The BYU softball team now stands at 18-12 after five games in the San Diego Classic II this weekend. Pitching a no-hitter against UC Santa Barbara, junior McKenna Bull continues to shine, as does freshman Libby Sugg who hit her 13th home run of the season.
Splitting their doubleheader on Thursday, the Cougars shut out Harvard 2-0 and fell to Long Beach State 6-0.
“I thought both of the pitchers we faced today did a nice job,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We struggled at the plate today, but some of that credit goes to Long Beach State’s pitcher for a great game.”
After three scoreless innings, Lauren Bell’s double brought Alexa Strid home and in the following inning, Libby Sugg’s solo homer put BYU on top 2-0.
BYU’s win against Harvard was their seventh shut-out of the season and Olivia Sanchez threw a career-high six strikeouts.
The Cougars couldn’t get out of their own way against Long Beach State, committing six errors in the 6-0 loss.
Friday brought another doubleheader, with a 6-3 win over Fresno State and a 3-2 loss to San Diego State.
Defeating the Bulldogs was BYU’s second upset of the season and it was a team effort. Great pitching from Bull kept Fresno State at bay, while hits from McKenzie St. Clair, Lauren Bell, Madison Merrill, Ashley Thompson and three RBI from Sugg pushed BYU ahead.
Next, the team fell to San Diego 3-2 after the Cougars’ only error gave the Aztecs an unearned run.
Taking an early lead, BYU scored a run in the third inning after Thompson’s single brought home Gordy Bravo. The Aztecs responded with two runs in the follow inning – a solo home run and an unearned run.
Bravo scored again in the fifth, but the team was unable to match San Diego’s additional run in the sixth inning.
The team finished the tournament out strong with another shut-out, blasting UC Santa Barbara 8-0.
Bull threw her second solo no-hitter in the game, posting seven strikeouts and just one walk in the win.
Next week, BYU will play its first home game of the season against Utah Valley University at 5 P.M. MDT. The game will be televised live on BYUtv with live stats available on the BYU schedule page.
