LAS -- BYU (5-1) came out on the losing end of a pitching duel that saw twenty-one of the game's first 26 batters retired, dropping its first game of the season 1-0 to Mississippi State (5-1).

"If this were a boxing match, I think we'd be declared the winner," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We didn't win on the scoreboard, but I thought we outplayed them. They're a good team, so there's nothing to hang our heads about."

Christina Gwyn had one of her best outings yet as a Cougar, striking out seven and giving up only four hits. Beginning with Michelle Kinney, who was the last batter in the top of the second inning, Gwyn retired 10 consecutive batters over a span of three-and-a-third innings. It wasn't enough for the junior who now has a 3-1 record, as BYU was unable to capitalize on any of its nine hits.

"Christina pitched great," Eakin said. "She threw a solid game. We just couldn't get the timely run or hit when we threatened."

In the fifth inning, Jennifer Whiteley knocked a one-out single straight up the middle hoping to spark a BYU rally. Monica Gonzales got a single of her own, which put Cortney Nix-Clark at the plate with a runner in scoring position. The senior catcher delivered with a single, loading them up for Tracee Hoch.

Hoch, who leads the team in RBIs this season, reached first on a fielder's choice. Whiteley, however, was out at home plate. The next batter, Jodi Norton, grounded out to second base and the inning was over.

The Cougars' bats remained active in the sixth when freshman Angeline Quiocho doubled down the right field line, moving Jana Anderson, who was pinch running for Dani Urincho, to third. But, as had been the case for most of the night, pitching got the best of the bats and Kelli Miller put away the next two Cougars.

MSU came alive in the top of the seventh when it had Gwyn facing a two on and no outs situation. After Blair Hewlett struck out, Sammi Jo Bailey doubled to right field giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. The next batter drew a walk, loading up the bases for MSU. Gwyn kept her composure and struck out the side, as BYU headed into the bottom of the order needing a run to at least send it into extra innings.

Gonzales began the final push with a lead-off single to left field. However, the next three batters were retired in succession, and the Cougars suffered their first loss of the season.

BYU continues play in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic with a double-header Friday against Cal State Northridge at 9 a.m. PST and then against No. 7 Oregon State at noon PST.

Mississippi State vs Brigham Young
             Feb 15, 2007 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Eller Media Stadium)
Mississippi State 1 (5-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea Bramlett 2b......  4  0  2  0   0  2  1  3   3
Nakita Boyce lf..........  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
Courtney Bures ss........  2  0  0  0   0  0  2  5   0
Sammie Jo Bailey 1b......  3  0  0  0   0  1  9  0   0
 Rachel Hurley pr........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Katie Cooley dh..........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   2
Blair Hewett c...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  5  0   0
Jessie Bailey 3b.........  3  0  1  1   0  0  3  2   0
Hayle Guess cf...........  1  0  0  0   2  0  1  1   0
Michelle Kinney rf.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Kelli Miller p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Sara Hickerson p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 24  1  4  1   2  7 21 12   6
Brigham Young 0 (5-1)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
NIX-CLARK c..............  4  0  1  0   0  0  7  2   0
HOCH 2b..................  4  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0
NORTON ss................  4  0  1  0   0  1  1  3   4
SNOW rf..................  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
URINCHO 1b...............  3  0  1  0   0  0  9  0   0
 ANDERSON pr.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
QUIOCHO 3b...............  3  0  2  0   0  0  1  5   0
ZINANTI dh...............  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
WHITELEY lf..............  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   4
GONZALES cf..............  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
GWYN p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 30  0  9  0   0  3 21 12   9
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Mississippi State... 000 000 1 -  1  4  1
Brigham Young....... 000 000 0 -  0  9  2
-----------------------------------------
E - S.J. Bailey(2); NORTON; URINCHO. LOB - Miss. State 6; BYU 9. 2B - J.
Bailey(2); QUIOCHO. SH - N. Boyce(2); C. Bures(1). SB - C. Bramlett(5);
QUIOCHO. CS - C. Bramlett(2).
Mississippi State      IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Kelli Miller........  6.0  9  0  0  0  2 27 27
Sara Hickerson......  1.0  0  0  0  0  1  3  3
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
GWYN................  7.0  4  1  0  2  7 24 28
Win - K. Miller (4-0).  Loss - GWYN (3-1).  Save - S. Hickerson (2).
Umpires -
Start: 5:06 pm   Time: 1:58   Attendance:
K. Miller faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Game: MS6
Play-by-Play
                        2007 MISSISSIPPI STATE SOFTBALL
               Mississippi State vs Brigham Young - Play-by-Play
             Feb 15, 2007 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Eller Media Stadium)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Mississippi State... 000 000 1 -  1  4  1
Brigham Young....... 000 000 0 -  0  9  2
-----------------------------------------
Mississippi State starters: 18/2b C. Bramlett; 7/lf N. Boyce; 3/ss C. Bures;
34/1b S.J. Bailey; 17/dh K. Cooley; 5/c B. Hewett; 6/3b J. Bailey; 21/cf H.
Guess; 8/rf M. Kinney; 33/p K. Miller;
Brigham Young starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 4/2b HOCH; 8/ss NORTON; 18/rf SNOW;
22/1b URINCHO; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 14/dh ZINANTI; 3/lf WHITELEY; 24/cf GONZALES;
11/p GWYN;
Mississippi State 1st - C. Bramlett singled to third base. N. Boyce
struck out looking; C. Bramlett stole second. C. Bures reached on an error by
1b, SAC, bunt; C. Bramlett advanced to third. S.J. Bailey struck out. K. Cooley
grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young 1st - NIX-CLARK grounded out to p. HOCH flied out to cf.
NORTON struck out. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Mississippi State 2nd - B. Hewett grounded out to 3b. J. Bailey lined
out to 2b. H. Guess walked. M. Kinney grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - SNOW grounded out to 1b unassisted. URINCHO grounded
out to ss. QUIOCHO reached on an error by 1b. QUIOCHO stole second. ZINANTI
singled to third base; QUIOCHO advanced to third. WHITELEY grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Mississippi State 3rd - C. Bramlett struck out. N. Boyce struck out. C.
Bures grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - GONZALES grounded out to 3b. NIX-CLARK fouled out to
c. HOCH grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Mississippi State 4th - S.J. Bailey grounded out to ss. K. Cooley
grounded out to 3b. B. Hewett popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - NORTON singled through the left side. SNOW reached
on a fielder's choice, bunt; NORTON out at second 3b to ss. URINCHO reached on
a fielder's choice; SNOW out at second ss to 2b. QUIOCHO singled up the middle;
URINCHO advanced to second, out at third cf to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
Mississippi State 5th - J. Bailey grounded out to c. H. Guess grounded
out to p. M. Kinney out at first p to 2b, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - ZINANTI grounded out to 2b. WHITELEY singled up the
middle. GONZALES singled up the middle; WHITELEY advanced to second. NIX-CLARK
singled up the middle; GONZALES advanced to second; WHITELEY advanced to third.
HOCH reached on a fielder's choice; NIX-CLARK advanced to second; GONZALES
advanced to third; WHITELEY out at home ss to c. NORTON grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Mississippi State 6th - C. Bramlett singled, bunt. N. Boyce out at first
3b to 2b, SAC, bunt; C. Bramlett advanced to second. C. Bramlett out at third c
to 3b, caught stealing. C. Bures grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - SNOW grounded out to ss. URINCHO singled up the
middle. ANDERSON pinch ran for URINCHO. QUIOCHO doubled to right field;
ANDERSON advanced to third. ZINANTI lined out to 3b. WHITELEY struck out. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Mississippi State 7th - URINCHO to 1b for ANDERSON. S.J. Bailey reached
on an error by ss. R. Hurley pinch ran for S.J. Bailey. K. Cooley singled down
the lf line; R. Hurley advanced to second. B. Hewett struck out swinging. J.
Bailey doubled to right field, RBI; K. Cooley advanced to third; R. Hurley
scored, unearned. H. Guess walked. M. Kinney struck out looking. C. Bramlett
struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - S.J. Bailey to 1b for R. Hurley. GONZALES singled to
left field. S. Hickerson to p for K. Miller. NIX-CLARK popped up to ss. HOCH
struck out looking. NORTON fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU softball team looks to keep its undefeated record intact, as the team heads to Las Vegas for the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic Feb. 15 through Feb. 17.

Last weekend, the Cougars posted a perfect 5-0 record in the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah. The streak marks just the second time in the program's history that the Cougars have started out 5-0. The last time it happened was the 2005 season when BYU got off to a 9-0 start.

In Las Vegas, the Cougars will face a few teams that are also pretty hot right now including 4-1 Mississippi State and No. 7 Oregon State. BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said he expects his team to continue its high level of play.

"We're not too worried about what our opponent does," Eakin said. "I'm looking for our players to continue to play with emotion and intensity. They're a pretty self-driven bunch, so I don't think that will be a problem."

BYU first faces Mississippi State on Thursday, followed by double-headers Friday and Saturday against Cal State Northridge and Oregon State and Cal Poly and Illinois. The MSU game will be carried on the Internet by clicking here.

The Illinois game will also be carried through the livestats link.