CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – BYU softball battled back from an early deficit to beat Fresno State 7-3 in the team’s final day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Saturday.

“Our team came to play tonight after falling behind 3-0 right out of the gate in the first inning,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “Arissa (Paulson) pitched an excellent game. Our defense was strong and our offense fought our way back.”

After Fresno State (7-6) got on the board early in the top of the first, BYU (6-9) came back by scoring seven unanswered runs on 10 hits. Briielle Breland crushed a home run to right center, her second of the season. Rylee Jensen and Libby Sugg both went 2 for 3 while Alexa Strid went 2 for 4 from the plate.

Paulson kept her composure after a Bulldog batter hit a three-run homer to left center in the first inning and had six strikeouts from the circle. The Cougars responded by scoring one run of their own in each of the first four innings.

Jensen led off for BYU with a walk to start the bottom of the first. Strid singled down the left field line with two outs, bringing Jensen home to trail 3-1.

In the second frame, Brooke Vander Heide bunted to third base. Jensen then doubled to center and Vander Heide came across to make it 3-2.

Lexi Tarrow and Sugg hit back-to-back doubles to left field and down the right field line, respectively. Tarrow crossed home on Sugg’s hit to even it 3-3 in the third.

In the fourth inning, Breland sent a home run to right center to take the 4-3 lead.

Paulson also contributed at the plate with a single to right field in the bottom of the sixth. Ashley Godfrey came in as a pinch runner for Paulson. After Jensen singled to left field to advance Godfrey to second, Tarrow walked before Sugg singled to right center, driving in both Godfrey and Jensen for a 6-3 advantage. Strid then singled to left center as Tarrow crossed home for the final run.

BYU vs. Fresno State Box Score

The Cougars will play four games next week at the Husky Classic hosted by Washington in Seattle from March 2-3.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball heads to Cathedral City, California, this week to compete at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic Thursday through Saturday.

BYU Game Notes

The Cougars (4-6, 0-0 West Coast Conference) will face two ranked teams along with three other matchups. They open the tournament with a doubleheader against No. 11 Tennessee at 10:00 a.m. PT and Missouri at 1 p.m. PT. On Friday, BYU play No. 4 Oklahoma and CSUN at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., respectively. The tournament will wrap up for the Cougars Saturday with Fresno State at 7:30 p.m. PT.

All games will be played at the Big League Dreams Complex in Cathedral City, California, and can be streamed on FloSoftball with a subscription. Links to the stream and live stats will be available on the BYU softball schedule page.

BYU STORYLINES

• BYU ranks No. 8 nationally in home runs per game with 1.50. Nine Cougars have hit 15 homers in 10 games so far this season, led by Libby Sugg’s four. Caitlyn Alldredge, Bridget Fleener and Allie Hancock have each crushed two while Briielle Breland, Ashley Godfrey, Madison Merrell, Alexa Strid and Lexi Tarrow have one apiece.
• At the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, BYU will face two ranked teams who lost their first games of the season last week: No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 11 Tennessee. The Sooners fell from the top spot after losing to Boston University, 3-4. The Volunteers were ranked No. 10 last week before dropping a 2-3 loss to Florida Atlantic.
• Sophomore pitcher Arissa Paulson earned her second career West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week Award in the second week of play. She pitched 18.2 innings over three games for BYU with a 2.41 ERA. Paulson tallied 19 strikeouts while giving up just five earned runs in her contests. She finished with an opposing batting average of .164, scattering just 11 hits over 18.2 innings.
• Junior catcher and team captain Libby Sugg has been named to the 2018 USA Softball College Player of the Year Watch List. She earned NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team honors and was named to the All-WCC Second Team last season. Sugg led the team in RBI and home runs with 56 and 13, respectively, while hitting .356.

OPPONENTS OUTLOOK
No. 11 Tennessee | Thursday, Feb. 22 | 10:00 a.m. PT | FloSoftball

• The Lady Vols finished the 2017 season with a 48-12 record, 16-7 in SEC play.
• Tennessee advanced to the Knoxville Super Regional last season, beating Texas A&M once and falling to the Aggies twice.
• UT leads in the overall series 6-1, most recently winning 15-3 on February 11, 2016, in the Kajikawa Classic. The Lady Vols were ranked No. 8/9 at the time.
• Co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly enter their 17th season at the helm of the Tennessee program. They have compiled a record of 803-245-2 at UT.

Missouri | Thursday, Feb. 22 | 1:00 p.m. PT | FloSoftball

• In 2017, the Tigers had a 29-28 overall record, going 7-16 in the SEC.
• Mizzou competed in the Eugene Regional in 2017, where it dropped two games to Wisconsin and Illinois-Chicago.
• Missouri carries the edge in the overall series, 2-1. In the last meeting, the Tigers took home a 9-0 win on May 19, 2016, in the Columbia Regional.
• Gina Fogue became Mizzou’s interim head coach on Jan. 29, 2018, after serving as an assistant coach since 2013 and director of operations from 2011-12.

No. 4 Oklahoma | Friday, Feb. 23 | 3:00 p.m. PT | FloSoftball

• The National Champions for two-consecutive years posted a record of 61-9, 17-1 in Big 12 play.
• Oklahoma beat Baylor, Washington, Oregon and Florida twice in the 2017 College World Series.
• The Sooners lead the overall series with the Cougars, 5-0. Last year at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, Oklahoma earned a 7-1 victory.
• Patty Gasso enters her 24th season as the head coach at OU, compiling a 1,146-322-2 while there.

CSUN | Friday, Feb. 23 | 8:00 p.m. PT | FloSoftball

• The Matadors finished 2017 with a 31-22 overall record, 11-10 in Big West competition.
• BYU leads in the overall series, 5-1, most recently winning 4-1 on Mar. 2, 2012, at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
• Head coach Tairia Flowers has been at the helm of the CSUN program for four seasons. She has collected a coaching record of 137-87.

Fresno State | Saturday, Feb. 24 | 7:30 p.m. PT | FloSoftball

• In 2017, the Bulldogs went 35-23 overall and 14-9 in the Mountain West.
• Fresno State advanced to the Seattle Regional last season, beating Montana and falling twice to Michigan.
• The Bulldogs lead in the overall series, 10-6. BYU most recently won last year, 8-6, at the Fresno State Invitational.  
• Linda Garza is in her second year as head coach at Fresno State. She has a career record of 180-158-2 as a head coach.