LOGAN, Utah – Briielle Breland went 4 for 4 from the plate, propelling BYU softball to a 5-4 victory over in-state foe Utah State Tuesday at LaRee & LeGrand Johnson Field.

“Our team fought through a slow start and pulled out a tough win tonight,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “Briielle paced us offensively.”

The Cougars (18-18) outhit the Aggies (13-19, 3-6 Mountain West) 12 to seven in the win, led by Breland’s four hits. She had one home run, one double and two singles. Alexa Strid went 3 for 4 while Libby Sugg went 2 for 3. Lexi Tarrow, Bridget Fleener and Brooke Vander Heide had one hit each.

Kerisa Viramontes and Autumn Moffat shared pitching duties, recording three and five strikeouts, respectively, and only walked one batter each. Moffat came in during the bottom of the fifth inning with two runners on and no outs and finished the game.

“Autumn came in to pitch in a tough situation in the fifth,” Eakin said. “She got us out of a jam and shut them down offensively. Great job by Autumn.”

With a full count in the first inning, Briielle Breland sent a solo shot over the center-field fence to give BYU an early 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first frame, Utah State got three runners on base with two bunts and a Cougar fielding error. Brina Buttacavoli then sent a deep double to right field, bringing all runners across for a 3-1 advantage.

BYU added four more runs in the top of the third to go up 5-3. Breland led off with a single to right field before Tarrow sent a single just past the USU shortstop, advancing Breland. Sugg then singled to right field, moving runners up as Breland came across to trail 3-2.

Ashley Godfrey came in as a pinch runner for Sugg. Strid then singled past the shortstop to advance Tarrow to third while Godfrey moved to second as the Aggie second baseman dropped the throw from the shortstop. Fleener singled past the second baseman, moving the runners up and bringing in Tarrow to even the score 3-3.

Caitlyn Alldredge hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Godfrey as Strid advanced to third to put the Cougars ahead 4-3. Olivia Sanchez grounded out to the shortstop, allowing Strid to cross the plate and make it 5-3.

The Aggies added their final run in the bottom of the fourth when Baile Trappe homered to center field.

BYU at Utah State Box Score

BYU begins conference play at home with a three-game series against Santa Clara this week. They will play a doubleheader Friday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. MDT and again Saturday at 1 p.m.

Saturday’s game will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live stats will be available for all games on the BYU softball schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – West Coast Conference play begins this weekend with BYU softball hosting Santa Clara after a quick trip to Utah State on Tuesday.

BYU Game Notes

The reigning four-time WCC champion Cougars (17-18, 0-0 WCC) look to defend their title. They will travel to Logan, Utah, on Tuesday, Apr. 3 to play Utah State (13-18, 3-6 Mountain West Conference) at 4 p.m. MDT before hosting the Broncos (5-23, 0-0 WCC) in a three-game series. BYU and Santa Clara face off in a doubleheader on Friday, Apr. 6 at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. MDT and then again Saturday, Apr. 7 at 1 p.m. MDT.

The matchup against the Aggies will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network. Saturday’s game can be streamed live on TheW.tv. Live stats will be available for all games on the BYU softball schedule page.

BYU STORYLINES

• BYU opens WCC play this weekend hosting Santa Clara. In the previous four WCC opening weekends, the Cougars have won three of the four series. In 2016, BYU lost the series against LMU 2-1 in Provo.
• BYU ranks No. 19 nationally and No. 1 in the WCC in home runs per game with 1.09. Eleven Cougars have hit 38 homers in 35 games so far this season, led by Libby Sugg’s seven. Rylee Jensen follows with six while Caitlyn Alldredge and Briielle Breland have hit five. Lexi Tarrow, Bridget Fleener and Alexa Strid have all hit three apiece. Allie Hancock and Madison Merrell both have two. Ashley Godfrey and Emilee Erickson have also hit dingers.
• 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 in 2017. She is currently hitting .378 this year and leads the Cougars in hits, RBI and home runs with 35, 31 and seven, respectively.

OPPONENTS OUTLOOK
Utah State (13-18, 3-6 MWC)

• The Aggies are 13-18 this season and 3-6 in Mountain West play. They went 2-1 against conference foe Nevada last week.
• BYU leads the overall series 37-2, winning 4-1 in Provo and 8-6 in Logan last year. The teams have played every year since the Cougars’ first season in 2000, except for 2009.
• Steve Johnson is in his fifth year as head coach at Utah State and has compiled a record of 96-116 in four seasons there.

Santa Clara (5-23, 0-0 WCC)

• The Broncos have a 5-23 overall record in 2018, having gone 1-2 in the Matador Classic. They split games with Georgia Tech and fell to Cal Poly.
• The Cougars lead in the overall series 19-2, most recently sweeping the series 3-0 in 2017.
• Head coach Lisa Dodd enters her first year at the helm of the Santa Clara program. She has both played and coached in the Pac-12 and spent the last five years as the head coach at UNLV, earning 121 wins.