PROVO, Utah – Three different players recorded a home run, but it wasn’t enough for the BYU softball team to beat Idaho State as the Bengals won 6-4 on Friday night at Gail Miller Field.

“They scored their first four runs on base-on-balls, they didn’t even have to earn them,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “It was a very disappointing game.”

Carly Duckworth, Sydney Broderick and Katie Manuma each hit home runs. Duckworth and Manuma now have four on the season, tying them with McKenzie St. Clair and Coco Tauali’i. Sophomore Gordy Bravo went 2-3 with a walk.

Idaho State (19-12) took an early 2-0 in the first inning off an RBI single by Terah Blackwell. BYU (11-19) scored in the first frame too off Sydney Broderick’s first career home run to center field to bring the Cougars within one, 2-1. The Cougars are now 6-4 when scoring in the first inning.

In the third inning, St. Clair doubled and Duckworth followed immediately with a home run to bring in both runners.

Freshman McKenna Bull took over the pitching duties from Tori Almond in the fifth inning. With two outs in the same frame, Idaho State’s Katelyn Marquez crossed home plate off an RBI single from Vicky Galasso to tie the game, 3-3. Still in the fifth, the Bengals regained the lead as Micheala Taylor took advantage of a wild pitch and to cross home from third.

Manuma hit a leadoff home run down center field in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, 4-4.

Bull stuck out two batters and outfielder Lacey Millett-Hofstedt tracked down a fly ball to help keep the Bengals scoreless in the sixth inning. Idaho State reciprocated by not allowing a runner to score in the sixth.

In the final inning, the Bengals took the lead again after Hailey Breakwell hit an RBI double to right-center field to bring Kacie Burnett home. The next Idaho State batter singled to left field to bring in another and make it 6-4 in favor of the Bengals. Bull then struck out two consecutive batters to pass Almond for third on BYU’s all-time freshman strikeouts record with 97.

Bravo hit a leadoff single before Ashley Thompson also walked in the bottom on the seventh inning. The two Cougars each advanced a base thanks to a Manuma fly ball to center and a Bengal error. St. Clair then walked to load the bases for BYU with one out.

However, Duckworth and Ashlee Robinson both flied out to center field to seal the victory for Idaho State.

The Cougars and Bengals play again tomorrow in a doubleheader. The first game will begin at 1 p.m. MDT and the second scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on theW.tv.

PROVO, Utah – After a successful home opener, BYU softball turns its focus on Idaho State for a three-game series Friday and Saturday at Gail Miller Field.

BYU (11-18, 0-0 WCC)
BYU overcame the odds in the win against Oregon. It was the first time this season in which the opponent has out hit BYU at the plate, but the Cougars have still won the game.

Lacey Millett Hofstedt hit an inside-the-park grand slam on Tuesday against Oregon. It was the first extra base hit of her career and the first inside the park home run since Gordy Bravo hit one down the left-field line against Loyola Marymount last season. Her run was the game-winning run after a four-run inning closed the Cougars lead to one in the top of the seventh.

BYU has defeated two teams ranked in the top five this season, No. 2/3 Oregon and No. 3/2 Tennessee. The team had defeated only two top-five teams since their addition to the athletics program in 2000 until last year (No. 2 Stanford in 2002 and No. 2 Cal in 2005).

McKenna Bull was the winning pitcher in both wins against No. 2 teams Tennessee and Oregon, while Tori Almond earned the save in both games.  Bull has had a successful stretch of five games allowing eight earned runs and striking out 36 batters.

Idaho State (18-12, 2-1 Big Sky)
Idaho State traveled to Portland, Ore., last week and took two of three games from Portland State to begin the defense of its regular season Big Sky Conference Championship. The Bengals have split two close contests against UVU and the University of Utah so far in their Utah road trip.

The Bengals are an experienced team entering the year with eight returning starters. However, they are led at the plate by freshman outfielder Kacie Burnett. Burnett is hitting .469 on the year with 33 runs. Junior infielder Vicky Galasso and senior catcher Terah Blackwell provide the bulk of the run scoring for Idaho State combining for 79 RBIs (47 percent of the team total) and 19 of the team’s 24 home runs. They are ranked eighth in the NCAA with a .338 team batting average and 11^th scoring 6.75 runs per game.

Senior Haley Douglas is the primary pitcher for the Bengals. She has an 11-7 record with 32 strikeouts and a 5.10 ERA. Sophomores Bailey Foster and Jessica Tolmie are the relief pitchers for the Bengals. Foster has made 21 appearances this year and has a 5-4 record and a 4.62 ERA. Tolmie has made 11 appearances with a 3.42 ERA and a 2-1 record.