ST. GEORGE, Utah — Fueled by a pair of home runs from Violet Zavodnik and 23 total strikeouts by Kaysen Korth, BYU softball swept its Friday doubleheader over UNLV and Portland State in the Trailblazer Tournament at Karl Brooks Field.

Korth fanned 15 Rebel batters in the Cougars' first game against UNLV, trying a school record for most strikeouts in a single game. 

Game 1: BYU 9 - UNLV 2

BOX SCORE

Player Highlights

• Kaysen Korth: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 15 K
• Violet Zavodnik, 3-3, R, 5 RBI
• Maddie Bejarano: 2-3, 2 R
• Hailey Morrow: 1-3, 2 RBI

BYU struck first in the bottom of the second inning as Breezy Hayward, making her first career-start, led off being hit by a pitch. With Lexie Bennett pinch running for Hayward, Zavodnik singled up the middle to move Bennett to third. Lauren Flanders then dropped a bunt single that would score Bennett and put the Cougars in front 1-0 early. 

Blowing it open in the following inning, BYU got its first two runners on with an Ailana Agbayani walk and Maddie Bejarano bunt single. Mallory Barber then poked a single down the right field line to load the bases.

A sacrifice fly allowed Agbayani to tag up and score and then Zavodnik sent a 3-run homer over the right field fence to give the Cougars a 5-0 lead. 

Bejarano opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a double and Hailey Morrow walked, with Taryn Lennon coming in to pinch run for Morrow. Facing a 2-2 count with two outs, Zavodnik delivered again, hitting a single to center that scored both Bejarano and Lennon to put the Cougars ahead 7-0 through five.

UNLV got those two runs back in the top of the sixth, leading off with a single and then a 2-run homer to center, making it 7-2, BYU. 

The Cougars added back to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning as Epenesa doubled and Agbayani was hit by a pitch, with Jaelynn Lambert pinch running for Epenesa. Both Lambert and Agbayani advanced a base on Bejarano’s groundout, coming around to score on Morrow’s single up the middle to lead 9-2.

Threatening in the seventh with two runners on and two outs, the Rebels fouled out to end the game.

Game 2: BYU 8 - Portland State 3

BOX SCORE

Player Highlights

• Kaysen Korth: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 8 K
• Hailey Morrow: 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI
• Breezy Hayward: 2-4, 2 RBI
• Mallory Barber: 2-2, R, RBI
• Violet Zavodnik: 1-3, R, 2 RBI

After two quick outs to open the game, BYU recorded three-straight base hits to take a 2-0 lead. Bejarano singled, Morrow doubled to score Bejarano, and Barber singled to score Morrow, putting the Cougars up by two runs early.

Portland State answered in the bottom of the second, tallying two doubles and a single, also benefitting from a BYU error to go ahead 3-2, after two. 

The Cougars responded in the top of the third, doing all of their damage with two outs. Morrow and Barber both singled before Hayward doubled to score the pair. Bennett pinch ran for Hayward, bringing up Zavodink, who sent out a 2-run jack to center field, her second of the day, giving the Cougars a 6-3 advantage. 

Loading the bases in the fourth and sixth innings, the Vikings threatened, but Korth, who entered in relief in the fourth inning, was able to get out of the jam on both occasions, striking out two batters in the fourth and the side in the sixth.

BYU added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with Bejarano earning a leadoff walk and Morrow launching a 2-run shot to center field, making it 8-3, Cougars.

PSU got a runner aboard with a walk, but proceeded to fly out and strike out to end the game and seal BYU’s second victory of the day.

The Cougars will close out the Trailblazer Tournament on Saturday, March 4 with a matinee matchup against Idaho State. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. MST, and the game will be streamed on WAC International. 

PROVO, Utah — After three weeks on the road to open its 2023 campaign, BYU softball remains in the state of Utah this week, traveling south to play four teams in Utah Tech's Trailblazer Tournament. 

The Cougars will face both Oregon State and Portland State for a second time this season, as well as UNLV and Idaho State, the first of four matchups in 2023 with the Bengals.

BYU went 1-3 at the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California last week, suffering losses to then No. 21/24 Missouri, Texas A&M and San Diego State before bouncing back with a win over Long Beach State to close out the tournament. 

Outfielder Alexis Gilio led the Cougars with four hits on the weekend, including two doubles in their victory over the Beach. Shortstop Ailana Agbayani tallied three hits and four runs in BYU's four games, with left fielder Maddie Bejarano also scoring four runs.

Third baseman Martha Epenesa and center fielder Violet Zavodnik each recorded two hits on the weekend. Pitcher Kaysen Korth finished 1-1 for the tournament, posting a 5.25 ERA and striking out 16 batters over 14.2 innings.

Bejarano has reached base in each of the Cougars' 13 games this season, leading the team. First baseman Huntyr Ava is on a 10-game reached base streak. 

Continuing to rank in the top-100 of a handful of statistical categories, BYU is No. 23 in fielding percentage (.982), No. 46 in hit batters (3), No. 60 in home runs per game (0.82), No. 77 in scoring (5.18), No. 84 in on-base percentage (.373), No. 95 in shutouts (1) and No. 98 in stolen bases per game (1.27).

Individually, Zavodnik sits at No. 19 in hit-by-pitch per game (0.45), with Korth ranking No. 31 in strikeouts (37) and Bejarano at No. 38 in total hits (15). Ava is No. 51 with three home runs and Bejarano is No. 59 with 0.27 sacrifice bunts per game. 

The Cougars have three players that rank No. 67 in total sacrifice flies. Ava, Hailey Morrow and Zavodnik have all tallied two thus far. Korth comes in a No. 82 with 8.8 strikeouts per seven innings, and Martha Epenesa's 0.78 walks per game close out BYU's individual presence in the top-100. 

• Oregon State (7-8, 0-0 Pac-12)
  • The Beavers tallied wins over Missouri and Iowa at Mary Nutter last weekend
  • Laura Berg is in her 11th season as head coach at Oregon State, going 275-240-1 (.534) in that time
  • The Beavers lead the all-time series, 12-6, but the Cougars took the first matchup between the two teams this season, 3-2
• UNLV (10-5, 0-0 Mountain West)
  • The Rebels went 4-0 at the Frost Classic last weekend, most notably beating Memphis, 4-1
  • In her sixth season with UNLV, Kristie Fox is 168-74 (.694)
  • BYU leads the all-time series, 36-13, and has won eight of the last 10 matchups
  • The Rebels beat the Cougars in Vegas last season, 5-3
• Portland State (4-10, 0-0 Big Sky)
  • The Vikings went 0-3 at Mary Nutter last weekend, also having games against Northwestern and Arizona State canceled
  • Meadow McWhorter is in her seventh season with the Portland State, posting a 100-172 (.368) record
  • BYU leads the all-time series, 9-3 and has won four of the last five matchups
  • The Cougars took the first matchup of the season in walk-off fashion as Epenesa sent out a two-run shot to beat the Vikings, 7-5
• Idaho State (4-9, 0-0 Big Sky)
  • The Bengals played six games last week, falling to Iowa State, Cal Poly and Fresno State
  • Two seasons in as head coach at Idaho State, Andrew Rich is 29-32 (.446)
  • BYU leads the all-time series, 16-2, and has won eight of the last 10 matchups
  • The Cougars beat the Bengals, 5-2 in their lone matchup last season

Following the Trailblazer Tournament, the Cougars will have 11 days off before hosting in-state rival Utah in their home opener at Gail Miller Field. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. MST on Wednesday, March 15 and will be televised on BYUtv.