PROVO, Utah - The seniors on the BYU softball team stepped it up on Senior Day to bring in nine of the thirteen runs scored en route to sweeping San Jose State 3-2 and 10-2 on Saturday’s doubleheader.

Seniors honored included Jessica Dugas, Krista Hicks, Tiffany Messerschmidt, Stacie Toney and Delaney Willard.

“It was very important that we held our home field and played a team that I’m really impressed with,” said BYU coach Gordon Eakin. “Our seniors have all been to every regional while they’ve been here. With the way we played this weekend in being 35-13, I think we’re headed to their fourth regional."

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BYU (35-13, 12-4 WAC) combined for 18 hits with tough defense, holding the Spartans to four runs and seven hits while turning three double plays on the day. With the sweep, the Cougars are in the hunt for their fourth-straight conference championship and first in the Western Athletic Conference with one weekend of WAC play left in the regular season.

Game 1

Top contributors for the first game included Toney who gained two RBI, Messerschmidt who had two runs and Tori Almond who threw eight strikeouts.

San Jose State got a quick two runs in the first inning thanks to an early home run to start off the game. The Cougars retaliated with Dugas, Messerschmidt and JC Clayton earning base hits.

With the bases loaded, Toney doubled to send home Dugas and Messerschmidt and BYU went into the second inning tied, 2-2.

Toney gained a double to left field in the bottom of the fourth, but the Cougars were unable to take advantage of the hit and the teams continued on to the fifth inning still tied.

In the top of the fifth, the Cougar defense stayed strong, including its second double play of the game. Messerschmidt got off a hit and took advantage of a San Jose State error in the bottom of the fifth to make second base. Delany Willard then hit a double, gaining an RBI and the lead for the Cougars at 3-2 where BYU held on for the win.

PROVO, Utah - In its final home conference series of the season, the BYU softball team will host San Jose State this Friday and Saturday at Gail Miller Field.

BYU (32-13, 9-4) will play one game on Friday against the Spartans (25-21, 8-5) that will be followed by fireworks that evening. The two teams will play a doubleheader the following day after which five Cougar seniors will be honored, including Jessica Dugas, Krista Hicks, Tiffany Messerschmidt, Stacie Toney and Delaney Willard.

San Jose State
Fri., Apr. 27
6 p.m. MT
BYUtv

Sat., Apr. 28
1:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. MT
BYUtv


COUGAR QUICK HITS
— BYU will honor five seniors on Saturday following the doubleheader, including Jessica Dugas, Krista Hicks, Tiffany Messerschmidt, Stacie Toney and Delaney Willard
— Head coach Gordon Eakin won his 400th game on Friday at Louisiana Tech, the most in BYU softball history. His current record of is in the top-20 among active coaches in career win percentage (403-173, .700)
— San Jose State is making its first-ever trip to play in Provo, as was the case with fellow WAC opponents New Mexico State and Hawaii, each of which came to Miller Park this season.
— Senior outfielder Delaney Willard has emerged as an All-America candidate and is currently ranked in the NCAA top-21 in six different categories, including RBI per game (2nd, 1.49), slugging percentage (7th, .911), batting average (7th, .452), home runs per game (20th, 0.33), on base percentage (19th, .539) and home runs (21st, 14).
— With the newest RPI rankings released on Monday, BYU was ranked 37th, second-highest in the WAC behind Hawai’i at 18th. The Cougars have three wins over top-20 teams. San Jose State has an RPI of 88.

SAN JOSE STATE
• BYU is just one game ahead of San Jose State in the WAC standings at 9-4 to San Jose State’s 8-5. The Spartans have wins against Hawai’i and Fresno State but also lost games to Nevada and Utah State.
• Before last season, the two teams played against each other three straight years, with SJSU winning in 2008 and the Cougars claiming wins in 2009 and 2010.
• On April 17, San Jose State knocked off No. 16 Stanford 2-1 at home. The Spartans also have wins against Wisconsin and Oklahoma State.
• Jessica Garcia is the reigning WAC Hitter of the Week after hitting .563 with three doubles, a home run and 13 RBI on the week. In the first game against Utah State, she hit three doubles while in games two and three she had a total of nine RBI. The catcher has a .281 average on the year with 36 hits, 37 RBI and four sacrifice flies, good for eighth in the nation.
• Michelle Cox leads all SJSU players with a .328 average and 43 hits, only four of which have gone for extra bases. Cox also had a conference best 19-game hitting streak earlier this season.
• Amanda Pridmore is one of the best pitchers in the WAC, coming in with a 2.16 ERA and 153 strikeouts. She has been the pitcher of record in the Spartans’ last nine games and 13 of the last 14.

LAST WEEK
PROVO, Utah - After finishing finals, BYU made its first-ever trip to play in the state of Louisiana, coming out with two wins in three games.
Louisiana native Hannah Howell pitched the best game of her career, throwing a 1-hitter against the Lady Techsters in a 5-0 Cougar victory. Jessica Dugas went 3 for 3 with three runs, an RBI and two walks for BYU.
Game two resulted in a 6-4 loss after BYU gave up all six runs in a single inning. Howell pitched again in the third contest and earned another victory in BYU’s 5-1 win. JC Clayton went 3 for 4 while Delaney Willard and Katie Manuma each had two hits and a single RBI apiece. Senior Krista Hicks also hit her first home run of the season.