TEMPE, Ariz. — Martha Epenesa hit a walk-off two-run home run to lift BYU softball in a 7-5 come-from-behind win over Portland State in its first game of a doubleheader in the Littlewood Classic at Farrington Stadium on Friday afternoon.

BOX SCORE

Epenesa's homer was the Cougars' third of the day, all two-run shots. Freshman catcher Hailey Morrow sent one out in the fourth inning and Violet Zavodnik homered in the fifth.

BYU split the pitching duties between Chloe Temples, Kaysen Korth and Ailana Agbayani, with Agbayani earning the win after 2.2 innings pitched and three strikeouts. 

Player Highlights

• Martha Epenesa: 3-4, R, 2 RBI
• Hailey Morrow: 2-2, R 2 RBI
• Violet Zavodnik: 1-3, R, 2 RBI

Portland State struck first, getting the leadoff runner aboard, recording three hits and stealing second twice to take an early 3-0 lead in the top of the opening frame. 

Singling twice in the second, the Vikings brought around another run, making it 4-0 for the visitors on the scoreboard. BYU loaded the bases with two outs in its half of the second but a fly out to right field would end the Cougar attack. 

In the fourth inning, Huntyr Ava walked and Epenesa singled, with both Jaelynn Lambert and Lexie Bennett coming in to pinch run. A sacrifice bunt by Lauren Flanders brought Lambert and Bennett into scoring position, with Mallory Barber scoring Lambert on a groundout to second base. 

With Bennett then at third, Morrow launched a two-run homer over the left field fence, drawing BYU within one, 4-3. 

Agbayani singled in bottom of the fifth inning, advancing to first on a Maddie Bejarano sacrifice bunt. Violet Zavodnik then sent a home run to center on the first pitch she saw, giving the Cougars a 5-4 lead, their first of the game.

PSU got a leadoff double in the seventh, scoring the tying run on a single through the left side to make it 5-5.

Bejarano led off for BYU, singling to center field and advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zavodnik. Facing two outs and a 2-1 count, Epenesa walked it off for the Cougars, hitting a two-run jack to left center.

BYU will face Oregon State in the second game of its Friday doubleheader at 3:15 p.m. MST. 

PROVO, Utah — After opening the 2023 season in Mexico last week, BYU softball heads to Tempe, Arizona to take on five teams at the Littlewood Classic, hosted by Arizona State.

All five of the Cougars' games will be held at Alberta B. Farrington Stadium. BYU's opening game of the Littlewood Classic against No. 22 Arizona State will be the lone game available via stream. 

BYU is familiar with Arizona State and Farrington Stadium, playing the Sun Devils four times in the last two seasons, and at Farrington nine times in the same time frame. The Cougars are 1-13 against ASU all-time, with each matchup coming against a ranked Sun Devil team. 

Last playing in 2018, BYU is 8-3 against Portland State, with three-straight wins dating back to 2014. Going 5-12 against Oregon State all-time, the Cougars last beat the Beavers in 2017. BYU and Illinois State have met just once previously. The Cougars beat the Redbirds, 5-2, in a game also hosted at Arizona State back in 2001. BYU is 1-3 all-time against DePaul, last playing in 2012, but last beating the Blue Demons in 2006. 

The Cougars went 2-2 at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge, dropping games to North Carolina and Maryland while beating Wisconsin and North Dakota State, with the BYU bats waking up in a 10-1 run-rule victory over the Bison in its tournament finale. 

Left-handed pitcher Chloe Temples and freshman righty Kaysen Korth both went 1-1 on the weekend, with Temples posting a 1.75 ERA and nine strikeouts, and Korth fanning 11 on a 3.11 ERA.

Transfer outfielder Maddie Bejarano and freshman infielder Maddie Udall lead the team through the opening weekend batting .500. together tallying 10 hits, four RBI and three runs scored. 

Temples and Bejarano earned all-tournament honors for their performances in Mexico and lead the team in ERA and hits, respectively, heading into the Littlewood Classic this week. 

Arizona State (4-1, 0-0 Pac-12)

• The Sun Devils went 43-11 (20-4 Pac-12) last season
• ASU began its 2023 season last week with wins over CSUN, San Diego State, Northern Illinois and Memphis, with a loss to Notre Dame
• Jazmyn Rollin (.500) and Yannira Acuña (.429) lead Arizona State in batting average and in runs scored, tallying five apiece
• Marissa Schuld has made three appearances on the year, posting a 2-0 record, 0.00 ERA and five strikeouts
• 2023 marks the first season with the Sun Devils for head coach Megan Bartlett, who has a 145-109 (.571) overall record

Portland State (2-3, 0-0 Big Sky)

• The Vikings went 26-18 (10-5 Big Sky) last season
• Portland State began the 2923 season with wins over Colgate and Butler, with losses to Marshall, Minnesota and Michigan. 
• Logan Riggenbach and Alexa Cepeda each lead the team with a .333 batting average, recording five and four hits, respectively
• Olivia Grey is 2-1 in three appearances, boasting a 0.00 ERA with 11
• In her seventh season as head coach of the Vikings, Meadow McWhorter is 98-165 (.373)

Oregon State (2-3, 0-0 Pac-12)

• The Beavers went 39-22 (9-15 Pac-12) last season
• Oregon State kicked off its season splitting a doubleheader with New Mexico and beating Nicholls before falling to LSU twice
• Kaiea Higa (.444 batting average) and Madison Simon (.385 average) highlight OSU’s attack at the plate, with Sarah Haendiges posting a 4.10 ERA, 1-1 record and 14 strikeouts in four appearances
• Laura Berg in in her 11th season as head coach of the Beavers, going 270-335-1 (.535) in that time

Illinois State (1-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley)

• The Redbirds went 24-28 (12-13 Missouri Valley) last season
• Illinois State beat Saint Joseph’s last week before dropping two games to Boston College and another to No. 4 Florida
• This is Tina Kramos’ first season as head coach of the Redbirds

DePaul (4-0, 0-0 Big East)

• The Blue Demons went 29-24 (16-8 Big East) last season
• DePaul opened the season 4-0, with wins over Valparaiso, Bowling Green, Saint Louis and Evansville
• Grace Frazier (.500) and Tori Meyer (.462) lead the team in batting average and runs scored, with five and four, respectively
• Brenna Smith has a 0.00 ERA and a win in one appearance with two strikeouts on the year
• Five seasons in as head coach of the Blue Demons, Tracie Adix-Zins is 101-63 (.616)

Following the Cougars' five-game slate at Arizona State this week, they will hit the road again for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California.