BYU-UNM Brawl Leads to Suspensions

The verdict is in.

The Mountain West Conference on Monday suspended five UNM and four BYU baseball players after a heated exchange between UNM’s Quay Grant and BYU’s Chris Capper escalated into a bench-clearing brawl at the conclusion of Saturday’s matchup in Provo, Utah.

The MWC reviewed tape of the brawl over the weekend before meting out discipline. All told, the conference punished 12 players, handing out everything from public reprimands to suspensions.
Of the most serious, Grant, Luke Campbell, Jonathan Mata, John Twichell and Cory Maltz will serve a three-game suspension starting immediately. The MWC also shelved BYU’s Ryan Bernal, Bret Lopez, Brock Luker and Blake Torgersen for three games for their roles in the altercation. The four Lobos will miss today’s road opener against Texas Tech and Wednesday’s game in addition to the first game of UNM’s three-game series against UNLV, slated to start Friday.

Lobo catcher Mitchell Garver was also issued a warning for flashing an obscene gesture, but will not miss any action. BYU’s Wes Guenther was hit with a public reprimand for “unduly provocative actions” toward another player.

Head coach Ray Birmingham said in a text Monday that he couldn’t talk about the brawl because of MWC rules. BYU head coach Vance Law was reprimanded by the conference for critical remarks he made following Saturday’s melee. He told the Daily Herald on Saturday that UNM provoked the brawl.

“My office is right where they (New Mexico) walk through (after the game). I could hear comments they were saying to some of the family who wait outside my door for their players to come out, saying we needed to have Fredette today to hit a 3-pointer. That fired our guys up,” Law said. “I say this a little bit conservatively, but at the same time that even though we’re a Christian school there’s nothing wrong with competing. You can’t get pushed around. As long as we play hard within the rules, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

At least two verbal run-ins precipitated the fight, according to several online reports. In the ninth inning of a contentious ballgame, BYU’s Austin Hall threw Twichell out at home. Twichell and BYU catcher Guenther exchanged words before being separated by umpires, the Daily Herald reported. Then in the handshake line, Capper and Grant got into another verbal spat, this time ending with Grant pushing Capper. That’s when all hell broke loose.

Grainy footage of the fight shows a chaotic mob of players’ flailing arms as coaches and umpires dash madly to separate the two squads. Helmets and gear are strewn across the field, but it’s unclear in the video who threw punches. After about half a minute, both sides are separated and walk back to their respective dugouts.

The Daily Herald reported that both Birmingham and Law were summoned and reviewed the tape to determine who threw punches. Originally, only Torgerson and Grant were suspended, but the MWC deemed further action necessary after consulting with the institutions athletics directors.

The MWC said players could be further punished if they are involved in any unsporting behavior the rest of the season. The MWC and UNM said they would have no further comment about the brawl.

Saturday’s fisticuffs is just the latest episode in a contentious rivalry between UNM and BYU. Last March, head basketball coach Steve Alford was reprimanded after cameras caught him calling BYU’s Jonathan Tavernari an “asshole” after Tavernari apparently refused to shake Alford’s hand following the Lobos’ 83-81 win in Provo, Utah.

Alford’s tongue-lashing was but a blip on the radar compared to the Elizabeth Lambert YouTube sensation in November 2009. Footage showed Lambert clearly yanking Kassidy Shumway down by her ponytail during the MWC women’s soccer semifinals, before delivering an elbow shiver to the back of another player. Lambert was indefinitely suspended for her actions and wasn’t reinstated until the next season.