PROVO, Utah — Lauren Bell scored on Sydney Broderick’s walk-off bunt single as BYU softball defeated Utah State 5-4 in extra innings Wednesday at Gail Miller Field.

“It’s nice to win,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “It was really cold and sometimes it’s hard to play quality ball in that type of weather, but we fought and came back and won so I’m proud of them.”

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Bell started the bottom of the eighth inning on second base for the Cougars per tiebreaker rules. Broderick bunted just to the left of the pitcher as Bell was running on the pitch. She scored easily from second as the ball trickled through the infield, securing the victory for BYU.  In the top of the eighth McKenna Bull struck out two Aggies to preserve the tie score.

Katie Manuma led the Cougars (14-19), going 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI and two runs scored. Broderick also homered and drove in two runs, going 2-for-5 on the day. Utah State's Hailey Froton led the Aggies (13-18) with a home run and two RBI.

Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Manuma hit a home run to left-center to tie the score and send the game to extra innings. Utah State had taken the lead in the top of the seventh when Allison Lenzora’s drag bunt chased BYU starter Tori Almond. Bull replaced Almond with no outs and a runner on first.

Sarah Chow laid down a sacrifice bunt towards third and reached when third baseman Ashlee Robinson, attempting to force out Lenzora, threw the ball wide of second and into center field. The Aggies scored when Jolene Koons hit a soft line drive back to Bull that she couldn’t handle. She recovered and threw to third, but again the ball sailed wide, allowing Lenzora to score and take a 4-3 lead.

BYU got on the board in the third inning for the first run of the game. With two outs, Aggie pitcher Noelle Johnson issued back-to-back walks to McKenzie St. Clair and Ashley Thompson. Manuma singled down the first base line on a check-swing that landed just out of reach of the Utah State first baseman Libby Pederson, scoring St. Clair and giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The Aggies took the lead in the fourth on Froton’s opposite-field, two-run home run to right. Kirstyn Namba singled earlier in the inning and scored on the home run.

Sarah Chow hit a two-out triple in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch by Almond to extend the Aggie lead to 3-1.

Thompson led off the BYU half of the fifth with a walk and reached third when Manuma hit a double over the Froton’s head in center field. Thompson tried to score on a grounder by Coco Tauali’i back to pitcher Noelle Johnson, but was tagged out at home. Manuma scored on Duckworth’s sacrifice fly to deep center, cutting the deficit to 3-2.

BYU’s Sydney Broderick tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth with a solo home run to left center, her third of the year.

The Cougars will travel to San Diego to play the first game of softball in West Coast Conference history against the Toreros on Friday, as 2014 is the inaugural season of the sport in the WCC. Friday’s game will begin at 5 p.m. PDT. The teams will conclude the series Saturday with a double-header beginning at noon.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball will host Utah State Wednesday at 4 p.m. MDT at Gail Miller Field before beginning conference play at San Diego on Friday at 5 p.m. PDT.

BYU (13-19, 0-0 WCC)
BYU made program history coming back from a 10-0 deficit in the first game Saturday against Idaho State. The Cougars scored 11 unanswered runs, led by Sydney Broderick and McKenzie St. Clair, to defeat the Bengals. On Tuesday, they also defeated their second top-five program (No. 3 Oregon) of the year after only winning two top-five matchups prior to this season.

The Cougars had five home runs against Idaho State to give them 25 on the year. Broderick hit the first two home runs of her career, while Katie Manuma added two and Carly Duckworth had one.

McKenna Bull and Broderick swept the West Coast Conference weekly awards for their strong performances. Bull also was named WCC Player of the Week by College Sports Madness and was among the top performers recognized by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

Utah State (13-17, 3-3 MWC)
After opening Mountain West play with a home sweep of Colorado State to cap off an eight-game winning streak, Utah State lost four consecutive contests on the road to SUU Tuesday and Fresno State over the weekend.

Freshman Victoria Saucedo leads the Aggies from the plate in almost every offensive category with a .344 batting average, five doubles, four home runs, 18 runs and 16 RBIs. Junior Hailey Froton has four home runs and 16 RBIs of her own, while Paxton Provost has three home runs and 16 RBIs.

Sophomore Noelle Johnson is the ace in the circle for Utah State with a 12-10 record, a 2.57 ERA and 149 strikeouts. She has made appearances in 26 of Utah State’s 30 games this season.

San Diego (15-16, 0-0 WCC)
BYU and San Diego will open up the inaugural softball season in the WCC on Friday at the USD Softball Complex. San Diego will be well rested after only playing one game against Cal State Northridge on Wednesday last week, losing 4-2 in a close contest.

Freshman Olivia Sandusky leads the Toreros with a .386 batting average and 17 RBIs. Sophomore Mary Grabowski bats .302 and leads the team with 19 RBIs and four home runs.

Seniors Cassidy Coleman and Jenny Lahitte split time in the circle for San Diego. Lahitte has a 7-7 record with a 2.78 ERA and 98 strikeouts. Coleman has gone 6-8 with a 2.98 ERA and 114 strikeouts. As a team, they lead the WCC with a 2.88 ERA and 224 strikeouts.