HONOLULU, Hawai`i (Feb. 9, 2006)--The 2006 season got off to a good start as BYU beat Southern Mississippi, 5-4, and Loyola Marymount, 2-1 at the Paradise Classic.

The Cougars, now 2-0, got a mammoth two-run home run from Ianeta Le`i in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the BYU lead to 5-1. The runs proved important as Southern Miss. came back with three runs in the top of the seventh inning before the Cougars could record the third out.

BYU head coach Gordon Eakin is happy with the way his team has started the season.

"We are working the kinks out early in the season," Eakin said. "This is the first time we have played outdoors and we'll be fine once we work the kinks out."

BYU scored first in the bottom of the second inning when Jennifer Whiteley walked, stole second and came around to score on an RBI single by Monica Gonzales. In the fourth, Tracee Hoch's first Division I hit landed over the left-field wall giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

After the Golden Eagles scored a run in the top of the fifth the Cougars responded with a run of their own courtesy of a Jodi Norton RBI single. Le`i's two-run shot came an inning later and proved to be just enough for BYU to hang on.

In the second game, hits were harder to come by for the Cougars. BYU was out hit four to one by Loyola Marymount, but the Cougars managed to put together enough runs to get the victory.

The Lions scored first in the third inning on a RBI double while the Cougars' bats remained in check throughout the night. BYU had a breakthrough inning in the sixth when it scored the decisive two runs with two outs in the inning.

After the Cougars' first two batters struck out to start the inning, Le`i started the rally by getting on base on an error. BYU then plated the two runs courtesy of four consecutive walks. Freshman Andi Ramirez showed a lot of poise to draw a walk on a full count after fouling off several pitches.

"Good teams just find a way to win these close games," Eakin. "We found a way to win against a very good Loyola Marymount team."

In both games, the Cougars got excellent pitching out of Summer Tobias and Daniella Urincho. Both pitched complete games for victories.

BYU continues play Friday when it takes on Texas State and host-school Hawai`i. Game times are 2 and 7 pm MST, respectively.

Golden Eagles vs Brigham Young
               Feb 09, 2006 at Honolulu, Hawaii (Rainbow Wahine)
Golden Eagles 4 (0-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
J. Huerta ss.............  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   0
A. Brenan 3b.............  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
J. Fox lf................  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
A. Davis 1b..............  3  1  1  0   0  0  5  0   0
C. Butler 2b.............  3  1  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
K. Pilgrim c.............  3  1  1  1   0  0  8  1   0
M. Prouty rf.............  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   1
C. Kelly dp..............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 K. Crooks dp............  1  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   0
A. Bullard cf............  3  0  0  0   0  3  0  0   1
L. Gros p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Totals................... 26  4  6  2   0  6 18  6   2
Brigham Young 5 (1-0)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GONZALES, Monica cf......  3  1  2  1   1  1  2  0   0
CHAMBERLAIN, Krystle dp..  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
LE`I, Ianeta 1b..........  2  1  1  2   2  0  6  0   0
 ANDERSON, Jana pr.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
RUSSELL, Ashlyn 3b.......  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
PARAMORE, Paige c........  2  0  1  0   1  1  6  0   0
 FITCH, Karlie pr........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
KENNEDY, Lindi rf........  1  0  0  0   2  1  0  0   3
NORTON, Jodi ss..........  3  0  1  1   0  1  3  1   2
WHITELEY, Jennifer lf....  2  1  0  0   1  2  0  0   2
HOCH, Tracee 2b..........  3  1  1  1   0  2  3  1   0
TOBIAS, Summer p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 21  5  6  5   8  8 21  6   8
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Golden Eagles....... 000 010 3 -  4  6  0
Brigham Young....... 010 112 X -  5  6  3
-----------------------------------------
E - LE`I; KENNEDY; NORTON. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - USM 2; BYU Cougars 8.
2B - K. Crooks. HR - LE`I; HOCH. SH - A. Brenan; CHAMBERLAIN; RUSSELL. SB -
C. Butler; WHITELEY. CS - GONZALES.
Golden Eagles          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
L. Gros.............  6.0  6  5  5  8  8 21 31
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
TOBIAS, Summer......  7.0  6  4  3  0  6 26 27
Win - TOBIAS (1-0).  Loss - L. Gros (0-1).  Save - None.
WP - L. Gros; TOBIAS.
Umpires - HP: John Park  1B: Jan Muranaca  3B: Laurie Warren
Start: 10 am   Time: 1:57   Attendance: 158
Golden Eagles vs Brigham Young - Play-by-Play
               Feb 09, 2006 at Honolulu, Hawaii (Rainbow Wahine)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Golden Eagles....... 000 010 3 -  4  6  0
Brigham Young....... 010 112 X -  5  6  3
-----------------------------------------
Golden Eagles starters: 13/ss J. Huerta; 10/3b A. Brenan; 24/lf J. Fox; 25/1b A.
Davis; 20/2b C. Butler; 1/c K. Pilgrim; 21/rf M. Prouty; 6/dp C. Kelly; 15/cf A.
Bullard; 34/p L. Gros;
Brigham Young starters: 24/cf GONZALES; 1/dp CHAMBERLAIN; 66/1b LE`I; 25/3b RUSSELL;
19/c PARAMORE; 23/rf KENNEDY; 8/ss NORTON; 3/lf WHITELEY; 4/2b HOCH; 12/p TOBIAS;
Golden Eagles 1st - J. Huerta singled. A. Brenan out at first p to 2b, SAC;
J. Huerta advanced to second. J. Fox popped into double play ss unassisted; J.
Huerta out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 1st - GONZALES walked. GONZALES out at second p to ss, caught
stealing. CHAMBERLAIN walked. LE`I walked; CHAMBERLAIN advanced to second. RUSSELL
flied out to rf; CHAMBERLAIN advanced to third. PARAMORE walked; LE`I advanced to
second. KENNEDY struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Golden Eagles 2nd - A. Davis reached on a throwing error by ss. C. Butler
reached on a fielder's choice; A. Davis out at second ss to 2b. K. Pilgrim flied out
to cf. C. Butler stole second. M. Prouty struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - NORTON struck out swinging. WHITELEY walked. HOCH struck
out swinging. WHITELEY stole second. GONZALES singled, advanced to second, RBI;
WHITELEY scored. CHAMBERLAIN grounded out to p; GONZALES advanced to third. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Golden Eagles 3rd - C. Kelly grounded out to p. A. Bullard struck out
swinging. J. Huerta fouled out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - LE`I walked. RUSSELL grounded out to c, SAC; LE`I
advanced to second. ANDERSON pinch ran for LE`I. ANDERSON advanced to third on a
wild pitch. PARAMORE struck out looking. KENNEDY walked. NORTON reached on a
fielder's choice; KENNEDY out at second ss unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
Golden Eagles 4th - LE`I to 1b for ANDERSON. A. Brenan grounded out to 3b. J.
Fox struck out looking. A. Davis grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - WHITELEY struck out looking. HOCH homered to left field,
RBI. GONZALES struck out swinging. CHAMBERLAIN out at first p to 2b. 1 run, 1
hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Golden Eagles 5th - C. Butler popped up to 3b. K. Pilgrim singled to left
field. M. Prouty grounded out to 2b; K. Pilgrim advanced to second, scored on a
throwing error by 1b, unearned. C. Kelly popped up to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - LE`I fouled out to 3b. RUSSELL grounded out to 3b.
PARAMORE singled to right field. KENNEDY walked; PARAMORE advanced to second. FITCH
pinch ran for PARAMORE. NORTON singled, advanced to second, RBI; KENNEDY advanced to
third; FITCH scored. WHITELEY struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Golden Eagles 6th - PARAMORE to c for FITCH. A. Bullard struck out swinging.
J. Huerta struck out looking. A. Brenan popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - HOCH struck out swinging. GONZALES singled to shortstop.
CHAMBERLAIN grounded out to p, SAC; GONZALES advanced to second. LE`I homered, 2
RBI; GONZALES scored. RUSSELL lined out to 1b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Golden Eagles 7th - J. Fox singled up the middle. A. Davis singled to left
field; J. Fox advanced to second. C. Butler singled, advanced to second on an error
by rf; A. Davis advanced to third; J. Fox scored. K. Pilgrim flied out to cf, RBI;
A. Davis scored. C. Butler advanced to third on a wild pitch. M. Prouty grounded out
to 3b. K. Crooks to dp for C. Kelly. K. Crooks doubled to left field, RBI; C. Butler
scored. C. Kelly to dp for K. Crooks. A. Bullard struck out swinging. 3 runs, 4
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young vs Loyola Marymount
                      Feb 09, 2006 at Honolulu, HI (RWSS)
Brigham Young 2 (2-0)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GONZALES, Monica cf......  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
WHITELEY, Jennifer lf....  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
 CHAMBERLAIN, Krystle ph.  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
LE`I, Ianeta 1b..........  4  0  0  0   0  0 12  0   1
 SNOW, Emi pr............  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
RUSSELL, Ashlyn 3b.......  0  0  0  0   3  0  1  1   0
 FITCH, Karlie pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 NORTON, Jodi pr.........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
PARAMORE, Paige dp.......  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   2
RAMIREZ, Andrea ss.......  2  0  0  1   1  0  2  3   0
KENNEDY, Lindi rf........  1  0  0  1   2  1  1  1   0
NIX, Cortney c...........  3  0  0  0   0  2  2  0   3
HOCH, Tracee 2b..........  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  3   1
 ANDERSON, Jana pr.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
URINCHO, Daniella p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 22  2  1  2   7 10 21 11   7
Loyola Marymount 1 (0-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CESENA, M. ss............  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
PINEDA, M. 2b............  3  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   0
BENNETT, H. cf...........  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
COOK, T. 1b..............  3  0  0  0   0  1  6  0   3
BASSETT, B. dp...........  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
PAGNINI, D. c............  3  0  0  0   0  0 10  2   1
SLOUBER, K. lf...........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
ACKERMAN, M. 3b..........  2  1  0  0   1  0  1  1   1
WHITT, K. rf.............  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
PAGANO, T. p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
 KEHR, K. p..............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 24  1  4  1   3  2 21  7   5
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 002 0 -  2  1  0
Loyola Marymount.... 001 000 0 -  1  4  2
-----------------------------------------
E - CESENA, M.; PAGANO, T.. LOB - BYU 7; LMU 5. 2B - PINEDA, M.. SH -
GONZALES. SB - ANDERSON; BENNETT, H.. CS - FITCH.
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
URINCHO, Daniella...  7.0  4  1  1  3  2 24 27
Loyola Marymount       IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PAGANO, T...........  5.2  0  2  0  7  9 18 25
KEHR, K.............  1.1  1  0  0  0  1  4  5
Win - URINCHO (1-0).  Loss - PAGANO, T. (0-1).  Save - None.
Umpires - HP: Walter Yamatsuka  1B: Warren Okinaka  3B: John Park
Start: 12:17   Time: 1:45
Brigham Young vs Loyola Marymount - Play-by-Play
                      Feb 09, 2006 at Honolulu, HI (RWSS)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 000 002 0 -  2  1  0
Loyola Marymount.... 001 000 0 -  1  4  2
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 24/cf GONZALES; 3/lf WHITELEY; 66/1b LE`I; 25/3b RUSSELL;
19/dp PARAMORE; 31/ss RAMIREZ; 23/rf KENNEDY; 10/c NIX; 4/2b HOCH; 22/p URINCHO;
Loyola Marymount starters: 7/ss CESENA, M.; 32/2b PINEDA, M.; 4/cf BENNETT, H.; 8/1b
COOK, T.; 5/dp BASSETT, B.; 54/c PAGNINI, D.; 9/lf SLOUBER, K.; 15/3b ACKERMAN, M.;
13/rf WHITT, K.; 11/p PAGANO, T.;
Brigham Young 1st - GONZALES struck out swinging. WHITELEY struck out
swinging. LE`I grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Loyola Marymount 1st - CESENA, M. popped up to 1b. PINEDA, M. struck out
swinging. BENNETT, H. singled to left center. BENNETT, H. stole second. COOK, T.
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - RUSSELL walked. FITCH pinch ran for RUSSELL. FITCH out at
second c to ss, caught stealing. PARAMORE struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b.
RAMIREZ grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 2nd - RUSSELL to 3b for FITCH. BASSETT, B. lined out to ss.
PAGNINI, D. grounded out to 2b. SLOUBER, K. out at first p to ss to 1b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - KENNEDY struck out swinging. NIX struck out looking. HOCH
grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 3rd - ACKERMAN, M. walked. WHITT, K. walked; ACKERMAN, M.
advanced to second. CESENA, M. popped up to 1b, bunt. PINEDA, M. doubled to center
field, RBI; WHITT, K. advanced to third; ACKERMAN, M. scored. BENNETT, H. grounded
out to ss. COOK, T. grounded out to ss. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - GONZALES reached on a fielding error by p. WHITELEY
struck out looking. LE`I reached on a fielder's choice; GONZALES out at second ss to
2b. RUSSELL walked; LE`I advanced to second. PARAMORE popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0
hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 4th - BASSETT, B. grounded out to p. PAGNINI, D. grounded
out to 2b. SLOUBER, K. singled to left field. ACKERMAN, M. flied out to lf. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - RAMIREZ lined out to p. KENNEDY walked. NIX grounded out
to 1b unassisted. HOCH struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 5th - WHITT, K. grounded out to 3b. CESENA, M. fouled out to
3b. PINEDA, M. grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - GONZALES struck out swinging. CHAMBERLAIN pinch hit for
WHITELEY. CHAMBERLAIN struck out swinging. LE`I reached on a throwing error by ss.
RUSSELL walked; LE`I advanced to second. SNOW pinch ran for LE`I. PARAMORE walked;
RUSSELL advanced to second; SNOW advanced to third. NORTON pinch ran for RUSSELL.
RAMIREZ walked, RBI; PARAMORE advanced to second; NORTON advanced to third; SNOW
scored, unearned. KENNEDY walked, RBI; RAMIREZ advanced to second; PARAMORE advanced
to third; NORTON scored, unearned. KEHR, K. to p for PAGANO, T.. NIX struck out
swinging. 2 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 6th - WHITELEY to lf for CHAMBERLAIN. LE`I to 1b for SNOW.
NORTON to 3b. BENNETT, H. singled to right field, out at second rf to ss. COOK, T.
fouled out to 1b. BASSETT, B. walked. PAGNINI, D. grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - HOCH singled to left field. ANDERSON pinch ran for HOCH.
ANDERSON stole second. GONZALES grounded out to p, SAC, bunt; ANDERSON advanced to
third. WHITELEY reached on a fielder's choice; ANDERSON out at home ss to c. LE`I
lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Loyola Marymount 7th - HOCH to 2b for ANDERSON. SLOUBER, K. popped up to 2b.
ACKERMAN, M. flied out to rf. WHITT, K. popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- No. 25 BYU opens its season Thursday when it heads to Hawaii for the 2006 Paradise Classic.

The Cougars are coming off their best season ever and hope to improve on their 45-15, Mountain West Conference championship season of 2005. BYU head coach Gordon Eakin says the Cougars are just excited to play outdoors.

"I think we have done all we can practicing indoors," Eakin said. "We are ready and excited to get outdoors and play."

BYU will take on five different opponents in three days with doubleheaders on Thursday and Friday. The Cougars will finish with a single game on Saturday.

BYU will take on Southern Mississippi and Loyola Marymount on Thursday; Texas State and host-school Hawaii on Friday and finish with Texas-Arlington on Saturday.

Click on the link above for a full PDF version of this weeks' release.