PROVO, Utah – Freshman pitcher McKenna Bull led the Cougars to a 7-2 victory before closing out an 11-8 win against Utah Valley Tuesday night in a doubleheader at Gail Miller Field, extending their win streak to 12 games.   

"Our team is playing with extreme confidence and determination and it showed today," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We got off to a rough start in the second game. Ashley Thompson hasn't pitched much in the second half of the season and to UVU's credit, they jumped on us. We came back strong and scored 11 runs. Our team's playing with confidence and I like what I see."

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Bull had 14 strikeouts on the day to take sixth place on BYU's all-time season leaderboard. In addition, she picked up her sixth save of the season in the second game of the doubleheader. Despite having her 16-game hitting streak snapped, Sydney Broderick extended her on-base streak to 23-straight games, tied for sixth all-time in a season. Katie Manuma went 1-for-3 in game two with a home run and two RBI and Mercedes O'Connor finished 3-for-4 on the day with two RBI, two runs scored and three walks.

Game One

In the first game of the doubleheader, the Cougars increased their win streak to 11 games as they topped the Wolverines, 7-2.

Broderick led off the game with a single up the middle to improve her hitting streak to 16 games. Freshman McKenzie St. Clair then singled through the left side to bring Broderick home in the bottom of the first. Katie Manuma and O’Connor were both walked which loaded the bases for BYU. Up next, Thompson walked to bring in Manuma and put the Cougars ahead, 2-0.

After a scoreless second inning, Gordy Bravo singled before Manuma was walked in the bottom of the third. The duo each advanced a base thanks to a passed ball and O’Connor singled to left field to bring in Bravo. In a strange play, Carly Duckworth's pop fly to second was dropped and the Wolverines threw to first base allowing Manuma to cross the plate and make it 4-0 in favor of BYU before Thompson was called out at second to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Manuma reached base on a Wolverine error and St. Clair was walked. Senior Jenna Goar, who was subbed in for Manuma as a pinch runner, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on another pitch to the backstop. St. Clair advanced to third on that wild pitch before O’Connor was walked. The California-native stole second base before Thompson was walked to load the bases.

BYU built its lead to 6-0 as the next batter, Duckworth, was walked to allow St. Clair to score. O’Connor then scored on a sacrifice fly from Ashlee Robinson. UVU got two consecutive outs to end the inning.

UVU hit a lead-off home run in the seventh inning to put the Wolverines on the board. They scored again on an RBI single before Bull stuck out her 10th hitter to end the game.

Game Two

The Cougars came back after trailing 7-0 to win the second game of the doubleheader 11-8, increasing BYU's win streak to 12 consecutive games.

The Wolverines got the first run of the second game with a single to center field. Thompson walked in another run for UVU before the Wolverines' Megan Peay brought in two on a single to right-center field, giving UVU a 4-0 lead to end the top of the first inning.

UVU added two more in the top of the second as the Wolverines' Debra Lovell singled to left field with the bases loaded, giving the Wolverines a 6-0 lead. Following a pitching change for BYU, a single to the shortstop brought in one more to extend UVU's lead to 7-0 heading to the bottom of the second. 

With the bases loaded, Coco Tauli'i and St. Clair each grounded out, but two Cougar runs scored on the throw to first put BYU on the board, trailing 7-2.

In the third, UVU scored an unearned run to bring its lead back to six. After Lacey Millett Hofstedt reached on an error in the bottom of the inning, Manuma homered to left center to cut the Wolverines' lead to 8-4. Robinson then doubled down the third-base line to score three runs and make it 8-7 heading into the fourth.

O'Connor doubled down the left-field line, Manuma walked and Thompson singled to load the bases for the Cougars in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Duckworth hit a high fly ball to left center that popped out of the left fielders' glove to allow three runs to score and give BYU its first lead, 10-8. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Broderick walked and Hofstedt singled to left center to put runners on first and second with one out. O'Connor then singled down the right field line, allowing Broderick to come home and bring BYU's lead to 11-8. 

The Cougars wrap up their regular season at home in a three-game series starting this Friday against Saint Mary's with a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. MDT. BYU needs just one more win in league play to take the conference title. Friday's games will be broadcast live on BYUtv.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball puts its 10-game winning streak on the line with a five-game home stand to finish the season.

Utah Valley will travel up University Parkway to play the Cougars in a doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 5 p.m. MDT at Gail Miller Field. Earlier this season, Tori Almond, McKenna Bull and Ashley Thompson combined for BYU’s 16th no-hitter in program history. They were one walk away in the final inning from finishing with a perfect game.

Saint Mary’s will come to town on Friday to begin a three-game series to decide the eventual West Coast Conference Champion. BYU clinched the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship last year with a doubleheader sweep over Saint Mary’s at home. The Cougars will look to do the same this year, needing to take only one game from the Gaels to clinch the championship, while the Gaels need a sweep to win the title.

The two teams will meet Friday in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. MDT before wrapping up the series on Saturday at noon.

BYU (28-21, 9-2 WCC)
BYU capped off an undefeated week on the road with a 9-6 comeback victory over Pacific on Saturday. The Cougars put up six home runs in the three game-series with Pacific to put them in prime position to win the conference.

McKenzie St. Clair led the team at the plate with a .600 batting average to go along with five runs, three RBI, two doubles, five walks and a .733 on-base percentage. With the game tied with Pacific in the top of the sixth Saturday, St. Clair hit a two-out double and scored on a bloop single to left field to give BYU the 7-6 lead. She added a two-RBI two-out infield single that was lost in the sun in the top of the seventh to give the Cougars a little more breathing room and finish 3-for-4 on the day.

BYU also received two home runs in the series from both Katie Manuma and Ashley Thompson. Mercedes O’Connor and Gordy Bravo each had one home run. Almond allowed only one earned run to the Tigers on her way to being named the WCC Pitcher of the Week. She totaled six strikeouts in the series over 8.1 innings pitched.

Utah Valley (14-38, 5-9 WAC)
Utah Valley has struggled in conference play and it has lost four straight. They dropped an 8-0 five-inning contest to No. 1 Oregon before taking the Ducks to the wire in a 5-4 loss on Tuesday.

The Wolverines are dangerous on the base paths ranking No. 53 in the nation in stolen bases per game, but No. 235 in team batting average with a .243. They are led at the plate by freshman Hailey Kofler with a .288 average, nine doubles and six home runs. Freshman Brianna Gatlin is the top RBI hitter on the team with 26 to go with her team-high 13 doubles.

Senior Josi Summers is the Wolverines' top pitcher with a 7-17 record, 106 strikeouts and a 4.38 ERA. Freshman Bailey Moore has started nine games for the Wolverines and has made 30 appearances. She has a 2-12 record with 62 strikeouts and a 5.47 ERA.

BYU SERIES RECORD VS. UVU
Overall Series Record: 28-3
BYU Record in Provo: 13-0
BYU Record in Orem: 13-3
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 2-0
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 28-3
Longest BYU Win Streak: 18 (2007-13)
Longest UVU Win Streak: 2 (2013)
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 20 (2008)
Largest UVU Margin of Victory: 2 (2006,13)
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 22 (2008)
Most Runs Scored by Utah Valley: 6 (2013)

Saint Mary’s (22-23, 8-4 WCC)
The Gaels have been strong in WCC play sweeping Santa Clara two weeks ago to put them in a position to win the conference. Last week they dropped a 2-1 contest to Stanford and will face UC Davis on Wednesday before travelling to Provo.

Sophomore catcher Andrea Hazel is the Gaels' top hitter with a .346 average and team-highs of six home runs and 25 RBI. She is second on the team with nine doubles and a triple.

Sophomore RHP Lujane Mussadi is the primary starter for Saint Mary’s. She has a 13-12 record to go with a 2.12 ERA and 56 strikeouts. Junior RHP Sarah Lira adds a 7-7 record with a 2.21 ERA and 24 strikeouts. Freshman Katie Moss has been seeing more time in the circle for the Gaels lately. She has a 2-4 record, a 2.91 ERA and 57 strikeouts. Moss was named as the WCC Pitcher of the Week last week.

BYU Series Record Vs. St. Mary’s
Overall Series Record: 8-0
BYU Record in Provo: 4-0
BYU Record in Moraga: 0-0
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 4-0
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 6-0
Longest BYU Win Streak: 8 (2001-Present)
Longest St. Mary’s Win Streak: None
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 9 (2003)
Largest St. Mary’s Margin of Victory: None
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 14 (2013)
Most Runs Scored by St. Mary’s: 6 (twice, 2013)