Cougars fall to Colorado State in season opener

ST. GEORGE, Utah—The BYU softball team fell in its first game of the season to Colorado State 4-1 at the Canyons Complex on Thursday.

Colorado State (1-0) earned each of its four runs with two outs and capitalized on some BYU (0-1) miscues to grab the win.

 BYU left seven runners on base in the loss and only had four hits against CSU pitcher Kacie McCarthy. Megan Arnold went 2 for 3 in the game and Carly Duckworth had BYU’s only extra-base hit with a double to left field. Duckworth also scored the only BYU run.

Hannah Howell pitched a solid performance for the Cougars, giving up only four hits and two earned runs to the Rams. Tori Almond relieved Howell in the seventh and sat down three-straight batters, with two strikeouts for the day.

The Cougars allowed Colorado State to grab two runs early and had to climb out of a 2-0 hole in the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Duckworth doubled to left field to start the inning. Arnold followed with her second single of the day to advance Duckworth to third base. Madisen Robb then smashed a line drive to third base and advanced to second on the wild throw. The throw also brought in Duckworth for the first and only Cougar run to cut the CSU lead in half, 2-1. 

Two batters walked to start the top of the sixth and Colorado State took advantage with a two-out double to left center to clear the bases. The two runs gave Colorado State the unneeded cushion, taking the game with three-straight outs in the bottom of the seventh to earn the 4-1 victory. 

The Cougars will look to redeem their loss tomorrow as they play Seattle at 11 a.m. MST and Nevada at 1:30 p.m. MST at the Canyons Complex. Watch for live game updates on Twitter @BYUcougars and on Facebook at BYU softball.