SEATTLE – BYU softball beat Northwestern 8-0 in the afternoon game and fell to No. 1 Washington 7-4 in the nightcap during the team’s final day of the Husky Classic Saturday.

BYU (8-11) scored eight runs on nine hits against Northwestern (9-8) in five innings, due to the NCAA eight-run rule.

“The team rebounded well from last night’s tough extra-inning loss to Alabama,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We came ready to play today and played a complete game.”

Washington (22-0) preserved its undefeated season with seven runs on 12 hits in the later game.

"The team fought hard tonight," Eakin said. "Washington is No. 1 for a reason. They have great pitching and defense, as well as solid hitting. With that said, we were a couple breaks away from this game going down to the wire."

Game one

Lexi Tarrow, Alexa Strid and Caitlyn Alldredge all went a perfect 2 for 2 from the plate while Briielle Breland went 2 for 3. Breland and Tarrow scored two runs each while Madison Merrell, Libby Sugg, Alexa Strid and Caitlyn Alldredge had one apiece. Strid and Sugg had three RBI as well.

Arissa Paulson allowed just two hits from the circle and pitched all five innings.

Breland tripled to centerfield, leading off for the Cougars in the bottom of the first. Merrell and Tarrow both walked to load the bases. Sugg then doubled to left field and advanced to third on an error as Breland, Merrell and Tarrow crossed the plate for a 4-0 lead.

Strid singled to shortstop in the third. Alldredge hit a homer to left field, bringing Strid in as well to make it 6-0.

In the fourth frame, Breland and Tarrow both singled to right field and later stole third and second base, respectively. Strid doubled to centerfield to score Breland and Tarrow for the 8-0 win.

BYU vs. Northwestern Box Score

Game two

Rylee Jensen led BYU with two of the team’s six hits, including a home run and two RBI. Breland and Allie Hancock also scored.

The Huskies scored two early runs on a Cougar fielding error to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

In the third frame, a Washington batter singled to left field, bringing in a runner from third to make it 3-0.  

The Huskies scored four more runs in the fourth inning for a 7-0 advantage.

In the top of the sixth, Jensen and Breland hit back-to-back singles and Merrell walked. Tarrow then singled through the left side, bringing Jensen home to trail 7-1. Sugg hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield as Breland came across to make it 7-2.

Hancock reached on a fielder’s choice before Jensen homered to right center for a final score of 7-4 in the seventh.

BYU vs. No. 1 Washington Box Score

The Cougars will play six games in four days next week at the Hawai’i Spring Fling Tournament in Honolulu from March 7-10.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball travels to Seattle this week to play in four games at the Husky Classic Friday and Saturday.

BYU Game Notes

The Cougars (6-9) will face two ranked teams along with two other matchups. They open the tournament with a doubleheader against Portland State at 9:00 a.m. PT and No. 11 Alabama at 11:15 a.m. PT. On Saturday, BYU will play Northwestern and No. 1 Washington at 12:30 p.m. PT and 7:15 p.m. PT, respectively.

Hosted by Washington, all games will be played at Husky Softball Stadium and streamed online by the Pac-12. Links to live stats, the live stream and radio broadcast for the Washington game will be available on the BYU softball schedule page. The full tournament schedule can be found on the Husky Classic website.

BYU STORYLINES

• BYU ranks No. 16 nationally in home runs per game with 1.20. Nine Cougars have hit 18 homers in 15 games so far this season, led by Libby Sugg’s four. Alexa Strid, Lexi Tarrow Caitlyn Alldredge, Briielle Breland, Bridget Fleener and Allie Hancock have each crushed two while Madison Merrell and Ashley Godfrey have one apiece.
• The Cougars played two of its Husky Classic opponents at the Seattle Regional in 2014. BYU beat Northwestern 7-2 in its first game of the postseason before falling 9-0 to Washington and 8-3 to Northwestern.
• Junior catcher and team captain Libby Sugg has been named to the 2018 USA Softball College Player of the Year Watch List. She earned NFCA All-Pacific Region First Team honors and was named to the All-WCC Second Team last season. Sugg led the team in RBI and home runs with 56 and 13, respectively, while hitting .356.

OPPONENTS OUTLOOK
Portland State | Friday, Mar. 2 | 9:00 a.m. PT | Pac-12 Stream

• The Vikings are 2-7 on the season so far, earning wins over Sam Houston State and New Mexico State.
• BYU leads in the overall series 7-3, most recently winning 4-3 on March 7, 2014, in the Stanford Louisville Slugger Classic.
• Meadow McWhorter enters her second season at the helm of the Portland State program. She previously coached at Mt. Hood Community College for 14 years, compiling a record of 468-146.

No. 11 Alabama | Friday, Mar. 2 | 11:15 a.m. PT | Pac-12 Stream

• The Crimson Tide have a 9-2 overall record this season, with its only losses coming to No. 11/12 Baylor and No. 9/7 Florida State.
• Alabama competed in the Gainesville Super Regional in 2017, where it went 1-2 to Florida.
• This will be just the second meeting between the teams. The Crimson Tide carry the edge in the overall series, 1-0. In the first meeting, Alabama took home a 6-0 win on February 19, 2009, in the Cathedral City Classic.
• Head coach Patrick Murphy has earned a record of 987-273 in 19 seasons with the Crimson Tide.

Northwestern | Saturday, Mar. 3 | 12:30 p.m. PT | Pac-12 Stream

• The Wildcats are 7-6 on the season so far, including losses to No. 7 Arizona and No. 11 Tennessee.
• Northwestern leads the overall series with the Cougars, 2-3. In 2015, BYU won 5-1 at the Wilson DeMarini Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
• Kate Drohan enters her 17th season as the head coach at Northwestern, compiling a 532-326-1 record.

No. 1 Washington | Saturday, Mar. 3 | 7:15 p.m. PT | Pac-12 Stream

• The Huskies are a perfect 18-0 in 2018, having beat No. 6 Texas A&M in a 4-3 walk-off in nine innings at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic last week.
• Washington advanced to its 12th Women’s College World Series in 2017, falling to No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida.
• The Huskies lead in the overall series, 7-3. Last year, BYU upset then-ranked No. 13 Washington 4-2 with a sixth-inning rally at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.
• Head coach Heather Tarr has been at the helm of the Washington program for 13 seasons while collecting a coaching record of 532-215-1.