ST. GEORGE, Utah – Freshman McKenzie St. Clair continued her strong early season to lead BYU to a split on Friday.

“We are hitting really well and it’s nice to split today,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “However, in the young season we just seem to keep beating ourselves. If we stop giving up walks and play some solid defense we could easily be 4-0 right now. So we need to hit better spots with our pitches and play better defense.”

BYU (2-2) lost a close 10-9 game against Nevada (1-0)  after coming back from five runs down. They won their second game 13-5 against East Carolina (1-1) on solid hitting.

St. Clair went 5-for-7 with a home run and five RBIs. Sydney Broderick hit .333 with four RBIs and Ashley Thompson added four RBIs of her own on 3-for-8 hitting.

Game one

Nevada got out to an early lead scoring in the first two innings. They started the game with a leadoff double and capitalized with a single through the left side. Their second run came when the runner on third crossed the plate after a pickoff throw to second was high. In the second inning, the Wolfpack loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Another walk brought in a run and a single gave Nevada the 5-0 lead.

After McKenna Bull held Nevada scoreless in the top of the third, St. Clair singled to start the bottom of the inning and Coco Tauali’i hit a homerun to deep center to make it 5-2. Gordy Bravo then reached on an error to set up a Carly Duckworth two-run shot over the left-centerfield fence to make it 5-4.

After Nevada put one more run on the board in the top of the fourth, St. Clair homered to left-center to tie the game at six. Bull pitched a perfect top of the fifth striking out two to take the tie into the bottom of the frame.

Megan Arnold kept the momentum going with a single to begin the second. Two consecutive walks loaded the bases and Thompson hit a bloop single up the rightfield line to bring in two runs and give the Cougars the 8-6 lead. Broderick sacrificed to left-field to bring Ashlee Robinson across the plate, extending the lead to three.

The Wolfpack put runners on first and third to start the top of the sixth when Katie Manuma came in for Bull. Nevada took advantage of two errant throws and a single to score four runs and take a 10-9 lead. The Cougars would get runners on first and second in each of the last two innings, but were unable to capitalize.

Game two

BYU started game two on a high note, starting with Thompson retiring the first three batters she faced. In the bottom of the frame, BYU drew two walks and used two wild-pitches to score a run. With a runner on third, St. Clair singled to bring in Duckworth from third and give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the third, the Pirates would capitalize on a double and a throwing error to score two runs and tie the game. The Cougars came back strong in the bottom of the inning. First, Manuma reached on an error and used a walk to St. Clair and a single from Thompson to cross the plate. Broderick then singled for her first career hit to score Thompson and St. Clair.

East Carolina battled to tie the game at five again scoring two runs on a double and three singles and adding their third run on a fielding error. BYU answered yet again. After Tauali’i walked, Bell and Duckworth singled to load the bases. Manuma then singled up the middle to score a run and St. Clair doubled to right-center to add two more, giving the Cougars an 8-5 lead. With runners on second and third, Thompson grounded out to the shortstop, but still enabled the runners to advance to score another. Broderick laid down a squeeze bunt to score the fifth run of the inning and give BYU a 10-5 lead heading into the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, Duckworth and Bell both scored on a wild pitch giving the Cougars a 12-5 lead. They were unable to plate another run in the bottom of the fifth to end the game. However, in the sixth St. Clair singled, advanced on two hard hits to the shortstop and scored on a wild pitch for the game winning run.

BYU finishes play in the Red Desert Classic against the University of Texas at Arlington on Saturday at 11 a.m. MST.

PROVO, Utah – BYU travels to St. George, Utah, to open up the 2014 season in the Red Desert Classic beginning Thursday.

Red Desert Classic
Feb 6-8
Canyons Complex, Field 1
St. George, Utah

Weber State
Thursday, Feb 6 at 2 p.m. MST

Southern Utah
Thursday, Feb 6 at 4 p.m. MST

Nevada
Friday, Feb 7 at 11 a.m. MST

East Carolina
Friday, Feb 7 at 1:30 p.m. MST

University of Texas at Arlington
Saturday, Feb 8 at 11 a.m. MST

BYU

BYU finished the 2013 season with a 33-25 record and took home the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship. They return 12 letterwinners, including seven starters. The Cougars are coached by Gordon Eakin, who holds a 449-200 record entering his 12th year as head coach.

Quick hits

• BYU starts seasons off fast, they are 43-22 all-time in their season opening tournaments.
• They have played in the Red Desert Classic nine times and own a 31-10 record in the tournament.
• Gordy Bravo’s 70 hits as a freshman was second only to JC Clayton’s 80 in her freshman year.
• Lacey Millett-Hofstedt will look to break the all-time steals record trailing Clayton by four in only her junior season.
• Coco Tauali’i enters the season having reached base over the final 16 games of the 2013 season.

Weber State

Weber State finished last season with a 10-38 record and made a coaching change in the offseason. They hired coach Mary Kay Amicone who had led SLCC to three straight appearances in the NJCAA national championship game. The Wildcats return 17 players from last year’s team and bring in six new players.

BYU Series Record vs. Weber State
Overall Series Record: 1-0
BYU Record in Provo: 1-0
BYU Record in Ogden: 0-0
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 0-0
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 1-0
Longest BYU Win Streak: 1 (2011-Present)
Longest Weber State Win Streak: none
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 8 (2011)
Largest Weber State Margin of Victory: none
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 9 (2011)
Most Runs Scored by Weber State: 1 (2011)

Southern Utah

Despite their 18-34 record, Southern Utah got hot when it mattered most advancing all the way to the championship round of the Big Sky Conference tournament before falling to eventual champion Portland State 4-0. The Thunderbirds return nine players, seven of them are returning starters. The Thunderbirds are coached by Kyle Magnusson who is in his fourth year and holds a 72-93 record.

BYU Series Record vs. SUU
Overall Series Record: 44-4
BYU Record in Provo: 20-2
BYU Record in Cedar City: 14-1
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 10-1
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 35-2
Longest BYU Win Streak: 29 (2006-Present)
Longest SUU Win Streak: 2 (2000-01)
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 20 (2010)
Largest SUU Margin of Victory: 5 (2006)
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 20 (2010)
Most Runs Scored by SUU: 11 (2003)

Nevada

The Wolfpack ended the season with a 30-23 record finishing fourth in their first year as a member of the Mountain West Conference. They tied or broke several offensive team records including doubles, slugging and on-base percentage. They return 17 players, including six starters, while welcoming three new faces. They are coached by Matt Meuchel who has a career record of 121-140 in his sixth year.

BYU Series Record vs. Nevada
Overall Series Record: 3-1
BYU Record in Provo: 0-0
BYU Record in Reno: 3-0
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 0-1
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 3-1
Longest BYU Win Streak: 3 (2012)
Longest Nevada Win Streak: 1 (2013-Present)
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 10 (2012)
Largest Nevada Margin of Victory: 8 (2013)
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 10 (2012)
Most Runs Scored by Nevada: 14 (2013)

East Carolina

East Carolina put together a 21-31 season last year and finished with six straight losses. They return 11 letterwinners from the 2013 season. They welcome in 12 new players including former BYU pitcher Caroline Umphlett. The last time BYU faced East Carolina was in the championship game of the Austin Regional. The Cougars won to advance to their first and only Super Regional. They are coached by Beth Keylon-Randolph who is in her second year as the head coach of East Carolina. She has a 623-149 record in her 12 year coaching career.

BYU Series Record vs. East Carolina
Overall Series Record: 3-0
BYU Record in Provo: 0-0
BYU Record in Greenville: 0-0
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 3-0
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 3-0
Longest BYU Win Streak: 3 (2008-Present)
Longest ECU Win Streak: None
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 5 (2010)
Largest ECU Margin of Victory: None
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 8 (2010)
Most Runs Scored by ECU: 6 (2008)

University of Texas Arlington

UTA wrapped up their 2013 campaign with a 25-28 record finishing sixth in the Western Athletic Conference. They return nine players from last year’s team including five starters and they have 10 newcomers. They are in their first year as a member of the Sun Belt Confernce. They are coached by second year coach Kristie Fox.

BYU Series Record vs. UTA
Overall Series Record: 1-1
BYU Record in Provo: 0-0
BYU Record in Arlington: 0-1
BYU Record at Neutral Sites: 1-0
BYU Record under Gordon Eakin: 1-0
Longest BYU Win Streak: 1 (2006-Present)
Longest UTA Win Streak: 1 (2001)
Largest BYU Margin of Victory: 3 (2006)
Largest UTA Margin of Victory: 1 (2001)
Most Runs Scored by BYU: 5 (2006)
Most Runs Scored by UTA: 2 (2006)