SANTA BARBARA -- Despite trailing most of the game, BYU hit three key home runs to rally and defeat host UC-Santa Barbara, 7-4 in the "Softball by the Beach" Invitational. The Cougars improve to 6-3 and have won three straight while the the Gauchos drop to 11-4.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the second inning, freshman Ashlyn Russell nailed a solo home run, her third of the season, to tie the contest.

In the fourth inning, three questionable calls that could have been called either way, allowed the Gauchos to add three runs and extend their lead to 4-2.

BYU responded with a solid fifth inning. Two-time All-American Oli Keohohou smacked a solo shot deep to center to bring the Cougars within one at 4-3. The home run is the fourth of the season and 43rd of her career. Sophomore Lauern Watson singled and was followed by senior Brooke Cadiente's two-run home run to take a 5-4 lead.

Keohohou extended the lead in the sixth inning with a double to score sophomores Arron Layns and Debbie Dodds, who were both walked. Keohohou finished 2-4 with three RBI.

"I'm pleased with the way the team battled back to win the game," head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Our young players are adding to the strength of our team."

Freshman Brooke Boyce (2-0) picked up with win in relief for senior Cynthia Fallowfield. Boyce pitched 3.2 innings and allowed no runs and only two hits. Fallowfield started the game and allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits. She also added an RBI sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth inning that brought in pinch runner Lindsey Gerhauser.

BYU will play tomorrow against the San Diego Toreros at 9 a.m. followed by a game against Cal-State Northridge at 1:30. BYU will try to avenge a 2-1 loss against San Diego (0-5), who are still looking for their first win of the season.

The Automated ScoreBook
                       Brigham Young at UC Santa Barbara
             Feb 20, 2003 at Santa Barbara, Calif (Campus Diamond)
Brigham Young 7 (6-3)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KEOHOHOU, Oli 1b.........  4  1  2  2   0  2 14  0   0
WATSON, Lauren rf........  4  1  1  0   0  0  1  0   1
LEI, Ianeta cf...........  3  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
 GERHAUSER, Lindsey pr...  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CADIENTE, Brooke lf......  2  1  1  2   1  0  0  0   0
RUSSELL, Ashlyn 3b.......  4  1  3  1   0  1  0  4   0
 OSBORN, Belinda pr......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
FALLOWFIELD, Cynthia dh..  3  0  0  1   0  0  0  2   1
WALKER, Kate ss..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  4   0
LAYNS, Arron c...........  2  1  0  0   1  1  4  0   3
JONES, Milli 2b..........  2  0  0  0   0  1  2  2   0
 DODDS, Debbie ph........  0  1  0  0   1  0  0  1   0
BOYCE, Brooke p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 27  7  8  6   4  6 21 16   5
UC Santa Barbara 4 (11-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Simien rf................  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Oliver ph...............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Pershing 3b..............  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  2   3
Trinidad c...............  4  0  1  0   0  0  6  1   0
 Gerry pr................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Junge 1b.................  1  1  1  0   1  0  6  0   0
Lauchland 2b.............  3  0  1  1   0  0  2  1   0
Nobbe ss.................  3  1  1  1   0  1  2  0   3
Adame cf.................  3  0  1  0   0  1  1  0   0
Beck dh..................  3  1  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
Groefsema lf.............  3  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
Harmon p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 Thornburg p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27  4  8  3   1  2 21  6   5
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 010 132 0 -  7  8  2
UC Santa Barbara.... 100 300 0 -  4  8  2
-----------------------------------------
E - KEOHOHOU; LEI; Junge(1); Groefsema(1). LOB - BYU 5; UCSB 5. HR -
KEOHOHOU; CADIENTE; RUSSELL. SH - CADIENTE; Pershing(2); Junge(2). SF -
FALLOWFIELD. SB - Junge(1). CS - OSBORN.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BOYCE, Brooke.......  3.2  2  0  0  0  0 12 13
FALLOWFIELD, Cynthia  3.1  6  4  3  1  2 15 17
UC Santa Barbara       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Harmon..............  4.0  3  2  2  1  3 14 17
Thornburg...........  3.0  5  5  4  3  3 13 16
Win - BOYCE (2-0).  Loss - Thornburg (5-3).  Save - None.
WP - Thornburg 3(5).
Umpires - HP: John Bennett  1B: Billy Vinovich, Jr.  3B: Tony Cooper
Start: 2:00 pm   Time: 2:20   Attendance: 84
Game: BY-UCSB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                Brigham Young at UC Santa Barbara - Play-by-Play
             Feb 20, 2003 at Santa Barbara, Calif (Campus Diamond)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 010 132 0 -  7  8  2
UC Santa Barbara.... 100 300 0 -  4  8  2
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 15/1b KEOHOHOU; 11/rf WATSON; 66/cf LEI; 3/lf
   CADIENTE; 25/3b RUSSELL; 7/dh FALLOWFIELD; 5/ss WALKER; 19/c LAYNS; 10/2b
   JONES; 9/p BOYCE;
UC Santa Barbara starters: 23/rf Simien; 2/3b Pershing; 4/c Trinidad; 9/1b
   Junge; 12/2b Lauchland; 8/ss Nobbe; 14/cf Adame; 16/dh Beck; 10/lf
   Groefsema; 1/p Harmon;
Brigham Young - inning 1
   FALLOWFIELD to p. BOYCE to dh. KEOHOHOU struck out looking. WATSON lined
   out to cf. LEI popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 1
   Simien singled, bunt. Pershing out at first 3b to 2b, SAC; Simien
   advanced to second. Trinidad grounded out to p; Simien advanced to third.
   Junge walked. Lauchland singled to left field, RBI; Junge advanced to
   second; Simien scored. Nobbe struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors,
   2 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 2
   CADIENTE grounded out to 3b. RUSSELL homered to center field, RBI.
   FALLOWFIELD reached on an error by 1b. WALKER grounded out to p;
   FALLOWFIELD advanced to second. LAYNS fouled out to lf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1
   error, 1 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 2
   Adame struck out swinging. Beck grounded out to ss. Groefsema grounded
   out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 3
   JONES grounded out to p. KEOHOHOU struck out looking. WATSON fouled out
   to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 3
   Simien out at first 3b to 2b, bunt. Pershing grounded out to p. Trinidad
   grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 4
   LEI walked. GERHAUSER pinch ran for LEI. CADIENTE out at first 3b to 2b,
   SAC; GERHAUSER advanced to second. RUSSELL singled to left field;
   GERHAUSER advanced to third. FALLOWFIELD flied out to lf, SF, RBI;
   GERHAUSER scored. WALKER singled up the middle; RUSSELL advanced to
   second. LAYNS struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 4
   LEI to cf for GERHAUSER. Junge singled up the middle. Junge stole second.
   Lauchland grounded out to 1b unassisted; Junge advanced to third. Nobbe
   singled through the left side, RBI; Junge scored. Adame singled to
   pitcher; Nobbe advanced to second. Beck singled up the middle, advanced
   to second on an error by cf, RBI; Adame advanced to second, advanced to
   third on an error by cf; Nobbe scored. FALLOWFIELD to dh. BOYCE to p.
   Groefsema singled to shortstop. Oliver pinch hit for Simien. Oliver
   reached on a fielder's choice; Groefsema advanced to second; Beck
   advanced to third; Adame out at home ss to c. Simien to rf for Oliver.
   Pershing reached on an error by 1b; Simien advanced to second; Groefsema
   advanced to third, out at home 2b to c; Beck scored, unearned. 3 runs, 5
   hits, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 5
   Thornburg to p for Harmon. JONES struck out swinging. KEOHOHOU homered to
   right field, RBI. WATSON singled, bunt. WATSON advanced to second on a
   wild pitch. LEI struck out swinging. WATSON advanced to third on a wild
   pitch. CADIENTE homered to left center, 2 RBI; WATSON scored. RUSSELL
   singled to center field. OSBORN pinch ran for RUSSELL. OSBORN out at
   second c to ss, caught stealing. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 5
   RUSSELL to 3b for OSBORN. Trinidad singled up the middle. Gerry pinch ran
   for Trinidad. Junge grounded out to p, SAC; Gerry advanced to second.
   Lauchland grounded out to 2b; Gerry advanced to third. Nobbe lined out to
   rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 6
   Trinidad to c for Gerry. FALLOWFIELD fouled out to 1b. WALKER grounded
   out to 1b unassisted. LAYNS walked. DODDS pinch hit for JONES. LAYNS
   advanced to second on a wild pitch. DODDS walked. KEOHOHOU singled,
   advanced to second on an error by lf, RBI; DODDS advanced to third,
   scored on an error by lf, unearned; LAYNS scored. WATSON grounded out to
   2b. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 6
   DODDS to 2b. Adame grounded out to ss. Beck grounded out to 1b
   unassisted. Groefsema grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 7
   LEI popped up to 2b. CADIENTE walked. RUSSELL struck out swinging.
   FALLOWFIELD popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UC Santa Barbara - inning 7
   Simien grounded out to 3b. Pershing grounded out to p. Trinidad grounded
   out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team travels to play in the annual "Softball by the Beach" tournament hosted by the University of California-Santa Barbara. The Cougars will play host UCSB on Thursday before playing two game on Friday and Saturday. BYU is currently 5-3 and defeated No. 24 Texas A&M last Saturday.

"We are hoping to get off to a fast start, but I think we'll get better as the tournament continues,' head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We expect to improve game-by-game."

Last season, the Cougars lost to UCSB 4-2 playing on a Thursday as well. Junior Oli Keohohou hit a home run against the Gauchos last year but it proved to be the only scoring of the day. UCSB has an 11-3 record and look to be a tough opening opponent for the weekend.

On Friday the Cougars will take on San Diego and Cal-State Northridge. Last season, San Diego gave the Cougars their only loss, a 2-1 defeat, in the Southern Utah Classic in the opening weekend from the season. The Toreros (0-5) haven't won a game this season and are desperate to get a win against BYU.

Cal-State Northridge is 6-5 on the season and hopes to capitalize that it is playing very close to home.

On Saturday, the Cougars will take on Big 12 school Kansas. The two teams have never met before and the Jayhawks look strong with a 7-1 record. The Cougars will also play Cal-Poly on Saturday and look to avenge a heartbreaking 7-6 loss in St. George that saw the Cougars squander the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.

"We seem to be healthy we didn't have a lot of practice time between our last weekend and this tournament," Eakins said. "The one day we did have between practice before traveling, we were stuck inside due to weather."