PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico - Sophomore Mercedes O'Connor blasted two home runs in a stellar day at the plate en route to BYU softball's two wins in day two of the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge Friday.

The Cougars (12-6) topped Northern Colorado (4-5-1) 5-4 in the early game with O'Connor's second homer of the game in the top of the seventh. In the afternoon game, they cruised past Southern Illinois University (2-6-1) for the 8-0 win, completing the sweep on the day. BYU tallied 11 and 10 hits, respectively, in the games Friday. It is the third time in the past four games the team has totaled at least 10 hits.

"It was nice to win both games today," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We started the day slow again, but to the players' credit, we didn't panic, kept fighting and turned it around to finish strong."

O'Connor led the Cougars with her bat, hitting 6-for-8 with a double, six RBI and a stolen base to go along with her two home runs on the day. 

"O'Connor had a monster day in both games," Eakin said. "After a bad start in game one, McKenna Bull came back in relief and pitched well in the sixth and seventh innings. In game two she pitched very well. Arianna Paulson did a good job in relief for us in game one, only giving up one run and keeping us in the game until the sixth inning."

The freshman Paulson was instrumental down the stretch against Northern Colorado, pitching four innings  and only allowing two hits and one run while striking out five. The sophomore Bull started both games, coming back in the end of the first game in relief to pick up the win over the Bears before pitching a shutout in the second game against the Salukis. She gave up only five hits and two earned runs with 11 strikeouts in 10 innings of work, upping her record to 12-3 on the season.

At the plate junior Gordy Bravo also shined with a 5-for-8 hitting performance including two stolen bases while sophomore Sydney Broderick hit 3-for-6 with two RBI in the two games. Sophomores McKenzie St. Clair and Ashley Thompson each drove in runs with one and two, respectively.

Game One

Northern Colorado shut down the BYU side in the top of the first before getting on the board early with a three-run bottom half of the frame. 

The Cougars climbed back with St. Clair's RBI-sinlge to left field, cutting the score to 3-1. 

The freshman pitcher Paulson relieved Bull in the second to throw four scoreless innings as BYU clawed back into the game with a three-run fifth. 

O'Connor's first home run of the year–a three-run shot to left center–put the Cougars ahead 4-3. 

UNC tacked on another in the bottom of the fifth to even the score at four apiece. 

In the sixth inning, Bull came back into the circle to relieve Paulson, getting out of a jam with runners on base, heading into the seventh with the game still tied.

O'Connor led off the final frame, driving a 3-1 pitch for the solo home run for her second of the game, putting BYU up one for the difference-maker in the game. 

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bears went down in order with the last one swinging to end the game.

Box Score–BYU vs. Northern Colorado

Play-by-Play

Game Two

The sophomore Thompson got the Cougars on the board in the top of the first with a two-RBI single to take a 2-0 lead that lasted through the fifth inning.

From the circle Bull stymied the Saluki attack while allowing only two hits in the outing. 

BYU tacked on three runs in both the sixth and the seventh innings to extend its lead. O'Connor and Broderick cashed in one and two RBI, respectively, in the sixth. Caitlyn Larsen and Brittany Call scored on unearned runs in the seventh and O'Connor gathered in her sixth RBI on the day, tallying an 8-0 score. 

The Cougars then retired the SIU side in order to end the game.

Box Score–BYU vs. SIU

Play by Play

BYU closes out the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge with another game against the Salukis Saturday at 10 a.m. CST. 

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.