WINN WINNCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU 581-704- 1 sees college athletics would like to be able to chalk this trend up solely to the ample economic opportunities the NBA provides, but it goes much deeper than that. If the NCAA truly wants to figure out why so few of its best players want to stick around for a see WALDEN, page 11 |