The University of Northern Colorado's Marcus Lucas (99) and James Schrenk (7) watch as Zach Bauman (35) of Northern Arizona University carries the ball on Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 at Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo. (Eric Bellamy/The Daily Tribune, Greeley, Colo.)

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Zach Bauman ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns as Northern Arizona held off Northern Colorado 21-14 on Saturday.

Bauman had his fifth 100-yard game of the season for Northern Arizona (5-4, 3-3 Big Sky), which ended a two-game losing streak.

Michael Herrick tossed a touchdown pass and Mike Czyz caught six passes for 71 yards for the Lumberjacks, who defeated Northern Colorado for the eighth consecutive time. They haven’t lost to the Bears since 1978.

Dylan Orms threw for 204 yards and a touchdown. He also had a TD on a quarterback sneak for Northern Colorado (2-8, 1-6).

Northern Arizona scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. The Lumberjacks kept the first drive alive with a third-down pass interference penalty to set up Bauman’s 16-yard touchdown run off left tackle.

Herrick found Daiveun Curry-Chapman in stride for a 39-yard touchdown toss after the defense forced a three-and-out with 7:46 left in the first quarter.

Northern Colorado reached the Northern Arizona 6 on a 70-yard pass from Orms to Doug Steele and Orms scored on a sneak two plays later. The Lumberjacks came right back on a 1-yard dive by Bauman.

Trailing 21-7, Northern Colorado got as close as the NAU 8 before Orms was sacked on a fourth-down play late in the second quarter.

Northern Colorado came away empty when Northern Arizona made another stand early in the third quarter. Dylan Kildahl recovered Bauman’s fumble at the Lumberjacks 37, but Dave Eden missed a 36-yard field goal.

The Bears caught a break to cut it to 21-14 with 2:58 left in the third quarter. Orms’ pass from the 13-yard line was deflected by safeties Kasseem Osheroff and Taylor Malenfant to Steele in the end zone.

Linebacker Reid Worthington intercepted a pass by Orms at the Northern Colorado 39 with 3:27 left.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Eastern Washington University's Grant Williams (left) and Jesse Hoffman put the squeeze on Northern Arizona University's running back, Zach Bauman (35), in the 2nd quarter, October 9, 2010 in Cheney, Washington. (AP PHOTO Dan Pelle)

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Eastern Washington’s defense did the rest in a 21-14 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday.

Mitchell completed 20-of-26 passes and had scoring passes of 7 yards to Nicholas Edwards, 20 yards to Brandon Kaufman and 9 yards to Ryan Seto for the Eagles (4-2, 3-1 Big Sky). Mitchell was intercepted twice and sacked twice.

Michael Herrick threw for 188 yards in the first half, but was intercepted three times. He was injured on the last play of the half and didn’t return for the Lumberjacks (3-2, 1-1).

Northern Arizona cut the lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter when the Lumberjacks’ Brian Hunter recovered Taiwan Jones’ fumble in the end zone. Eastern Washington stopped Northern Arizona on downs with 3:37 to play and ran out the clock.

Kaufman caught five passes for 117 yards for the Eagles. One was for 45 yards and set up the touchdown pass from Mitchell to Seto.

Led by J.C. Sherritt’s 16 tackles, the Eastern Washington defense came up with three first-half interceptions, including one by Sherritt in the end zone and another by Jeff Minnerly at the Eagles’ 2.

Northern Arizona’s Chase Stangel relieved Herrick and threw for 90 yards and a touchdown in relief of Herrick. Stangel was 9 of 17 with no interceptions and was sacked once.

The Lumberjacks stayed in the game thanks to five Eastern Washington turnovers. Northern Arizona had the ball for 34:38 and ran 30 more plays than the Eagles.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) — Zach Bauman caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Michael Herrick with 3:07 remaining Saturday to lift Northern Arizona to a 26-23 victory over Southern Utah.

Bauman also scored on a 3-yard run for the Lumberjacks (3-1), finishing with 109 yards rushing, while Herrick completed 23 of 35 passes for 244 yards.

Austin Minefee had 140 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Southern Utah (1-4). Brad Sorensen was 13 of 27 for 154 yards — his lowest passing total of the season.

The Thunderbirds twice had 10-point leads in the first half before Northern Arizona scored nine third-quarter points to take a 19-17 lead.

Minefee put Southern Utah back on top, 23-19, with a 1-yard run with 13:26 remaining. The Thunderbirds had a chance to extend that lead, but Ryan McNamara — who earlier hit a career-long 47-yard field goal — missed a 29-yard try with 9:51 left.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Bauman, a freshman, scored three touchdowns in the first half, including one on a 74-yard run. Michael Herrick threw two touchdowns and was 15 of 25 for 178 yards.

Mustangs quarterback Chris Voller was limited to 85 yards on 13-of-27 passing, and Western New Mexico rushed for only 79 yards on 34 carries.

Austin Shanks caught seven passes for 67 yards for NAU.

It was the Lumberjakcs’ first shutout since the teams last met in 2007, when NAU won 37-0.

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Copyright 2010 The Associated Press

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, right, is presented with a trophy commemorating his contribution to baseball by Arizona Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch (7) prior to their baseball game Thursday, June 10, 2010, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

PHOENIX (AP) — The one-time rising young genius of baseball and his youthful hand-picked manager got the boot in Arizona.

General manager Josh Byrnes, so coveted three years ago that the Diamondbacks gave him a whopping eight-year contract extension, was fired Thursday night along with manager A.J. Hinch, whose team was 34 games under .500 in his less than one full season on the job.

Kirk Gibson, a name as recognizable to fans as Hinch’s was obscure, moves up from bench coach to become interim manager. Former major league pitcher Jerry DiPoto moves from vice president of player personnel to interim general manager.

The shakeup came as the Diamondbacks entered a 10-game home stand cemented in last place in the NL West for the second season in a row, 15 games behind first-place San Diego.

Team president Derrick Hall called the dismissals “a first and major step in the re-evaluation of our team.”

Hinch, 36, is the fourth manager to lose his job this season. Florida’s Fredi Gonzalez, Baltimore’s Dave Trembley and Kansas City’s Trey Hillman have also been fired.

In a statement issued Thursday night, Arizona managing partner Ken Kendrick called the firings “a significant decision, but one that we find necessary in order to achieve a direction of winning consistently on the field again.”

Gibson brings a tough, old-school baseball attitude to his new job.

He hit .268 with 255 home runs, 870 RBIs and 284 stolen bases in 17 seasons as a major league outfielder with Detroit, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City and Pittsburgh. He is best remembered for one of the game’s most dramatic home runs.

Gibson was the Dodgers’ team leader and NL MVP in the 1988 regular season, but injuries to both legs kept him on the bench when the World Series against Oakland began.

In Game 1, barely able to walk, Gibson came to the plate as a pinch hitter in the ninth and hit Dennis Eckersley’s 0-2 pitch into the right field seats of Dodger Stadium to give Los Angeles a 5-4 victory. He limped around the bases, pumping his fist in triumph, as broadcaster Jack Buck uttered his famous “I don’t believe what I just saw!”

Gibson was the Tigers’ bench coach from 2003-2005 and joined Melvin’s staff in the same capacity in 2007.

He takes over a team on pace to shatter the major league strikeout record and with a bullpen, with an ERA just under 7.00, that ranks among the worst the game has ever known.

After a 70-92 finish last season, Hinch confidently said “I like this team” coming out of spring training this year. Quickly, though, the Diamondbacks faded. At one time, they lost 10 in a row, including a franchise-worst 0-9 road trip. When the club returned from that awful journey, Hinch acknowledged, “This group hasn’t responded that well to me.”

The Stanford graduate, a backup catcher for part of seven major league seasons, was 89-123 in not quite 14 months as Arizona’s fifth manager.

“We have a number of talented players, obviously see great room for improvement,” Kendrick said. “This franchise has enjoyed tremendous success over the years and we want to get back to our winning ways. The loyal staff of this organization, as well as all of our fans, hopes for and deserves better results on the field.”

Byrnes, now 40, was just two years out of Haverford College when he went to work in the Cleveland Indians front office in 1994. He followed Dan O’Dowd to Colorado as assistant general manager in 1999, then became assistant to Boston GM Theo Epstein in 2002. In 2005, at age 35, Byrnes became general manager of the Diamondbacks.

In just two years, Arizona — loaded with young talent from its farm system — had the best record in the NL and advanced to the NLCS. Byrnes was one of the hottest names in the game, mentioned for a number of other general manager jobs. That led the Diamondbacks to sign him to an eight-year extension that runs through 2015.

In 2008, Arizona led the NL West for most of the season only to fade down the stretch. The franchise never has recovered.

The Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin in May of 2009 and replaced him with Hinch, the team’s vice president for player personnel. Just shy of his 35th birthday, Hinch had never even been a base coach at any level, let alone a manager.

But Byrnes touted the new manager’s “organizational advocacy.”

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

The Cardinals have escaped the searing summer heat of the Phoenix area to train at the 7,000-foot elevation of Flagstaff since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988. The only exception was 2005, when the camp was moved to Prescott because of a flu outbreak on the NAU campus. The university estimates the camp brings an annual $2 million to the area economy.

Arizona players will report to camp on July 30.