PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – McKenzie St. Clair and Alexa Strid both had two-run singles as BYU softball survived for a 7-5 win over Nevada Thursday afternoon in day one of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.

The BYU win at Nancie Almaraz Field in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, marks the first game in NCAA softball history played outside the United States.

“It was a good win today under different playing conditions,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We got off to a good start offensively, but I think the hot weather and humidity affected both teams. We simply outlasted them.”

Senior Lacey Hofstedt extended her hitting streak to six games while going 2-for-2 with one run scored and one RBI to lead the Cougars (10-6) at the plate. St. Clair and Strid both went 1-for-2 with two RBI while Mercedes O’Connor and Coco Tauali’i both picked up an RBI in the game.

Ashley Thompson also added a hit and a run scored while Sydney Broderick had a double and two runs in the victory over the Wolf Pack (3-13). 

From the circle, pitcher McKenna Bull notched her 10th win of the year, improving her record to 10-3 with the complete game while allowing nine hits and no earned runs with four strikeouts.

“This is a fun but different playing environment,” Eakin added. “Hopefully we know what to expect now and will play cleaner ball tomorrow.”

The Cougars got off to a solid start by posting an early lead after shutting down the Wolf Pack side in the top of the first.

St. Clair and Strid each had two-run singles with bases loaded for the 4-0 advantage after the first inning.

Nevada struck back in the top of the second with its first run, cutting the lead to 4-1.

BYU then tacked on two more in the bottom of the third on Tauali’i’s sacrifice fly and Hofstedt’s base hit, scoring Broderick and St. Clair, respectively.

The Wolf Pack edged its way back into the game, posting a three-run fifth inning before adding another in the top of the sixth to cut the Cougar lead to 6-5.

In the bottom of the sixth, BYU bolstered its advantage with O’Connor’s RBI scoring Hofstedt for the 7-5 score.

Nevada began the top of the seventh with an attempted comeback, putting its first two batters on base with a walk and a center-field single. Bull then got the third batter to strike out looking, followed by a fly out and a strikeout swinging to seal the game.

The Cougars continue Friday as they face Northern Colorado at 9 a.m. CST and Southern Illinois University at 2 p.m. 

Box Score–BYU vs. Nevada

Play-by-Play

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball will head south of the border for games against Nevada, Northern Colorado and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in the Triple Crown Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Thursday through Saturday.

The Cougars (9-6) are coming off a 3-2 showing at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, picking up wins over UC Santa Barbara, Indiana and Oregon State. The BYU offense scored 15 or more runs for the first time since 2012, puting up 16 against UCSB.

Junior Gordy Bravo has ignited the Cougars at the leadoff spot this season by hitting .469 with three doubles, 13 RBI and four stolen bases. The outfielder is currently on a career-best hit streak of 13 games while recording a .500 OBP for a career-best reached base streak of 16 games dating back to 2014.

Senior Lacey Hofstedt is second on the team with a .419 batting average and leads BYU with her seven stolen bases this year. Other highlights from the plate include McKenzie St. Clair’s .414 and Coco Tauali’i’s .394 batting averages. Sophomores Ashley Thompson and Sydney Broderick are second and third for the Cougars in runs batted in with 11 and 10, respectively.

Pitcher McKenna Bull has continued her consistent play with a 2.36 ERA and 71 strikeouts with a 9-3 record. The sophomore tied a career high in strikeouts with 14 against Maryland last weekend. 

Links to live stats and recaps will be available on the BYU softball schedule page.

Game Notes

Nevada (Thurs. 2 p.m. CST)

The Wolf Pack is 3-12 this season, dropping all five games in the Mary Nutter Classic last weekend. Its three wins have come against Fordham, Cal State Fullerton and UTEP. The Cougars faced Nevada twice in 2014, falling both times.

UNR brings plenty of power to the plate with a team total seven home runs and three players with two dingers each. Karley Hopkins (.372 BA, 14 BB, .526 OBP) leads the team from the plate while Jasmine Jenkins (.277 BA, 2 HR, 11 RBI), Amanda Weis (2 HR, 7 RBI) and Ashley Butera (2HR, 4 RBI) all bring big bats into the contest. Wolf Pack pitchers have split the innings three ways among Megan Dortch (1-3, 5.59 ERA, 34 SO), McKenna Isenberg (0-5, 6.03 ERA, 22 SO) and Chase Redington (2-4, 7.29 ERA, 16 SO).

Northern Colorado (Fri. 9 a.m.)

The Bears take a 3-4 record into this weekend, having clinched wins over Santa Clara, Tulsa and Creighton. Mikayla Duffy (2 HR, 4 RBI) and Kaitlin Flynn (.444 BA, 3 HR, 8 RBI) are standouts at the plate. So far this season, Jayme Reddacliff (2-3, 3.04 ERA, 27 ip, 14 SO) and Kelli Kleis (1-1, 4.77 ERA, 14.2 ip) have split the time from the circle. BYU is 4-0 all-time against Northern Colorado with a 9-0 win in its last meeting in 2010.

SIU (Fri. 2 p.m. & Sat. 11 a.m.)

The Salukis are 2-5 with wins over UMBC and Morehead State and a 5-2 loss to then-No. 5 Kentucky. SIU has not played since Feb. 14 because of rainouts in its tournament at Mississippi last weekend. Savannah Fisher (.357 BA, 1 HR, 3 RBI), Shay Harre (.350 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and Sydney Jones (.286 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI) highlight the Saluki hitting, while pitcher Katie Bertelsen (0-3, 5.48 ERA, 8 SO) has thrown two complete games from the circle. The Cougars have never faced SIU.