The BYU softball team has a 1–4 record at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. BYU beat UNLV but gave up wins to No. 11 LSU, Oklahoma State, Northwestern and UC Santa Barbara.
The Cougars underwent their first loss in their first game against No. 11 LSU, scoring only six runs to ten. BYU had 11 hits with a two-run bomb by Megan Arnold. BYU tied the game up 6–6 in the sixth inning. But LSU answered in the seventh with a grand slam off of Hannah Howell to take the victory.
“It’s hard to take a loss,” outfielder Alexandra Hudson Shamo said. “But that is a top 15 team in the nation and we battled them. There are bright spots in our game.”
The Cougars lost their second game to Oklahoma State. Their bats were not so hot and had only five hits in the game. BYU pitcher Tori Almond had five strikeouts in six innings. BYU rallied to bring in one run in the last inning but were not able to bring in another and lost 3–2.
On day two BYU won its first and only game of the tournament against UNLV. Again, the Cougars rallied in the final innings and were pulled off a 5–3 win. Howell threw her second win, and it was her best game of the season. Shamo led the team offensively with three hits in four at bats.
“I’m trying to be confident in the practice that I’ve done,” Shamo said. “If you hit the ball three out of 10 times you’re a good hitter. But by allowing myself to fail and learn from it instead of letting it cripple me has been beneficial.”
On the last day of the tournament, Northwestern had a three-run seventh inning rally for the 4–1 win. A Cougar error and passed ball put Northwestern in position to score. The Cougars’ only run was also earned on a wild pitch that allowed Shamo to score and hold the lead until the fourth inning.
The Cougars gave up one last win in a 12–10 loss against UC Santa Barbara. BYU’s Katie Manuma had a grand slam in the Cougar rally in the bottom of the seventh.BYU tied the game 10–10 in the final inning but UCSB answered with two for the win.
“I know we fell short. but hitting that grand slam was a great feeling.” Manuma said. “We had a lot of errors but Hannah pitched a great game. It felt great to come back and get those runs for Hannah.”
BYU softball now sits on a 5–10 record and heads back to California next weekend to play in the San Diego Classic.
