LAS CRUCES -- All-American Oli Keohohou hit a two-run home run in the fifth ining to seal the a 7-1 win for BYU over host New Mexico State, Thursday. The Cougars (16-7) have now won seven straight games and the home run was the eighth on the season for Keohohou.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the third, junior shortstop Kate Walker hit a solo home run, her first of the season, to left center field to tied the score. Sophomore catcher Lauren Watson singled and was brought home by senior Brooke Cadiente's two-run home runs, her seventh of the season, to take a 3-1 lead.

The Cougars reeled off four runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Sophomore MIlli Jones drew a walk and was brought home by Keohohou's towering home run over center field for a 5-1 lead. Walker then singled and Watson drew a walk. Cadiente reached on a fielder's choice that got Walker out at third. Freshman Ashlyn Russell walked to load the bases. Fellow freshman Ianeta Lei reached on a fielder's choice that scored Watson. The Aggies then tried to pick off Cadiente at third base but the throw went to left field and the MWC Player of the Week score the final run for the Cougars.

Senior Cynthia Fallowfield (4-2) started the game and picked up the win in five innings on the mound and gave up only three hits. Freshman Brooke Boyce relieved Fallowfield and gave up one hit in two innings.

The Cougars will play tomorrow against the UConn Huskies at noon followed by Missouri-Kansas City at 4 p.m. BYU wil conclude the tournament on Saturday against New Mexico at noon and Texas-San Antonio at 4 p.m. The Cougars will play the conference opener at home against Utah next Saturday, March 29 at Gail Miller Field starting at noon in a doubleheader.

BYU Softball
                       Brigham Young at New Mexico State
             Mar 20, 2003 at Las Cruces, NM (NMSU Softball Comple)
Brigham Young 7 (16-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KEOHOHOU, Oli 1b.........  4  1  2  2   0  1 11  0   0
WALKER, Kate ss..........  3  1  3  1   0  0  1  4   0
 OSBORN, Belinda ph/cf...  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
WATSON, Lauren rf........  3  2  3  0   1  0  1  0   0
CADIENTE, Brooke lf......  4  2  1  2   0  2  0  0   0
RUSSELL, Ashlyn 3b.......  3  0  0  0   1  0  0  2   2
LEI, Ianeta dh/ph........  3  0  0  1   0  1  0  0   1
 BARNES, Katy pr.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
LAYNS, Arron c...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  8  1   1
DODDS, Debbie cf/ss......  1  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
JONES, Milli 2b..........  2  1  0  0   1  0  0  2   0
 GERHAUSER, Lindsey 2b...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
FALLOWFIELD, Cynthia p...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 BOYCE, Brooke p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 27  7  9  6   4  7 21 11   5
New Mexico State 1 (5-32)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BERNAL 2b................  3  0  0  1   0  0  2  3   0
OWENS cf.................  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   3
STEPHENS c...............  2  0  1  0   0  1  9  2   0
CARVER ss................  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  3   1
STANSBERRY 3b............  2  1  1  0   1  1  3  0   0
 MCINTOSH pr.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
BOHLS 1b.................  2  0  1  0   1  0  5  0   0
GROW lf..................  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   2
MCNEELY dh...............  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
MELBY rf.................  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  1   0
BRIDE p..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 23  1  3  1   3  7 21 11   6
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 003 040 0 -  7  9  0
New Mexico State.... 010 000 0 -  1  3  2
-----------------------------------------
E - STEPHENS 2. LOB - BYU 5; NMSU 6. 2B - WATSON. 3B - KEOHOHOU. HR -
KEOHOHOU; WALKER; CADIENTE. HBP - LEI; DODDS; BERNAL; STEPHENS. CS - DODDS;
STEPHENS(2).
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
FALLOWFIELD, Cynthia  5.0  2  1  1  2  4 16 20   -
BOYCE, Brooke.......  2.0  1  0  0  1  3  7  8   -
New Mexico State       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
BRIDE...............  7.0  9  7  6  4  7 27 33   -
Win - FALLOWFIELD (4-2).  Loss - BRIDE (4-15).  Save - None.
HBP - by BRIDE (DODDS); by FALLOWFIELD (BERNAL); by FALLOWFIELD (STEPHENS); by
BRIDE (LEI). Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Rafael Rosalez  2B: Gary Galindo
Start: 4:00 pm   Time: 6:15 pm   Attendance: 65
Game: BY-NMS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play-by-Play
                                  BYU Softball
                Brigham Young at New Mexico State - Play-by-Play
             Mar 20, 2003 at Las Cruces, NM (NMSU Softball Comple)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 003 040 0 -  7  9  0
New Mexico State.... 010 000 0 -  1  3  2
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 15/1b KEOHOHOU; 5/ss WALKER; 11/rf WATSON; 3/lf
   CADIENTE; 25/3b RUSSELL; 66/dh LEI; 19/c LAYNS; 20/cf DODDS; 10/2b JONES;
   7/p FALLOWFIELD;
New Mexico State starters: 1/2b BERNAL; 2/cf OWENS; 17/c STEPHENS; 6/ss
   CARVER; 23/3b STANSBERRY; 8/1b BOHLS; 12/lf GROW; 14/dh MCNEELY; 7/rf
   MELBY; 30/p BRIDE;
Brigham Young - inning 1
   KEOHOHOU struck out looking. WALKER singled to center field. WATSON
   singled to shortstop; WALKER advanced to second. CADIENTE struck out
   looking. RUSSELL popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 1
   BERNAL popped up to 1b. OWENS grounded out to ss. STEPHENS singled to
   left field. CARVER grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 2
   LEI struck out looking. LAYNS grounded out to 2b. DODDS hit by pitch.
   DODDS out at second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
   LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 2
   STANSBERRY walked. BOHLS singled to center field; STANSBERRY advanced to
   second. GROW grounded out to 3b; BOHLS advanced to second; STANSBERRY
   advanced to third. MCNEELY walked. MELBY struck out swinging. BERNAL hit
   by pitch, RBI; MCNEELY advanced to second; BOHLS advanced to third;
   STANSBERRY scored. OWENS grounded out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3
   LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 3
   JONES out on batter's interference. KEOHOHOU grounded out to ss. WALKER
   homered, RBI. WATSON singled to second base. CADIENTE homered, 2 RBI;
   WATSON scored. RUSSELL lined out to lf. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 3
   STEPHENS hit by pitch. CARVER popped up to c. STANSBERRY struck out
   looking. STEPHENS out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0 runs, 0 hits,
   0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 4
   LEI hit by pitch. LAYNS out at first ss to 2b; LEI advanced to second.
   DODDS walked. BARNES pinch ran for LEI. DODDS advanced to second on an
   error by c, advanced to third, out at home c to ss; BARNES advanced to
   third, out at home rf to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 4
   LEI pinch hit for BARNES. BOHLS grounded out to 2b. GROW struck out
   looking. MCNEELY grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 5
   JONES walked. KEOHOHOU homered, 2 RBI; JONES scored. WALKER singled to
   right field. WATSON walked; WALKER advanced to second. CADIENTE reached
   on a fielder's choice; WATSON advanced to second; WALKER out at third ss
   to 3b. RUSSELL walked; CADIENTE advanced to second; WATSON advanced to
   third. LEI reached on a fielder's choice, RBI; RUSSELL out at second 2b
   to 3b; CADIENTE advanced to third; WATSON scored. LEI advanced to second
   on an error by c; CADIENTE scored, unearned. LAYNS struck out swinging. 4
   runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 5
   MELBY struck out swinging. BERNAL grounded out to ss. OWENS grounded out
   to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 6
   DODDS struck out looking. JONES grounded out to p. KEOHOHOU tripled to
   center field. OSBORN pinch hit for WALKER. LEI to dh. OSBORN struck out
   looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 6
   OSBORN to cf. DODDS to ss. GERHAUSER to 2b for JONES. BOYCE to p for
   FALLOWFIELD. STEPHENS struck out swinging. CARVER lined out to rf.
   STANSBERRY singled to second base. BOHLS walked; STANSBERRY advanced to
   second. MCINTOSH pinch ran for STANSBERRY. GROW struck out swinging. 0
   runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 7
   STANSBERRY to 3b for MCINTOSH. WATSON doubled to center field. CADIENTE
   struck out swinging. RUSSELL grounded out to 2b; WATSON advanced to
   third. LEI grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
New Mexico State - inning 7
   MCNEELY struck out swinging. MELBY grounded out to 2b. BERNAL grounded
   out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team (15-7) will travel to Las Cruces, Mexico to play in its last non-conference tournament before opening conference play. The Cougars will play host New Mexico State on Thursday before opening tournament play on Friday against UConn from the Big East and UMKC. The tournament will conclude on Saturday against conference foe New Mexico in a non-conference game and University of Texas-San Antonio.

The meeting against New Mexico State (5-31) will mark the first every meeting between the two teams. Christi Stephens leads the Aggies in batting (.340), hits (34), runs (17), RBI (25), and home runs (9). The Aggies as a team post a .202 batting average and a 5.29 ERA, but the Cougars expect a tough game because the Aggies play in front of a home crowd.

Ironically, the softball team faces the UConn Huskies for the first time ever the same week that the men's basketball will face UConn at the Big Dance in Spokane, Wash. The Huskies (3-9-1) have only played 13 games in the season and are led by Mandy Schettini with a .308 batting average. The team has yet to hit a home run on the season.

The UMKC Kangaroos (3-12) recently lost two games at St. Mary's but their record is no fluke as they are the returning conference champions in 2002. The also have defeated Oregon State and Tennessee earlier in the season.

New Mexico (10-19-1) is playing the Cougars in a non-conference game and will face each other four times in conference play after this weekend. The Lobos are led by freshman shortstop Ashley VanBoxmeer with a .360 batting average and have former MWC Pitcher of the Week Amy Dumas leading them on the mound.

Texas-San Antonio (8-17) is led by sophomore Krystal Gibson who is batting .400. Jessica Rogers is right behind her with a .392 batting average and six home runs on the season.

The Cougars are led by MWC Player of the Week Brooke Cadiente who went a perfect 7-7 against Utah State in the home-opener last weekend. Cadiente leads the team in RBI (22) and slugging percentage (.828). All-American Oli Keohohou leads the team in batting average (.373), runs (22), and home runs (7).

As a team the Cougars have blasted a league-high in 22 home runs and in batting average a .266. The Cougars have also brought in 106 RBI and 116 runs scored, both league-highs.

The Cougars open conference play against Utah on March 29th at Gail Miller Park with a doubleheader starting at noon. Live stats will be available for the game.

Conference             Overall
Team                   W   L   T   Pct   GB   W   L   T   Pct
Colorado State.......  0   0   0  .000   --  19   6   0  .760
BYU..................  0   0   0  .000   --  15   7   0  .682
San Diego State......  0   0   0  .000   --  20  11   0  .645
UNLV.................  0   0   0  .000   --  13  17   0  .433
Utah.................  0   0   0  .000   --   8  14   0  .363
New Mexico...........  0   0   0  .000   --  10  19   1  .350