Gail Miller Park rang with cheers for Cougar Softball as the team beat Utah Valley University Wolverines 3-1 Tuesday night.
With a recent victory over San Jose State, the Cougars entered the game with a 34-13 record. The Wolverines came to the field with an overall 29-22 record, hoping to make a showing against their neighboring school.
BYU boasts a 12-4 record in the WAC, ranking them as second in the conference. UVU maintains a 10-10 record in their own conference, the PCSC. The cross-city competition fostered positive rivalry between the two teams,who are scheduled for another game Wednesday night in Orem.
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With half the line-up already batted, Sophomore Katie Manuma stepped up to the plate and hit a home run in the bottom of the third. Her hit ran Senior Delaney Willard in as well, advancing the score to 3-1.
Dugas stole second as Messerschmidt batted, remaining the only batter left on base at the end of the fourth inning. Neither BYU or UVU scored a run or made an error during that inning.
In the fifth inning, the Cougars struggled defensively as Sophomore Katie Manuma made two errors, allowing freshman Kelli Fox and freshman Jessica Uresti to advance to first and second respectively. The runners advanced again when junior Kylee Brinkerhoff hit a single to third base. Despite the blunders, however, BYU managed to prevent UVU from scoring in the fifth. With no hits, no runs, and no errors from UVU in the fifth, the Cougars experienced a quiet inning.
Two strikeouts came as a result of Junior Hannah Howell’s performance on the mound in the sixth inning.The final inning brought no runs for UVU, ending the game at the top of the seventh with a final score of 3-1.
Coach Gordon Eakin was disappointed with the way the team performed, especially defensively.
“We just didn’t play well in any area of the game,” he said. “There was no passion, no drive and no post-season urgency.”
Pitcher Hannah Howell felt the defense needed help, but adopted an optimistic outlook for the upcoming games.
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“We just got to come out, make sure we’re ball first and getting the runners,” she said. “We can always find stuff we need to work on, but I think these games leading up to the tournament are going to help a lot.”
This victory adds to BYU’s winning streak at home, making nine straight wins. Delaney Willard led the team with a batting average of .444 and Katie Manuma supported the offense with two RBIs. Hannah Howell finished with a 2.44 ERA, adding to her overall 17-7 winning record.
The Cougars will play the Wolverines at UVU tomorrow at 5 p.m. They are also preparing for a weekend series in Las Vegas on Friday at 3 p.m. and again on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.
