PUERTO VALLARTA, Mex. – BYU softball was unable to hold off the Oregon Ducks in a 3-1 loss on Friday night in the second day of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.

"Oregon's pitcher, Brooke Yanez, pitched an incredible game," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "You just have to tip your cap to her. We will learn some valuable lessons from tonight and grow from the experience."

Game Highlights:

• Freshman Carley Brown earned her first start in the circle in the game against Oregon. She went four innings with only two runs in the game while Arissa Paulson finished out the last three innings, giving up just one unearned run. 
• The hitting was highlighted by Morgan Bevell who tallied a double followed by Rylee Jensen-McFarland who blasted a triple to score Bevell.

Player Highlights:

• Carley Brown: 4.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 2BB
• Rylee Jensen-McFarland: 1-3, 1RBI, 3B
• Morgan Bevell: 1-2, 1R, 2B

BYU vs. Oregon Box Score

Oregon (2-0) scored the first run of the game as their leadoff batter walked and came around to score later in the first inning to go up 1-0.

In the third inning, the Cougars (2-1) got on the board. Bevell hit a ball over the center fielders head and made it all the way to second base for a double. Miklus followed grounding out to the shortstop but advancing Bevell to third base.

With BYU at the top of the lineup, Jensen-McFarland smashed a ball to the left-field fence to score Bevell for an RBI triple to even the score at 1-1.

However, a walk as well as an error ultimately scored two runners in the top of the fifth inning to give the Ducks at 3-1 advantage. The Cougars were unable to score a run in the bottom of the seventh and suffered their first loss of the season 3-1.

BYU will play its final game of the Puerto Vallarta Challenge against No. 3 Oklahoma Saturday, Feb. 7 at 8:30 p.m. CT.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball will travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge and face four different teams to begin the 2020 season.

BYU at Puerto Vallarta Game Notes

The Cougars will play George Washington and Nevada on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. CT, respectively. Then on Friday, Feb. 7, BYU will face Oregon at 6 p.m. CT before closing out the tournament against No. 3 Oklahoma in a Saturday night contest at 8:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Sooners are coming off an appearance in the Women’s College World Series, losing to UCLA in the final game. 

All four games will be played at Nancy Almaraz Stadium in Puerto Vallarta with live streaming on FloSoftball with a subscription. 

20 Years of BYU Softball. The start of the 2020 season marks the 20th anniversary of the start of BYU softball. February 4, 2000, the Cougars defeated Sacramento State 3-2 in San Jose to start the program off with a win. In the 20 years, BYU has captured 14 conference titles and made 16 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Head coach Gordon Eakin has been part of the BYU softball program since its inception and took over the head coaching duties in 2002.

Ranked Opponents. Throughout the 2020 season, BYU will face four top 25 preseason teams including No. 3 Oklahoma at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. 

Back to Mexico. This will be the Cougars fourth trip to the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. Last season, BYU faced two ranked teams and took down No. 18 Baylor in its second game of the tournament. In 2017, the Cougars came home with a 2-2 record also beating No. 13 Washington. At the inaugural tournament in 2015, BYU won all four games. 

Return to the WCC. This will be BYU’s seventh season as a member of the West Coast Conference after joining in the 2014 season. Since its first season, BYU has claimed the WCC Championship the last six-straight years. Last season, BYU earned three of the top season awards including Player of the Year (Lexi Tarrow), Pitcher of the Year (Arissa Paulson) and Defensive Player of the Year (Erin Miklus) as well as having seven players be named to the All-WCC teams. 

BYU Record Book. Left fielder Rylee Jensen-McFarland returns for her senior season at BYU already ranked in multiple categories in the BYU record books. Jensen-McFarland ranks top 10 at BYU in career batting average (.350), runs (143) and on-base percentage (.444). Only a junior, starting pitcher Arissa Paulson ranks top ten at BYU in career wins (33), complete games (31), shutouts (7) and strikeouts (280).

Opponent Outlook

George Washington | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 10 a.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 0-0
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
Under Eakin: ---
Longest win Streak: ---
Last win: ---
Longest Losing Streak: ---
Last loss: ---

Nevada | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 12:30 a.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 5-3
Home: 0-0
Away: 3-0
Neutral: 2-3
Under Eakin: 5-3
Longest win Streak: 3 
Last win: 8-0, 2/17/19
Longest Losing Streak: 3
Last loss: 20-10, 2/15/19

Oregon | Friday, Feb. 7 | 6 p.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 4-10
Home: 1-0
Away: 0-8
Neutral: 3-2
Under Eakin: 3-10
Longest win Streak: 1, four times 
Last win: 6-5, 3/25/14
Longest Losing Streak: 4
Last loss: 1-0, 3/30/17

No. 3 Oklahoma | Saturday,  Feb. 8 | 8:30 p.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 0-7
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-3
Neutral: 0-4
Under Eakin: 0-6
Longest win Streak: --- 
Last win: ---
Longest Losing Streak: 7
Last loss: 5-0, 2/22/19