PROVO, Utah - With rain coming down most of the game, the BYU softball team managed to get a 3-1 win over Utah Valley in a shortened five-inning contest at Miller Field.

Starting pitcher Hannah Howell pitched the complete game, striking out six and giving up no walks to improve her record to 12-7 and help give BYU its 14th-straight win over Utah Valley (24-14-1).

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Senior Tiffany Messerschmidt went 2 for 2 with a walk for the Cougars and has 11 hits in her last 13 at bats over the last five games. Delaney Willard added two RBI on one hit with two walks.

BYU (25-12) took the lead on a single by Willard with the bases loaded in the third inning. Two runs scored off the hit and a third came home after the UVU centerfielder misplayed the ball, giving the Cougars a 3-1 lead.

After two more walks the Cougars loaded the bases again with one out, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the threat. BYU also put three runners on in the fourth inning with a chance to add to the lead but again stranded all three.

After playing through the rain for most of the contest, the game went to a rain delay in the bottom of the fifth. After approximately a half hour, the umpires called the game, giving BYU the win.

BYU next hosts Utah State in a Western Athletic Conference series with a game on Friday, Apr. 13, at 6 p.m. MT and a doubleheader the following day beginning at 1:30 p.m. MT. Friday's game will be broadcast on BYU Radio while the Saturday games will be shown live on BYUtv.

PROVO, Utah - After defeating No. 15 Hawai'i last weekend, the BYU softball team (24-12, 4-3 WAC) plays two in-state opponents, facing Utah Valley before hosting Utah State in a three-game Western Athletic Conference series over the weekend.

Utah Valley
Wed., Apr. 11
6 p.m. MT
BYUtv

Utah State
Fri., Apr. 13
4 p.m., 6 p.m. MT
BYU Radio

Sat., Apr. 14
1:30 p.m. MT
BYUtv


COUGAR QUICK HITS
— BYU is 120-23 (.839) all-time against in-state opponents, including a 22-1 record vs. UVU and a 25-2 record against Utah State. At Miller Field, BYU is 16-0 vs. the Wolverines and 12-1 vs. the Aggies, with the lone loss occuring in 2006.
— BYU head coach Gordon Eakin is five wins away from 400 career victories with a record of 395- 172 in his 10th year at head coach.
— With the newest RPI rankings released on Monday, BYU was ranked 30th, second-highest in the WAC. The Cougars have wins over two current top-10 teams, including Oregon at 9th and Hawai’i at 10th. All but one of BYU’s 12 losses have been to teams ranked 56th or better.
— BYU’s regular season, non-conference home win streak of 39 consecutive games is still intact. The Cougars have not lost since Southern Utah earned a 10-5 victory on Apr. 11, 2006. BYU had a 29-game home win streak, the longest in program history, snapped last weekend in a 1-0 loss against No. 15 Hawai’i.

UTAH VALLEY
•    Utah Valley had a four-game win streak snapped on Tuesday in a 8-7 loss in Logan to Utah State in the third game of an eight-game road trip.
•    Amanda Robinson leads UVU with a .343 average and 37 hits, eight home runs and a .639 slugging percentage.
•    In the circle, Tiffany Mills has a 2.39 ERA to lead the Wolverines. Cassie Herrera is the other pitcher with a 3.63 ERA and 7-4 record.
•    UVU has an RPI of 113, second-best in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference where BYU will play beginning next season.

UTAH STATE
•    The Aggies have an RPI of 187, last among Western Athletic Conference teams.
•    Utah State is 2-7 in the WAC, winning one of two in series against Louisiana Tech and Nevada and being swept at Fresno State last week.
•    BYU has won five-straight against Utah State, outscoring the Aggies 35-6 over that time.
•    This is the first time in 27 games that the two teams will meet as conference opponents.
•    Christine Thomsen has had a great year for USU, hitting .396 with 42 hits on the year while also drawing a team-high 16 walks.
•    Three Aggie pitchers have thrown at least 40.0 innings or more, including Mandy Harmon who leads Utah State with a 6-13 record and a 4.56 ERA.

GETTING OUT EARLY...OR NOT
Of BYU’s 24 wins this season, the Cougars have won eight in less than seven innings so far this season due to the mercy rule. However, in the Cougars’ 16 other victories, seven have come by just a single run.

TOP NOTCH
BYU’s Delaney Willard hit a home run in seven of the Cougars’ first 10 games, including a streak of four-straight games from Feb. 11-17. Willard also hit a home run in four straight in early April last year. The two marks tie the senior for the third-longest such streak in NCAA history and make her the only person in NCAA history to have two streaks of four games or more in a career.

A two-time WAC Hitter of the Week, Willard has emerged as an All-America candidate. The right fielder is ranked in the NCAA top-20 in six different categories, including RBI per game (5th, 1.40), slugging percentage (8th, .920), home runs per game (13th, 0.37), batting average (14th, .440), home runs (14th, 13) and on base percentage (19th, .537).