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Gail Miller Field
Gail Miller Field Provo UT 84601
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| Posted: 3 Apr 2012 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
PROVO, Utah — Extending its home win streak to 29 games, the BYU softball team took two against Southern Utah, winning 8-0 and 6-4 on Tuesday at Gail Miller Field.
Junior pitcher Hannah Howell recorded the win in game one and the save in game two. The save was the seventh in her career, tying Paige Affleck for most in a career at BYU.
Senior Tiffany Messerschmidt went 6 of 7 on the day, including 4 for 4 in the first game, adding two runs, a stolen base and an RBI.
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“We obviously had to find ways to win today,” said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. “We weren’t dominant offensively, defensively or on the mound, so we had to try to look for opportunities to generate runs and get outs. I think that’s a credit to the team that they did that and found a way to win.”
BYU secured the first game against SUU in five innings after getting seven runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The game remained runless until the bottom of the fourth, when Messerschmidt singled to second, batting in Ashlee Brawley for the first run of the game.
The Cougars took their second run on an error by the SUU shortstop in the bottom of the fifth, sending Stacie Toney home for an unearned run. With the bases loaded, Manuma stole home to pick up BYU’s third run. BYU continued to chip away with RBI singles from Krista Hicks, Jessica Dugas and JC Clayton before Toney came up for the second time in the inning and singled to left field. The hit brought in the final two runs to end the game on the mercy rule.
Game Two
The Thunderbirds took an early lead, 1-0, in the top of the second in game two. Senior Delaney Willard got things going for the Cougars in the bottom of the third, belting a home run into right field over the fence. Willard’s homer brought both JC Clayton and Jessica Dugas in to give BYU a 3-1 lead.
After SUU tied the game with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth, BYU came back to answer in the bottom of the fifth. Things started to get exciting for the Cougar faithful in Miller Park as Katie Manuma advanced to second on an error by the Thunderbirds. During the following play, Brawley singled but then advanced to second on a throw as Toney came home.
After SUU tied the game with two runs of their own in the top of the fourth, BYU came back to answer in the bottom of the fifth. Things started to get exciting for the Cougar faithful in Miller Park as Katie Manuma advanced to second on an error by the Thunderbirds. During the following play, Brawley singled but then advanced to second on a throw as Toney came home.
The Cougars tallied two more runs in the sixth on two outs off a grounder by Clayton and a squeeze bunt from Willard brought in runs by Dugas and Messerschmidt to give BYU a 6-3 advantage. These runs would later prove to be crucial as the Cougars would need them to avoid extra innings.
With bases loaded and just one out in the top of the seventh, it appeared the Thunderbirds were all but done but SUU’s Mallory Wilkinson’s reached first on an error to make things interesting. The Thunderbirds scored on the error but SUU was unable to overcome the deficit, as the subsequent hitters were unable to find their way to base.
Sophomore Tori Almond went to 6-2 in the win with six strikeouts in five innings. Willard led all hitters with four RBIs.
BYU will host No. 15 Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday in the biggest home series of the year. The Cougars will play the WAC leaders at 6 p.m. on Friday before playing a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. MT. Saturday's games will be shown live on BYUtv.
Sophomore Tori Almond went to 6-2 in the win with six strikeouts in five innings. Willard led all hitters with four RBIs.
BYU will host No. 15 Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday in the biggest home series of the year. The Cougars will play the WAC leaders at 6 p.m. on Friday before playing a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m. MT. Saturday's games will be shown live on BYUtv.
jchristiansen
| Posted: 2 Apr 2012 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
PROVO, Utah - The BYU softball team plays five games this week at Gail Miller Field, starting off with a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 3, against Southern Utah before playing three games over the weekend against No. 15 Hawai'i, the current Western Athletic Conference standings leader.
BYU is currently 21-10 and 3-2 in the WAC after winning two against UMKC and losing two at Fresno State last week. The Cougars are currently 1.5 games behind the league leader Hawai'i, which is 5-1 after sweeping its series against New Mexico State over the weekend.
BYUtv will nationally televise the second Southern Utah game along with both games against Hawai'i on Saturday.
Southern Utah
Tues., Apr. 3
3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. MT
No. 15 Hawai'i
Fri., Apr. 6
6 p.m. MT
Sat., Apr. 7
1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. MT
COUGAR QUICK FACTS
— BYU is 118-23 (.837) all-time against in-state opponents, including a 37-3 record vs. SUU.
— BYU hosts Hawai’i for the first time in series history this weekend. The Rainbow Wahine are the first ranked team to play at Miller Field since Apr. 24, 2008, when No. 19 San Diego State played a doubleheader against the Cougars and the highest ranked team since No. 9 Arizona State played BYU in an NCAA Regional on May 19, 2007. Hawai'i is the highest ranked team to ever play a regular season game in Provo.
— Picking up her second WAC Hitter of the Week award a week ago, senior Delaney Willard has emerged as an All-America candidate. The right fielder is ranked in the NCAA top-15 in six different categories, including batting average (4th, .483), slugging percentage (4th, 1.000), RBI per game (3rd, 1.45), on base percentage (5th, .578), home runs per game (12th, 0.39) and home runs (14th, 12).
— BYU is currently on a 27-game home win streak, good for second longest in the country. Last season, the Cougars went 14-0 and they are 6-0 at home this year. BYU also has a 37-game, regular season, non-conference win streak, having not lost since Southern Utah earned a 10-5 victory on Apr. 11, 2006.
OPPONENT NOTES
SOUTHERN UTAH
• BYU has a 23-game win streak against the T-Birds, having not lost since 2006. In the last six games since 2010, BYU has outscored SUU 62-6.
• Mikkel Griffin and Terysa Dyer both bat above .400 for SUU, with Griffin leading the team at .427 with 44 hits, eight doubles and eight home runs.
• In the circle, Heather Black has a 2.57 ERA and 13-9 record with 92 strikeouts and 132 hits allowed.
• Southern Utah is currently tied for No. 3 in the Summit League standings at 8-4 behind only North Dakota State (8-1) and Western Illinois (10-2).
• Among common opponents, BYU went 2-0 against UMKC while SUU went 2-1 against the Kangaroos last weekend.
HAWAI'I
• Hawai’i is making its first-ever trip to Gail Miller Field, having never played in Provo.
• The Rainbow Wahine are atop the WAC standings with a 5-1 record, 1.5 games ahead of the Cougars.
• Hawai’i leads the conference in pitching with a 0.83 ERA - Fresno State is second all the way down with an ERA of 2.55. Stephanie Ricketts has an ERA of 0.90 in 21 appearances with an 18-2 record and 154 strikeouts. Kaia Parnaby has a 0.71 ERA in 12 apperances, currently with an 11-1 record.
• The Rainbow Wahine can also hit, leading the WAC in slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored and home runs.
• Hawai’i won its first 21 games of the season before losing to Texas on Mar. 13.
• Among common opponents, BYU and Hawai’i have both defeated UMKC, Memphis, Portland State, Cal State Northridge, Idaho State, UC Santa Barbara and New Mexico State. Hawai’i also beat DePaul, a team to which the Cougars lost while Hawai’i was defeated by Texas A&M, a team BYU has both beat and lost to this season.
UNBEATABLE AT HOME
The Cougars have the second-longest home win streak in the nation, having currently won 27 in a row, including a 14-0 season last year. BYU is 6-0 this season at Miller Field. Louisiana-Lafayette has a 31-game home win streak, currently the longest in the nation.
GRAND OLE TIME
BYU players have hit four grand slams this season, including two by senior Delaney Willard (Cal State Northridge, Purdue) and one each by senior Stacie Toney (No. 14 Texas A&M) and freshman Megan Arnold (UMKC). The four grand slams is tied for third-most by a BYU team in a season behind five from the 2010 squad and six by the 2003 team.
