CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Lauren Bell lead BYU to a 9-0 win over Virginia and had the only two hits for the Cougars in a 6-0 loss to No. 24 Notre Dame.

"Overall I felt we made some progress today with our pitching and defense," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Our goal is to get better everyday, and I think we accomplished that today. We will need to find more consistency with our offense tomorrow."

Bell went 3-for-4 on the day with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Ashley Thompson reached base in both games totaling four walks and a hit in six at bats. McKenna Bull received the first win of her young career over Virginia (2-8), pitching five innings with six strikeouts and no walks. She also recorded the Cougars (5-7) first shutout of the year.

"McKenna had a nice outing on the mound for us," Eakin said. "She pitched the way she is capable of pitching. In the second game Ashley pitched well, but we had a couple miscues defensively that opened the door for [Notre Dame] on their first two runs."

Game one

After the teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first inning, Megan Arnold singled and Sydney Broderick reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Bell then doubled to bring both in for the first runs of the game. Bell was moved over on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball for the Cougars’ third run of the inning.

After Gordy Bravo was hit by a pitch, Katie Manuma doubled to left field to bring her in and make it 4-0. Thompson was next up and drew her second walk of the day to put runners on first and second. McKenzie St. Clair tripled to score both runners and then scored herself on a throwing error by the shortstop to give BYU the 7-0 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Bull gave up two hits, but struck out two and forced a fielder’s choice to get out of the inning. The two hits by Virginia were its only two of the game.

After no runs were scored in the next two innings, BYU loaded the bases after Broderick was hit by a pitch and Bell and Coco Tauali’i walked. Bravo singled to right field to bring in one and Thompson drew her third walk of the game to make it 9-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Bull struck out the first batter and used two groundouts to seal the five-inning victory.

Game two

Bell singled to right field for the first hit of the game with one out in the first, but the Cougars were unable to capitalize. In the bottom of the frame Notre Dame (8-1) singled, but BYU got its second double play of the year to keep things scoreless going into the second inning.

In the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, Notre Dame grounded into a fielder’s choice and hit a sacrifice fly to give it the 2-0 lead. The Irish added two more in the bottom of the fifth before BYU turned an 8-4-3 triple play to end the inning. It was the second triple play in program history.

Notre Dame finished the scoring with two more in the sixth to take a 6-0 victory.

BYU returns to the field Friday morning in a double header facing Oklahoma State at 10:30 a.m. PST followed by Fordham at 1 p.m. PST.

PROVO, Utah – BYU will face two ranked teams in the Mary Nutter Classic beginning Thursday in Cathedral City, Calif.

Mary Nutter Classic
Feb 20-22
Big League Dreams Complex
Cathedral City, Calif.

Virginia
Thursday, Feb 20 at 10 a.m. PST

No. 24 Notre Dame
Thursday, Feb 20 at 12:30 p.m. PST

Oklahoma State
Friday, Feb 21 at 10:30 a.m. PST

Fordham
Friday, Feb 21 at 1 p.m. PST

No. 2/3 Washington
Saturday, Feb 22 at 8 p.m. PST

BYU
The Cougars had a great offensive output last week scoring 34 runs in their five games, but lost their final three games in the Easton Desert Classic. Katie Manuma led the Cougars with a .470 batting average, three doubles, a home run and eight RBIs. Freshman Ashley Thompson also had a great week at the plate going 9-for-11 with scoring six runs to go along with five RBIs. 

Virginia
Virginia has endured a rough start to their season losing all three games they played last week to drop to 1-7 on the year. They are led at the plate by Marcy Bowdren’s .438 batting average to go along with two home runs and five RBIs. She is joined by Madison Labsher and Iyana Hughes as above .300 hitters. In the circle they have started Aimee Chapdelai in all eight of their games. She is 1-7 with an 8.28 ERA and eight strikeouts.

Notre Dame
Notre Dame won twice against former No. 23/25 Lousiville last week in Jacksonville, Fla., to boost themselves to a No. 24 ranking heading into the Mary Nutter Classic. They have been strong from the circle led by senior Laura Winter and sophomore Allie Rhodes. They have allowed 15 runs on the year and only 10 earned. At the plate, Megan Sorlie is hitting .538 in five starts and Emilee Koerner is hitting .435 with four home runs, two doubles and a triple.

Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State went undefeated last week in the UTSA Softball Classic to rebound from a 2-3 opening weekend. They too have been strong in the circle led by senior Simone Freeman’s .067 ERA and 65 strikeouts. Junior Shelby Davis has started the season hitting .487 and five RBIs. In all the Cowgirls have five batters hitting above .300. This will be the third straight year the schools will meet in the Mary Nutter Classic. The last two have ended with a score of 3-2 favoring Oklahmoa State.

Fordham
Fordham has started the year 5-3 with wins over Kansas and Ole Miss. This will be the first ever meeting between BYU and Fordham. Gabby Luety has started every game for the Rams and leads them with a .353 batting average to go along with five RBIs. Michele Daubman has been their primary pitcher in the circle and maintains a 2.40 ERA over 30 innings pitched.

Washington
Washington has been strong all season on their way to being ranked No. 2 by ESPN/ASA poll and No. 3 by the NFCA. They have allowed 11 runs through 10 games to go along with 64 strikouts. Seniors Bryana Walker and Kaitlin Inglesby are their primary options in the circle. All 10 of 13 players that have started a game for the Huskies are hitting above .300. As a team they have scored 94 runs and hit 13 home runs.