EUGENE, Ore.– BYU softball ended its season with a 7-0 loss to No. 24 North Dakota State after an 8-7 win over Fresno State in the earlier elimination game Friday in the NCAA Regional in Eugene, Oregon.

"It's tough to lose," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "I'm proud of the way our team fought. We just ran out of gas in the second game."

The Cougars finished the season 40-14 for its ninth 40-win season and its fourth-highest winning percentage in program history.

BYU vs. Fresno State

The contest against the Bulldogs was mostly a pitcher’s duel during the first three innings until things got interesting in the top of the fourth as the Cougars overcame an early 1-0 deficit.

BYU sparked a string of five runs led by Sydney Broderick’s single to shallow center. McKenzie St. Clair walked and Coco Tauali’i took first on a hit-by-pitch to load the bases following the single. With the table set, freshman shortstop Alexa Strid knocked in two runs on a double down the left-field line, scoring Broderick and St. Clair for the 2-1 lead.

Senior Lacey Hofstedt then drove in two runs on a single up the middle. Before advancing to third on Gordy Bravo’s sacrifice bunt, Hofstedt stole second base for her 25th stolen base of the season. She went on to score on Lauren Bell’s third hit of the game as the Cougars took a 5-1 lead going in to the bottom of the fourth.

The Bulldogs countered by scoring two runs. With runners on the corners and one out, an infield single made the game 5-2. Two batters later, a two-out single down the right-field line scored another run for Fresno State. A walk then loaded the bases, but BYU escaped the jam to end the frame with a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs took the lead with three runs on two hits and one Cougar error. 

BYU responded as Hofstedt sparked a rally in the top of the sixth with a single to right field. She advanced to third on Bravo’s first hit of the game. The Fresno State third baseman overthrew the second baseman trying to get Bravo, which allowed Hofstedt to slide home for the tying run.

Following the second out of the inning, Mercedes O’Connor drove in two runs on her two-out home run to left field to take the lead 8-6.

The Cougars held off the Bulldogs, allowing a home run in the bottom of the seventh before ending the Fresno State rally.

The winning pitcher was Arianna Paulson (2-3), who threw 0.2 innings. McKenna Bull collected the eighth save of her career while throwing six innings with four earned runs. She tied Hannah Howell for most career saves at BYU and surpassed Christina Gwyn Trice's school single-season record 245 strikeouts.

Box Score–BYU vs. Fresno State

BYU vs. No. 24 North Dakota State

The Bison roamed out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning off an RBI double that landed at the top of the fence in left field.

NDSU posted another run in the top of the second with a high bouncing single to third, scoring the runner who walked, stole second and advanced to third on a failed pick-off. Another bouncer to shortstop resulted in the batter reaching on an error, but a double play from Tauali’i to Thompson ended the frame.

The Bison continued their offensive consistency by loading the bases with the first three batters of the third inning. A single to center scored two runs before Bull ended the frame by fanning three of the next four batters with the score 4-0.

The Cougar offense struggled at the plate, registering three hits over the course of the game while North Dakota State tacked on one run in each of the next three innings for the eventual 7-0 tally.

Box Score–BYU vs. NDSU
 

PROVO, Utah – For the third time in the past four years, BYU softball will face the University of Oregon in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Eugene, Oregon.

The Cougars (39-12, 13-2 WCC) play the No. 2 overall seed and Pac-12 champion Ducks Thursday at 5 p.m. PDT. The game will be streamed live through Pac-12.com.

Mountain West champion Fresno State and Summit League title winner North Dakota State will be the other two teams in the double-elimination pool with games running Thursday through Saturday.

• At the plate. Junior centerfielder Gordy Bravo has a 13-game hitting and a 26-game on-base streak with a .463 batting average for 11th in the nation, including a career-high 75 hits. Senior Lacey Hofstedt is second on the team and 33rd in the country with a .443 clip at the plate. She was named to the CoSIDA All-District 8 team for her achievements this season in softball and academics.
• Stolen bases. Hofstedt has 24 total stolen bases on the season – one behind the BYU single season record of 25 set by Hofstedt in 2013.
• From the circle. Pitcher McKenna Bull is 34-7 with 238 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA. In 43 appearances she has 28 complete games with eight shutouts. On May 5, she set the BYU record for most victories in a single season with 33.
• Runs. Sydney Broderick and Ashley Thompson are first and second in the RBI category with 44 and 42, respectively. Seven of the eight starters have surpassed their RBI totals from 2014.
• Conference leaders. Bravo led the WCC in batting average, hits, runs scored, OBP, total bases and total plate appearances while also in the top five in walks and sac flies. Bull was atop the leauge in ERA, opposing batting average, innings pitched, strikeouts, wins, starts and appearances.
• Win total. With the 39-12 mark, BYU is just one win shy of its ninth season with 40 or more wins.
• 11th-straight NCAA regional. Including this season, the Cougars have a total of 12 NCAA appearances and 11 in a row. BYU competed in the Seattle Regional in 2014, taking its first game against Northwestern 7-3 before falling to host Washington 9-0 and Northwestern 8-3 in an elimination game.

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

Oregon (46-6, 21-3 Pac-12)

The Ducks and Cougars have met several times in past regionals including 2012 and 2013. Most recently, the two teams split two games in 2014 with BYU taking the last meeting in a 6-5 win at Gail Miller Field in Provo, Utah.

Oregon is led by pitcher Cheridan Hawkins who is 27-3 with 17 complete games and nine shutouts while striking out 224 batters and posting a 1.39 ERA. The Ducks have 11 players with at least 69 at-bats who are batting over .300. Jenna Lilley leads the team with a .448 average to go along with six homers, 43 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Janie Takeda has a .421 clip wtih 33 stolen bases to lead Oregon on the base paths. Koral Costa (.356, 14 HR, 44 RBI) and Hailey Decker (.338, 10 HR, 38 RBI) both have double-digit totals in home runs this season.

Fresno State (40-14, 20-4 Mountain West)

The Bulldogs and Cougars last met in 2013 with Fresno State taking a 5-4 win. Before that, the two met in the Western Athletic Conference title game in 2012 with BYU taking the crowin 8-3. The Mountain West champion Fresno State is led by Brenna Moss from the plate with her .446 average and 25 stolen bases. Kierra Willis (.376, 8 HR, 55 RBI) and Michelle Solomon (.358, 5 HR, 50 RBI) have played major roles in run production while pitcher Jill Compton (28-10, 2.10) has seen the bulk of the innings in the circle.

North Dakota State (43-9, 16-2 Summit)

The Bison and Cougars were scheduled to play each other earlier in 2015 at the University of Tennessee Tournament. BYU did not participate due to the weather. The last time the two teams faced each other was in March 2014 when they split two games in the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic.

North Dakota State is led by Logan Moreland (.436, 6 HR, 38 RBI), Cheyenne Garcia (.429, 13 HR, 54 RBI), Alyssa Reina (.346, 14 HR, 55 RBI) and Amanda Grable (.394, 4 HR, 45 RBI). The team has six players with at least 10 stolen bases on the season. From the circle Krista Menke has controlled opposing offenses by throwing 11 shutouts and striking out 362 batters en route to a 32-4 record.