Seven homers lead BYU to two final wins in Vegas

HENDERSON, Nev. – Seven home runs on the day led the BYU softball team to two wins, a 19-4 win over UTEP, followed by another run-rule win against Fordham 11-3 on its final day of the Boyd Gaming Rebel Classic on Saturday afternoon.

"We played two solid games today even though we started slow in both games," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Our bats were alive and our pitching took control. I liked our teams effort today.

Rylee Jensen clubbed three over the fence, including two against Fordham (4-5, 0-0). Jensen went 4 for 5 on the day, hit three home runs, driving in six runs, scoring six times and walked three times.

Olivia Sanchez also hit two home runs against UTEP (2-4, 0-0), including a grand slam. She went 3 for 4 at the plate with six RBI in the game. Libby Sugg, Emilee Erickson and Marissa Chavez all tallied dingers on the day and Erin Miklus went 3 for 3 against UTEP scoring three runs and two RBI.

Autumn Moffat and Arissa Paulson both took wins in the games as Moffat had eight strikeouts and allowed no earned runs against UTEP.

In both games, the eight-run rule was applied as BYU (4-4, 0-0) came out on the winning end of both big games.

Game One

In the first game of the day, BYU exploded for five home runs, including a grand slam, tallying 16 hits and 17 RBI across the team with no errors. The Cougars doubled their total runs through the first six games in the game recording 19 runs against the Miners.

BYU vs. UTEP Box Score

BYU scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. Jensen drew a walk followed by a sacrifice bunt from Miklus to advance Jensen to second. Erickson and Sugg both walked to load the bases. Jensen came home on a passed ball to make the score 1-0. Martha Epenesa drew a walk and Olivia Sanchez reached first on a fielding error bringing Erickson home and the Cougars ended the inning ahead 2-0.

A UTEP home run for their first at bat brought the score to 2-1. With a three-run home run two batters later, the Miners took the lead at 4-2.

In the top of the second, Jensen homered and Sugg sent one over the fence tallying three RBI to make the score 6-4. The Cougars’ bats stayed hot in the top of the third and added seven runs, including a two-run dinger from Sanchez and Marissa Chavez’ first BYU career homer to make the score 13-4.

BYU continued to fire on all cylinders in the top of the fourth as Miklus nailed a double to right center and Jensen scored to make the score 14-4. Sanchez blasted a grand slam to bring the Cougar run total to 18. BYU tacked on one more and the Miners were unable to score a run and the Cougars took the win 19-4.

Game 2

BYU continued its scoring spree into the second game of the day but Fordham took an early lead in the first inning. A two-run homer followed by a solo shot put the Rams up 3-0.

BYU vs. Fordham Box Score

But, the Cougars came out swinging in the bottom of the second scoring six runs. Sanchez and Morgan Bevell both got on base, before Aubrielle Paulson came in as a pinch runner for Sanchez. Tarrow singled driving in Aubrielle Paulson and Jensen sent a ball flying over the fence to give BYU its first lead of the game 4-3. Erickson hit a dinger to left field and Sanchez, in her second at bat of the inning, hit a double and Sugg made it home. The Cougars ended the inning ahead 6-3.

In the bottom of the third, BYU tallied two more runs as Jensen hit her third home run of the day making the score 8-3. The Cougars tacked on the final three runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 11-3. After the top of the fifth inning, the eight-run rule was applied and BYU won 11-3.

Next up, the Cougars continue on the road at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic for five games. BYU kicks off its tournament schedule on Thursday Feb. 21 with a game against Nebraska at 10:30 a.m. PT followed by a game against Missouri at 1:00 p.m. Live stats can be found on the schedule page.