Following a tough 7-2 loss to in-state foe Weber State on Tuesday, BYU softball took to Gail Miller Field on Friday looking to take down Salt Lake Community College.
In a game riddled with pitching struggles, quiet at-bats, and errors, the Cougars took the field with a vengeance, earning a dominating 13-1 victory.
Pressure was high, even for an exhibition game. Not because of the loss, but because of who was in the stands: their parents.
As the saying goes, pressure makes diamonds ... or gems, as BYU coach Gordon Eakin calls his players.
Disaster struck early for the Bruins, when starting pitcher Paige Fennel gave up three consecutive walks in the first inning with 2025 All-American I'lovea Brittingham up to bat.
The stage was set, and she did what she does best: slug the ball hard, fast, and deep. Speed machines Lily Owens and Hailey Shuler were able to cross home plate, setting the Cougars ahead early at 2-0. Already, they had matched their runs from the game prior.
In the second inning, the Cougars embraced their inner Taysom Hill. Owens hit a ball deep between second and third, and Lexi Bennett hurdled right over it to land herself safe at third.
The next play, transfer Hailey Shuler drilled a ball down that same path. Owens found herself hurdling to land safe at third. Though Shuler was out at first, the Cougar-turned-hurdlers found themselves up 3-0.
Not long after, veteran Hailey Morrow drilled a ball deep onto University Parkway, giving BYU a 6-0 lead.
"I think it just comes down to we're having fun together as a team," Morrow said about her home run. "So we're able to trust each other and know, like, we can pass the bat and just being confident in each other."
The ball kept rolling for the Cougars. In the first at-bat in the third inning, Maddie Udall-Wooley smacked a home run right past the "Y" logo that marks the middle of the outfield. In a matter of minutes, BYU had seven runs on the board.
Errors were the gift that just kept on giving for the Cougars. Jaelynn Lambert reached first base on an error, stole second, and then reached third on an error. Both she and Kaiya Fabela, who catapulted a short ball in front of pitcher Aubrie Hansen, would have been out if not for the mistake of the infield.
Instead, BYU earned yet another run, as Lambert successfully reached home plate and Fabela was safe at first. BYU ended the third inning up 8-0, courtesy of Bruin blunders.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, errors were a double-edged sword. Replacing Kaysen Korth in the fourth inning, Mares stepped into the circle. After SLCC hit a high ball between first and second, first baseman Irma Urincho and infielder Mansfield both rushed to the ball, colliding into each other and falling to the dirt. What would have been an out, caught by Urincho, dropped out of her hands as she fell to the pitch.
In an attempt at redemption, Urincho ran to catch the next foul ball. Yet, she didn't realize her runner was booking it toward second base. The next hitter hit short, giving an opportunity to for her teammates to reach both second and third.
Eakin took several trips to the mound to talk to the clearly shaken pitcher Gianna Mares. In her final pitch, she hit Bruin Hannah Barlow, leaving the bases loaded as Korth came back in to hopefully save the situation. After two straight strikeouts, Korth had successfully gotten the Cougars out of a nail-biter situation.
Duke transfer Shuler shifted the momentum pendulum back to the Cougars after hurling a ball straight down the foul line, good for a double. Home run hitter Morrow stepped back up to the bag, launching the third pitch she saw clear out of Gail Miller Field.
In a matter of minutes, the Cougars went from a scary situation to back up 10-0. BYU couldn't be stopped. Brittingham slugged a ball down the opposite foul line, giving herself a triple. With one out, the Cougars were not stepping down.
The errors came back in clutch for BYU. As Lambert bunted the ball, Brittingham came sliding in. What should have been an out was dropped, and she was safe at home. The scoreboard read 11-0, with six innings left to play.
After mistiming a throw to first in the fifth inning, Bre Townsend didn't hesitate when the ball came straight to her. The batter was out, and with her reflexes, the hit she gave up was out at first too.
SLCC's Hansen didn't go unavenged. In the fifth inning, pitcher Mataeya Trellert hit Rita Tavita in the helmet, allowing her to walk to first base. The next batter bunted and sprinted to first, with a ball mishandling leaving both her and Tavita safe. Next up to bat, Owens crushed a ball between two infielders, giving Bennet a chance to run straight home. BYU was now 12-0 and nowhere near slowing down.
With two on base and two outs, Morrow stepped up to bat, and crushed it deep into the outfield for a double, sending Danica Acosta, pinch runner for Owens, home. BYU was now comfortably sitting at 13-0, with five innings to go.
Despite a quite sixth inning for both teams, the Bruins did not give up. With two on base and zero outs, relief pitcher Shuler found herself in a hard situation. SLCC batter hit a sacrifice fly, allowing them to score one run. In the seventh inning, the Bruins had finally earned their first run, the scoreboard reading 13-1.
Though she struck out the next batter, Shuler was replaced by sophomore pitcher Jada Villegas for the final stretch. She successfully pitched the Cougars out of the seventh inning.
Fall schedule games are an opportunity for both teams to learn, so coaches agreed to play to either 10 innings or a three-hour duration, whichever happens first.
After a scoreless seventh inning for BYU, the Cougars took the field for the eighth and final time for the night. Villegas recorded two consecutive strikeouts, only giving up one hit before sealing the BYU win with a third strikeout.
Villegas owns her role of being a closer.
"Last year, I kind of was in this role of being a closer, and so just ... coming into this year, I felt confident and calm enough to go into the situation and do my job," she said, shrugging as if it was no big deal.
Teammates ran to celebrate with each other and their families. Morrow reflected about winning big after a loss.
"Well, it's all about bouncing back. Sports is all about adversity, and so [it] kind of lights a fire on you ... We came back and played, how we know that we can play, so we just got to keep that going."
Villegas shared that sentiment, saying, "Yeah, that was definitely a good win to have. You know, we were definitely expected to come out here and win, so it was just nice to have fun and also just get that 'W'."
Home run hitter Morrow didn't hesitate to credit her teammates.
"It takes everyone, one through twenty-two," she said. "We have to have everyone with us, and when we go together as a team, we can do great things."
BYU softball takes the field again for a Blue and White game on Monday, at 6 p.m. for the next game in its fall slate.