HONOLULU - In the first match up ever between the two teams, the tournament host Hawai`i (1-0) overcame BYU (0-1) 7-3 in the season opener at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium at the University of Hawai`i.

One highlight for the Cougars came in the bottom of the seventh inning when junior Debbie Dodds hit a two-run homer to bring BYU within four runs, but that was the closest the Cougars got to the Wahine.

The Cougars got down early as the powerful Hawai`i offense scored six runs off of five hits to put BYU down 0-6 after the second inning.

The Wahine played great defense holding BYU scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Junior Debbie Dodds opened the inning with a single and freshman Krystle Chamberlain reached off of a fielder's choice to put Dodds out at second base. Freshman Jennifer Whiteley recorded the first hit of her college career by singling to shortstop advancing Chamberlain to second. Junior second-team Easton All-American Lauren Watson singled down the left field line to bring in Chamberlain, who scored the first run of the game (1-6).

Hawai`i increased its lead by one in the seventh (1-7) making a comeback difficult for the Cougars.

BYU's Dodds came through big by hitting her first home run of the season and second hit of the night. Her two-run homer scored senior Kate Walker who singled to centerfield the play before. Hawai`i held BYU to end the game at 3-7.

Junior Ariel Capra started at the mound for the Cougars pitching 3.1 innings and facing 20 batters. Sophomore Brooke Boyce came in to finish the last 3.2 innings for BYU.

Capra (0-1) picked up the loss and the 2003 WAC Pitcher of the Year Melissa Coogan from Hawai`i, got the win. Coogan pitched all seven innings and struck out seven BYU batters.

BYU will play game two of the Hawai`i Paradise Classic against Oregon State Thursday at 4 p.m. (HT), 7 p.m. (MT) at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Hawai'i at Brigham Young
                   Feb  4, 2004 at Honolulu, HI (RWSS)
Hawai'i 7 (0-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Uchima, Tracie rf........  4  2  2  1   0  0  2  0   0
Izumi, Noelle 2b.........  3  2  1  0   0  1  5  0   0
Crowell, April 3b........  4  1  1  0   0  0  1  1   0
Ritter, Stacey 1b........  4  0  1  1   0  0  3  0   1
 Harbert, Tara pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Dahlberg, Denise c.......  4  1  2  3   0  0  7  0   1
Ruff, Ashley ss..........  4  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   1
Tausaga, Tyleen dp.......  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Jackson, Marie cf........  2  0  0  0   1  1  2  0   1
Kahaku, Justina lf.......  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
Coogan, Melissa p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Totals................... 31  7  8  5   1  2 21  6   5
Brigham Young 3 (1-0)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Chamberlain, Krystle dp..  4  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
Osborn, Belinda lf.......  2  0  0  0   0  2  3  0   0
 Young, Crystal ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 Jones, Milli lf.........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Paramore, Paige rf.......  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 Whiteley, Jennifer rf...  1  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Watson, Lauren c.........  3  0  1  1   0  0  1  0   0
Le`i, Ianeta 3b..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  4   2
 Gerhauser, Lindsey pr...  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Russell, Ashlyn 1b.......  2  0  0  0   0  1 11  0   0
Norton, Jodi ss..........  2  0  0  0   1  1  5  2   0
Walker, Kate 2b..........  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  3   1
Dodds, Debbie cf.........  3  1  2  2   0  0  1  0   0
Capra, Ariel p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Boyce Brooke p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 27  3  7  3   1  7 21 11   5
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Hawai'i............. 420 000 1 -  7  8  0
Brigham Young....... 000 001 2 -  3  7  3
-----------------------------------------
E - LE`I(1); NORTON(1); WALKER(1). DP - BY 1. LOB - HAWAII 5; BY 5. 3B -
Uchima(1); Dahlberg(1). HR - DODDS(1). HBP - Izumi. SH - RUSSELL(1). SB -
Uchima(1); Izumi 2(2).
Hawai'i                IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Coogan, Melissa.....  7.0  7  3  3  1  7 27 29
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Capra, Ariel........  3.1  6  6  5  1  1 18 20
Boyce Brooke........  3.2  2  1  0  0  1 13 13
Win - Coogan (1-0).  Loss - CAPRA (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - CAPRA(1). HBP - by CAPRA (Izumi). Inherited runners/scored: BOYCE 1/0.
Umpires - HP: Leilani Okuda  1B: Roger Javillo  3B: Keith Tanaka
Start: 6:00 PM   Time: 1:58   Attendance: 209
Game notes:
8th Hawaii Paradise Classic. Game 1.
Game: PC1
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Hawai'i............. 420 000 1 -  7  8  0
Brigham Young....... 000 001 2 -  3  7  3
-----------------------------------------
Hawai'i starters: 2/rf Uchima; 1/2b Izumi; 23/3b Crowell; 8/1b Ritter; 6/c
   Dahlberg; 12/ss Ruff; 45/dp Tausaga; 27/cf Jackson; 41/lf Kahaku; 32/p
   Coogan;
Brigham Young starters: 1/dp CHAMBERLAIN; 18/lf OSBORN; 19/rf PARAMORE; 11/c
   WATSON; 66/3b LE`I; 25/1b RUSSELL; 8/ss NORTON; 5/2b WALKER; 20/cf DODDS;
   2/p CAPRA;
Hawai'i - inning 1
   Uchima singled up the middle. Izumi hit by pitch; Uchima advanced to
   second. Crowell singled to left field; Izumi advanced to second; Uchima
   advanced to third. Ritter popped up to ss. Dahlberg tripled down the rf
   line, 3 RBI; Crowell scored; Izumi scored; Uchima scored. Ruff reached on
   a fielding error by 3b; Dahlberg scored, unearned. Tausaga fouled out to
   1b. Jackson grounded out to 3b. 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 1
   CHAMBERLAIN popped up to 2b. OSBORN struck out looking. PARAMORE flied
   out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 2
   Kahaku singled to left center. Uchima tripled to right center, RBI;
   Kahaku scored. Izumi struck out, reached first on a wild pitch. Crowell
   flied out to lf. Izumi stole second; Uchima stole home. Ritter grounded
   out to 2b; Izumi advanced to third. Dahlberg fouled out to 1b. 2 runs, 2
   hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 2
   WATSON grounded out to p. LE`I grounded out to ss. RUSSELL struck out. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 3
   Ruff flied out to lf. Tausaga grounded out to ss. Jackson walked. Kahaku
   flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 3
   NORTON walked. WALKER flied out to cf. DODDS reached on a fielder's
   choice; NORTON out at second 3b to 2b. CHAMBERLAIN popped up to 3b. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 4
   Uchima lined out to ss. Izumi singled to catcher, bunt. BOYCE to p for
   CAPRA. Crowell flied out to lf. Ritter grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit,
   0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 4
   OSBORN struck out looking. PARAMORE struck out. WATSON popped up to 2b. 0
   runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 5
   WHITELEY to rf for PARAMORE. Dahlberg singled to left field. Dahlberg out
   at first 1b unassisted, runner left early. Ruff reached on a fielding
   error by ss. Tausaga grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Ruff out
   on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 5
   LE`I singled up the middle. GERHAUSER pinch ran for LE`I. RUSSELL out at
   first p to 2b, SAC; GERHAUSER advanced to second. NORTON flied out to rf.
   WALKER popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 6
   LE`I to 3b for GERHAUSER. Jackson struck out. Kahaku grounded out to p.
   Uchima grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 6
   DODDS singled to first base, bunt. CHAMBERLAIN reached on a fielder's
   choice; DODDS out at second p to ss. YOUNG pinch hit for OSBORN. YOUNG
   struck out. WHITELEY singled to shortstop; CHAMBERLAIN advanced to
   second. WATSON singled down the lf line, RBI; WHITELEY advanced to
   second; CHAMBERLAIN scored. LE`I grounded out to p. 1 run, 3 hits, 0
   errors, 2 LOB.
Hawai'i - inning 7
   JONES, M. to lf for YOUNG. Izumi reached on an error by 2b, assist by 3b.
   Izumi stole second. Crowell grounded out to 3b; Izumi advanced to third.
   Ritter singled down the lf line, RBI; Izumi scored, unearned. Harbert
   pinch ran for Ritter. Dahlberg popped up to ss. Ruff reached on a
   fielder's choice; Harbert out at second 2b to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error,
   1 LOB.
Brigham Young - inning 7
   Ritter to 1b for Harbert. RUSSELL flied out to rf. NORTON struck out
   looking. WALKER singled to center field. DODDS homered down the lf line,
   2 RBI; WALKER scored. CHAMBERLAIN singled to shortstop. JONES, M. struck out.
   2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

PROVO, Utah -- The BYU women's softball team will leave the mainland to open its 2004 season at the Hawai`i Paradise Classic Feb. 4-7. The Cougars will compete against quality teams including Hawai`i, Oregon State, Tennessee, University of Alabama Birmingham and St. Mary's.

Three of the five teams the Cougars will face in Hawai`i received votes in the USA Today/ NFCA Preseason Division I Top 25 Poll. Tennessee received 39 votes, Oregon State 23 votes and Hawai`i four votes.

Not only will the level of competition be high in Hawai`i, but also the level of distractions. It will be challenging for the Cougars along with other mainland teams to maintain focus as they are presented with many distractions, one being the three-hour time change.

"Right out of the new [BYU] indoor practice facility we're going to be tested quickly in Hawai`i," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "It's going to be a real challenge for us to come out and play well in that tournament."

BYU returns 11 letterwinners after losing six from last year's team, but will be strengthened by the play of seven newcomers (five freshmen and two transfers).

The Cougars are coming off a 14-1 fall ball season, where they played other Utah schools. The fall season provided a chance for BYU to play new recruits and see the progress the returning players have made since last season.

"Overall, I was pleased with the fall season," Eakin said. "It went by too fast, but it showed me the talent level and depth of our young team."

BYU vs. Opponent Series Records

Hawai`i: marks the first match up

Oregon State: 1-4

Tennessee: marks the first match up

UAB: marks the first match up

St. Mary's: 3-0

Schedule (Games played at the Rainbow Wahine Softball 
          Stadium (2,100) at the University of Hawai`i)
Feb. 4:  6 p.m. (HT),  9 p.m. (MT)
Feb. 5:  4 p.m. (HT),  7 p.m. (MT)
Feb. 6: 10 a.m. (HT),  1 p.m. (MT)
Feb. 7:	 9 a.m. (HT), 12 p.m. (MT)
Feb. 7:	 7 p.m. (HT), 10 p.m. (MT)