SAN DIEGO – McKenna Bull’s second no-hitter of the season led BYU softball to an 8-0 win over UC Santa Barbara in five innings in its final game of the San Diego Classic II on Saturday afternoon.

"We put together a nice day with great pitching, excellent defense and timely hitting," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "It is going to be good to finally be home to play in front of our home crowd and get some quality practice time in."

This was the eighth shutout this season for BYU (18-12) and the fifth game won with the mercy rule. Bull threw her second-career solo no-hitter against UC Santa Barbara (13-13), earning seven strikeouts and just one walk in the win. Her last no-hitter came against San Jose State in the first game of the season.

At the plate, the Cougars got two home runs in the win with eight runs on eight hits. Madison Merrell led the team with a career-high four RBI, two coming off of a homer in the third inning.

BOX SCORE: BYU vs. UCSB

Caitlyn Larsen’s second home run of the season put the Cougars on the board in the top of the second. Her solo homer over left field gave BYU the early 1-0 lead over UC Santa Barbara.

In the third inning, Merrell hit the Cougars’ second home run of the game. Her two-run bomb extended BYU’s lead to 3-0 over the Gauchos. This was Merrell’s fourth home run on the year.

After a scoreless fourth inning, an error from UCSB allowed Lauren Bell to reach home plate while BYU still had no outs. Despite a pitching change, the Cougars scored five runs in the fifth. Merrell doubled to right field, bringing in two runs for the Cougars. A sacrifice fly from Coco Tauali’i Bond brought in Lexi Tarrow, who was pinch running for Merrell. The last run of the inning was scored on Gordy Bravo’s single up the middle. After the inning, BYU led 8-0 over UCSB.

Bull struck out three in a row in the bottom of the fifth to seal the 8-0 win after five innings due to the mercy rule.  

Next week, BYU will play its first home game of the season on Tuesday against Utah Valley at 5 p.m. MDT. The game will be televised live on BYUtv with live stats available on the schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – After defeating Utah on Tuesday, BYU softball will travel to San Diego to participate in the San Diego Classic II from Thursday to Saturday.

This is the last tournament of the season for BYU. The best tournament so far for the Cougars was the DeMarini Classic in Las Vegas in February where they finished 4-1. On the year, BYU boasts a win against then-No.15 Arizona back on March 3 along with four run-rule wins. The Cougars are fresh off of a 5-4 win against the Utes in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.

BYU game notes

Harvard | Thursday, March 17, 10:30 a.m. PDT
Harvard softball has played just 14 games so far this season with an 8-6 record. On Tuesday, Harvard split two games, winning 6-5 over Fairleigh Dickinson. In 2015, the Crimson finished with a 23-21 record, including a 13-7 mark in conference play. This is the first meeting between BYU and Harvard in softball.

Long Beach State | Thursday, March 17, 1 p.m. PDT
The 49ers have tallied a 15-9 record so far in 2016. In five games, Long Beach State has won the game due to the mercy rule. Back in 2015, the 49ers finished with a 28-24 record, going 15-6 in the Big West Conference. BYU has a 3-3 overall record against Long Beach State, the Cougars taking the 2-1 win in 2015.

No. 22/24 Fresno State | Friday, March 18, 4:30 p.m. PDT
In 2016, the Bulldogs have compiled a 15-6-1 record, including two wins against top-25 teams and a tie against then-No. 22 Oregon State. Fresno State is currently ranked No. 22 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and No. 24 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll. BYU last faced Fresno State in the 2015 NCAA tournament, resulting in a 8-7 win for the Cougars.

San Diego State | Friday, March 18, 7 p.m. PDT
The 13-9 San Diego State Aztecs are fresh off of a 1-2 weekend, including two games that got cancelled. On the season, BYU's former Mountain West Conference foe has two wins against top-25 teams Cal and Texas A&M. SDSU advanced to the NCAA Los Angeles Regional in 2015. Since the Cougars left the MWC, they have a 1-3 record against the Aztecs, the last win coming in 2015 with a 3-1 decision.

UC Santa Barbara | Saturday, March 19, 11:30 a.m. PDT
After 23 games, the Gauchos are 13-10 in 2016, currently on a two-game losing streak. They have run-ruled three teams this season. Their best streak came earlier in March when they won four games in a row. BYU last beat UC Santa Barbara in 2015 with a 16-4 win.

Live stats will be available for all five games on the BYU schedule page.