PUERTO VALLARTA, Mex. — Kaysen Korth pitched a complete game shutout to lead BYU softball to a 1-0 victory over Wisconsin in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge at Nancy Almaraz Field on Thursday evening. 

BOX SCORE

The freshman pitcher struck out nine and gave up just three hits in her first collegiate start, as the Cougars (1-1, 0-0 WCC) earned a day one split after dropping their season opener to the Tar Heels earlier in the day.

"Our pitching performed very well today through two hard-fought games against Power Five opponents, "said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "Kaysen pitched an incredible game against Wisconsin. We needed her to step up, and she did."

Player Highlights

• Kaysen Korth: 7 IP, 3 H, 9 K
• Ailana Agbayani: 1-3, R
• Huntyr Ava: 1-3, RBI

The Cougars scored the lone run of the game in the opening frame, with Ailana Agbayani reaching on a slap single and Maddie Bejarano’s bunt staying in fair territory after ricocheting off a Wisconsin infielder. A Violet Zavodnik walk made way for Hunter Ava, who pushed a single into left center, scoring Agbayani to give BYU the 1-0 lead. 

After giving up a leadoff double in the bottom of the first, Korth proceeded to retire the side. Wisconsin didn’t threaten again until the fourth inning with a leadoff single, advancing the runner to second on a stolen base, but Korth got out of the jam with two strikeouts and a flyout. 

With both Alyssa Podhurcak-Foss and Alexis Gilio drawing walks in the fifth and Bejarano reaching base on an error in the sixth inning, the Cougars had opportunities to score an insurance run, but were unable to bring anyone around.

Korth got out of trouble again in the bottom of the sixth as the Badgers had a runner on second with one out, but forced a pop up and fly out to get out of the inning. 

BYU went down in order in their half of the seventh, and took its one-run advantage into the bottom of the final inning. Korth then took the circle and recorded two strikeouts and a groundout to shut the door on Wisconsin and close out her career-opening shutout. 

The Cougars will continue play in Mexico on Friday, Feb. 10 against Maryland. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. CST, with the game streamed on FloSoftball. 

PROVO, Utah — BYU softball travels to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to begin its 2023 campaign at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge this week. The Cougars will kick off the year with a doubleheader on Thursday and a game each on Friday and Saturday. 

All games will be played at Nancy Almaraz Stadium in Puerto Vallarta. Online tournament pass sales are now closed but passes and single day tickets can still be purchased on site. More ticket information can be found on the College Challenge website. 

BYU participated in the inaugural College Challenge in 2015 and in four of the six years it has run since. This will be the fifth time that the Cougars travel to Puerto Vallarta for the PVCC, and the fourth time that they begin their season in Mexico since 2017, also opening at the PVCC in 2019 and 2020. 

Overall, BYU is 9-7 in its previous four trips to the College Challenge, going 4-0 in the inaugural year, 2-2 in 2017, 1-3 in 2019 and 2-2 again in 2020. The Cougars faced their day one opponent, North Carolina, in the 2019 PVCC, falling 5-4.

Other Puerto Vallarta opponents include Nevada, Northern Colorado, Southern Illinois-Carbondale, Auburn, Washington, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Carolina, Baylor, Liberty, North Carolina, George Washington and Oregon. Six of BYU's previous 16 PVCC foes have been ranked in Top 25 polls. 

• North Carolina
  • The Tar Heels went 23-28 (6-18 ACC) in 2022
  • Head coach Donna Papa is in her 37th year at UNC, going 1313-777-5 (.628) in that time
  • Carolina returns 18 players from last season, including outfielder Bri Stubbs, pitcher/utility player Kianna Jones and pitcher/utility player Carlie Myrtle
  • Stubbs led the returnees in batting average (.355), runs scored (38) and hits (50) last season, with Jones pacing the Tar Heels in slugging percentage (.478) and home runs (8)
  • Myrtle highlights the UNC returnees in the circle, posting a 4.03 ERA in 59 innings pitched
• Wisconsin
  • The Badgers went 30-21 (12-11 Big Ten) in 2022
  • In 12 seasons as head coach at Wisconsin, Yvette Healy has posted a 362-237-1 (.604) record
  • Returning infielder Kayla Konwent was ranked No. 92 in D1Softball.com's Preseason Top 100 players list
  • The Badger's all-time career home run leader, Konwent led the team in batting average (.351), hits (50), doubles (10), home runs (10) and RBI (32) last season
  • Right-handed pitcher Maddie Schwartz returns for Wisconsin with 30 starts, 213 innings pitched and a 2.30 ERA a season ago
• Maryland
  • The Terrapins went 29-23 (14-7 Big Ten) in 2022
  • Head coach Mark Montgomery has been at Maryland for three seasons and has a 60-59 record (.504)
  • Junior outfielder Jaeda McFarland was named to the Extra Innings Elite 100 College Players list, ranked No. 85
  • McFarland was named to the All-Big Ten First Team for the second time last year after finishing top-five on the team in a number of statistical categories
  • Senior right-handed pitcher Courtney Wyche returns for the Terps, striking out a career-high 139 batters and recording a team and career-low 1.95 ERA last season
• North Dakota State
  • The Bison went 30-33 (10-18 Summit) in 2022
  • 21 seasons in as NDSU's head coach, Darren Mueller is 700-418 (.626)
  • Returning six starters, the Bison are led by outfielder Emilee Buringa, who had the fourth-best batting average last season, at .296
  • Buringa drew the most walks (27) and also recorded the second-most RBI (37)
  • Paige Vargas, a senior right-handed pitcher returns for NDSU after posting a 2.21 ERA in 171.1 innings pitched last season

Led by outfielder Violet Zavodnik and left-handed ace Chloe Temples, BYU also returns power hitters at the corners, first baseman Huntyr Ava and third baseman Martha Epenesa. All four returnees were named to All-WCC teams last season, as well as second baseman Alyssa Podhurcak and utility player Mallory Barber, who return this season as well. 

Zavodnik and Ava also earned NFCA All-Pacific Region honors in 2022, with Zavodnik named to the First Team and Ava to the Second. The duo has gained preseason recognition from a couple of media outlets heading into 2023. Zavodnik was ranked No. 28 in the D1Softball.com Preseason Top 100 Player Rankings and also the fifth-best outfielder. Extra Innings has rated the junior outfielder at No. 25 on its Elite Top 100 list, while Ava was ranked No. 12 on the Stars at the Corners list. 

After making the NCAA Tournament each season dating back to 2004, the Cougars missed the tourney last year after finishing 42-10 (13-2 WCC) and closing out the year on a 17-game win streak. Despite clinching a share of the West Coast Conference title, BYU lost the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament to Loyola Marymount off a tiebreaker.

Beginning with their first four games of the 2023 slate in Mexico, the Cougars look to make their way back to the tourney this season and win the WCC crown for a ninth-straight year in their final season as members of the conference.