BYU's Madison Merrell earlier this season. She got one of the two hits for BYU in the first game of the NCAA Regionals. (Universe Archives)
The BYU softball team fell to the Tigers 9-0 in a mercy-rule in the first game of the NCAA Regionals.
'Missouri deserves the credit,' BYU coach Gordon Eakin said. 'They took it to us. They hit the ball really well and their pitcher was bringing it. Now it's win or go home.'
This game marked the second loss of the season to Missouri. While the Tigers' bats came alive early on in the game, BYU's Gordy Bravo and Madison Merrell were the only two Cougars to record hits.
McKenna Bull struck out four batters in the loss and dropped to 26-12 on the season.
Missouri was up 7-0 by the end of the second inning with four of those runs from a grand slam by Amanda Sanchez. The Tigers continued to dominate in the third inning with back-to-back hits, giving them a 9-0 lead.
Although BYU held off MU from getting additional runs in the fourth and fifth innings, they were not able to get on the board and fell to the Tigers in a mercy-rule.
BYU plays Louisville on Friday at 3:30 p.m. for the chance to continue in the NCAA tournament. The game will be live on ESPN3 with live stats available on the BYU softball schedule page.