LAS -- Freshman right fielder Oli Keohohou hit her 16th home run of the season and junior third baseman Elizabeth Pierce-Boydston collected three hits to lead BYU to a 9-4 victory over host UNLV Friday in the nightcap of a Mountain West Conference softball doubleheader. Earning the split after dropped the first game 4-3, BYU improved to 21-17 on the year and 3-2 in conference play.

Keohohou, ranked second in the nation in home runs, hit a three-run blast to left center to cap the six-run Cougar sixth. BYU totaled five hits in the inning, starting with a single to left by Pierce-Boydston to open the top of the sixth. Becca Erickson, Lindsey Hodgen-Kelly and Kari Pringle each singled while Liz Smith earned a walk.

Starting pitcher Meghann Pricer improved to 7-4 on the year with the win. Pricer gave way to Maryon DeWitt-Wallentine after walking the first two Rebel batters in the bottom of the sixth. Pricer surrendered only two hits in five innings pitched. Leading 9-0, BYU gave up four runs in the sixth but the Rebels were shot down in the bottom of the seventh by DeWitt-Wallentine.

Game one began with the Rebels taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two-run blast by junior Samantha Kimura. UNLV jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the third inning on a double by senior Racheal Goodpaster, scoring freshman Shawna Goessling from third.

BYU battled back in the fourth inning, as it got one run on an error. The Cougars had the opportunity to cut into the deficit more, but the Rebels turned a double play to get out of the inning. The Cougars tied the game at three in the fifth inning, scoring on a double by Lindsey Kelly and a triple by Angie Christiansen.

UNLV scored the eventual game winning run in the bottom of the sixth on single by senior Melissa Inouye, scoring senior Linda Garza from third.

The Cougars had one last chance to get back into the game in the seventh inning. After two quick outs, Rebel freshman pitcher Kacey Ellis gave up two singles and intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases for the force out at any base. Brooke Cadiente took a 3-0 count in the next at bat for the Cougars. Ellis batted back in the at bat, forcing Cadiente to foul off three straight pitches. Cadiente hit a ground ball to second base and junior Arica Painter made the play to first for the final out, giving the Rebels a 4-3 win.

Hodgen-Kelly, Smith and Cadiente each had two hits to lead BYU at the plate while DeWitt-Wallentine (11-11) gave up eight hits and only two earned runs in the loss.

"We did not play particularly well today but we found a way to get a win," BYU coach Mary Kay Amicone said. "In the first game we left too many people on base. We hope to play better in San Diego Saturday."

The Cougars play at San Diego State Saturday in a doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. MST.

The Automated ScoreBook
                              BYU at UNLV
             Apr 06, 2001 at Las Vegas, NV (Rebel Diamond)
BYU 3 (20-17,2-2 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
HODGEN-KELLY cf...........  4  1  2  1    0  0  0  0
SMITH lf..................  4  0  2  1    0  1  1  0
PRINGLE 2b................  2  1  0  0    1  0  1  1
KEOHOHOU, Oli rf..........  2  0  1  0    2  0  2  0
CADIENTE dh...............  4  0  2  1    0  0  0  0
BOYDSTON 3b...............  3  0  0  0    0  0  1  0
HANSON 1b.................  3  0  1  0    0  0  2  0
ERICKSON ss...............  3  1  1  0    0  0  1  1
CHRISTIANSEN c............  2  0  0  0    0  0  9  0
 FERNLEY ph................ 1  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
WALLENTINE, Maryon p......  0  0  0  0    0  0  1  1
Totals.................... 28  3  9  3    3  1 18  3
UNLV 4 (21-16,2-1 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
BYRNE lf..................  3  0  0  0    0  2  3  0
 MOSES ph.................. 1  0  1  0    0  0  0  0
GOESSLING rf..............  1  2  0  0    0  0  1  1
KIMURA, Samantha c........  3  1  2  2    0  1  4  1
GOODPASTER cf.............  3  0  1  1    0  0  3  0
ORRIS dh..................  3  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
GARZA 3b..................  3  1  1  0    0  1  3  1
PAINTER 2b................  3  0  2  0    0  1  1  1
INOUYE 1b.................  3  0  1  0    0  2  5  1
MARTINEZ ss...............  3  0  0  0    0  2  0  2
ELLIS, Kacey p............  0  0  0  0    0  0  1  2
Totals.................... 26  4  8  3    0  9 21  9
Score by innings:                   R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU                   000 120 0  -  3  9  2
UNLV                  201 001 0  -  4  8  1
-------------------------------------------
E - HODGEN-KELLY; PRINGLE; PAINTER.
LOB - Cougars 8; Rebels 6.
2B - HODGEN-KELLY; CADIENTE; GOODPASTER. 3B - ERICKSON.
HR - KIMURA.
SB - GARZA; PAINTER.
SH - GOESSLING.
BYU                    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
WALLENTINE, Maryon..  6.0   8   4   2   0   9
UNLV                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
ELLIS, Kacey........  7.0   9   3   2   3   1
Win - ELLIS 8-6.  Loss - WALLENTINE 11-11.  Save - None.
WP - WALLENTINE.
HBP - PRINGLE; GOESSLING.
Umpires -
Start: 12:20   Time: 2:20   Attendance: 127
The Automated ScoreBook
                              BYU at UNLV
             Apr 06, 2001 at Las Vegas, NV (Rebel Diamond)
BYU 9 (21-17,3-2 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
HODGEN-KELLY cf...........  4  2  3  1    0  0  1  0
SMITH lf..................  3  2  1  0    1  0  1  0
PRINGLE 2b................  3  1  2  3    0  0  4  1
KEOHOHOU, Oli rf..........  2  1  1  3    2  0  0  0
CADIENTE dh...............  4  0  0  0    0  1  0  0
BOYDSTON 3b...............  4  1  3  1    0  0  0  4
HANSON 1b.................  4  1  0  0    0  1  8  1
ERICKSON ss...............  3  1  2  0    0  0  1  1
CHRISTIANSEN c............  3  0  0  0    0  1  6  1
PRICER p..................  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
 WALLENTINE, Maryon p...... 0  0  0  0    0  0  0  0
Totals.................... 30  9 12  8    3  3 21  8
UNLV 4 (21-17,2-2 MWC)
Name (Pos)                 AB  R  H RBI  BB SO PO  A
BYRNE lf..................  3  0  0  1    0  0  2  0
 HATCH ph.................. 0  0  0  0    1  0  0  0
GOESSLING rf..............  4  1  1  1    0  0  0  0
KIMURA, Samantha c........  4  0  0  0    0  2  3  2
GOODPASTER cf.............  2  0  0  0    2  1  2  0
ORRIS dh..................  4  0  2  1    0  0  0  0
GARZA 3b..................  4  0  1  0    0  0  1  3
PAINTER 2b................  2  1  0  0    0  0  3  3
INOUYE 1b.................  3  1  0  0    1  1  7  0
MARTINEZ ss...............  3  1  1  1    0  2  3  1
 MOSES ph.................. 0  0  0  0    1  0  0  0
TRUAX p...................  0  0  0  0    0  0  0  2
Totals.................... 29  4  5  4    5  6 21 11
Score by innings:                   R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU                   011 016 0  -  9 12  4
UNLV                  000 004 0  -  4  5  2
-------------------------------------------
E - BOYDSTON; ERICKSON 2; PRICER; KIMURA; PAINTER.
LOB - Cougars 5; Rebels 11.
2B - PRINGLE; ORRIS 2.
HR - KEOHOHOU.
SB - HODGEN-KELLY; KEOHOHOU; ERICKSON; GOESSLING. CS - KEOHOHOU; CHRISTIANSEN.
SH - PRINGLE; ERICKSON; PAINTER.
BYU                    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
PRICER..............  5.0   2   2   1   4   4
WALLENTINE, Maryon..  2.0   3   2   2   1   2
UNLV                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  AB BF
TRUAX...............  5.2  12   9   8   3   3
ORRIS...............  1.1   0   0   0   0   0
Win - PRICER 7-4.  Loss - TRUAX 8-3.  Save - None.
WP - PRICER; TRUAX 3. PB - CHRISTIANSEN.
HBP - PAINTER.
Umpires -
Start: 3:00   Time: 2:30   Attendance: 67