The game — an eight-inning contest — marked the first competition for BYU’s team this fall.
Though the first inning was full of strikeouts and pop flies, the game picked up during the bottom of the second when BYU’s junior infielder Madisen Robb hit a fly ball that allowed outfielder Carly Duckworth to score a run.
“I think it was just good for us to get out on the field together,” sophomore Tori Almond said. “That was the main thing — to play our first game as a team.”
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The Cougars scored two more runs during the bottom of the sixth inning, when Jessica Dugas and Delaney Willard made it home after helpful hits and sacrifice bunts from teammates. The team added another two runs during the bottom of the eighth.
BYU allowed UVU two runs during the beginning of the seventh inning.
Head coach Gordon Eakin said it was more the Cougars’ lack of defense that put the Wolverines’ runs on the board, but the team remained praiseworthy of its opponents.
“[UVU] did good,” Robb said. “They’re a completely new team. They have a full field of freshmen, so they’re dirty and scrappy, but they’re a good team.”
Both BYU players and coaches agreed they weren’t up to full potential during the game.
“We’ve got people out of position, and that does affect you,” Eakin said. “Our offense was not where it needs to be — we’ll get it there. Our defense was not where it needs to be — we’ll get it there. But our pitching was the bright spot of today.”
This game was the closest-scoring game between BYU and UVU softball since 2007, when the Cougars won 6-3 over the Wolverines.
BYU will next be in action on Friday, when the Cougars will take on the College of Southern Idaho.
“We beat ’em and move on,” Robb said.
