New uniforms, similar result: Cougars fall again to juggernaut Wildcats

The Friday night lights shone brightly at Gail Miller Field as the BYU softball team aimed to get back in the win column against the No. 11 Arizona Wildcats.

Debuting their new uniforms, the Cougars sought a fresh start in their opening homestand after being shut out 8-0 in Thursday’s home opener.

The Wildcats entered the game on a tear, having won nine of their previous ten contests.

The Cougars, on the other hand, had been road warriors with a 20-6 record in road or neutral-site games, they are looking to bring that road success to Provo.

After going down early 1-0 in the first inning, it didn’t take long for BYU to respond. Junior Maddie Udall-Woolley, in her only at-bat of the game, hit a single that brought Aleia Agbayani home with the bases loaded.

The game began to open up after that, with both teams flexing their offensive muscles over the next two innings. By the end of the fourth, the score stood at 8-5 for Arizona.

Jada Villegras, who pitched five of the seven innings, faced tough competition against the high-powered Wildcats. Arizona managed to score eight runs against her before she was substituted by Kate Dahle, and later Alyssa Aguilar who finished the game in the final inning.

With the Cougars needing to keep pace, they were rewarded with a big home run from Hailey Morrow, her sixth of the season.

Any positive momentum BYU tried to build from Morrow's hit was quickly extinguished when Arizona’s Logan Cole hit a line-drive triple, bringing in three more runs for the visitors. On the very next play, Cole was driven home, expanding the lead to 15-6.

In the bottom of the 7th, with the Cougars in a hole once again, three straight infield outs concluded the game, making this the final score.

BYU coach Gordon Eakin emphasized the need to improve pitching going forward.

"We fought a little bit better offensively, but our pitching was not good," he said. "They (Arizona) have good zones, and they made us throw strikes, and oftentimes, we didn’t."

Eakin stressed the importance of pitching as the top priority in the upcoming games. He explained that allowing batters to walk on base opens the door to unnecessary pressure on the defense.

"We get to their big hitters with runners on base, and then they hurt us," Eakin said. "The biggest disappointment wasn’t the fight of the team; even the pitchers fought hard, but we just need to pitch better. We had bright spots here and there throughout the offensive lineup, but the bottom line is, if we don’t pitch better than that, we can’t beat teams like this."

BYU will face their Utah County rival, the UVU Wolverines, Tuesday.