PROVO -- BYU (43-20) ended the 2007 softball season with a 6-3 loss to No. 7 Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament Regional championship Saturday afternoon.

"We came into this game thinking we would win," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "ASU's a great team. You have to give them credit."

The two teams faced one another Friday, where ASU beat BYU 7-1. The Cougars got off to a quicker start against the Sun Devils' pitcher, Katie Burkhart, than they had the previous day.

In the first inning BYU managed to get two batters on base for an early scoring opportunity, but they were unable to bring anyone home.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the third inning when ASU hit two singles and a double to bring three base runners around.

BYU answered back in the bottom of the inning. Monica Gonzales scored when Jennifer Whiteley singled to left field, and with two runners on base Jodi Norton doubled to right field to tie the game.

ASU broke the tie in the fourth inning with back to back home runs. Ashley Muenz hit a two-run bomb over the left field fence. Dani Urincho-Snow came in to relieve pitcher Christina Gwyn and gave up another homerun to Jackie Vasquez on the first pitch.

BYU was unable to come back from the three-run deficit, leaving two runners on base in the remaining four at bats.

"Playing the caliber of ball we did today, I think, is a step in the right direction for our program," Eakin said. "I expect us to be just as good, if not better, next year with the players we have returning and coming in."

ASU will advance to play in the NCAA Super Regional next weekend.

Arizona State vs Brigham Young Univer
                May 19, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Arizona State 6 (52-15)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jessica Mapes dp.........  2  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   0
 Marisa Trevino ph.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Kaitlin Cochran cf.......  2  0  0  1   1  0  2  0   0
Bianca Cruz 3b...........  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   5
Mindy Cowles 2b..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  1  2   0
Kristen Miller c.........  3  1  0  0   1  0 10  0   0
Ashley Muenz 1b..........  3  1  1  2   1  0  3  0   0
Jackie Vasquez lf........  3  1  1  1   0  0  2  0   1
 Himmita Hixson lf.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Rhiannon Baca ss.........  2  1  2  0   1  0  0  0   0
Michelle Smith rf........  3  1  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
Katie Burkhart p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27  6  7  5   4  3 21  3   6
Brigham Young Univer 3 (43-20)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c......  4  1  1  0   0  1  3  0   1
Jennifer Whiteley lf.....  4  1  2  1   0  0  4  0   1
Jodi Norton ss...........  3  0  1  2   1  0  0  4   0
 Stephanie Platt pr......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Emi Snow rf..............  4  0  0  0   0  3  1  0   0
 Jana Anderson pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Andrea Ramirez dp/1b.....  3  0  1  0   1  2  9  0   3
Daniela Urincho 1b/dp....  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   2
Tracee Hoch 2b...........  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  2   1
Angeline Quiocho 3b......  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  2   0
Monica Gonzales cf.......  2  1  2  0   1  0  1  0   0
Christina Gwyn p/dp......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 29  3  7  3   3 10 21  9   8
Score by Innings                   R  H  E
------------------------------------------
Arizona State....... 003 300 00 -  6  7  1
Brigham Young Univer 003 000 0X -  3  7  2
------------------------------------------
E - Muenz; WHITELEY; QUIOCHO. LOB - ASU 6; BYU Cougars 8. 2B - Mapes;
NORTON; RAMIREZ. HR - Muenz; Vasquez. SH - Mapes. SF - Cochran. SB -
NIX-CLARK; WHITELEY.
Arizona State          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Katie Burkhart......  7.0  7  3  3  3 10 29 32
Brigham Young Univer   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christina Gwyn......  3.0  4  5  4  2  3 12 15
Daniela Urincho.....  4.0  3  1  1  2  0 15 18
Win - Burkhart (33-11).  Loss - GWYN (17-10).  Save - None.
WP - URINCHO.
Umpires - HP: Jeff Sloan  1B: Jana Tidwell  3B: Russ Pemberton
Start: 12:00 pm   Time: 2:28   Attendance: 623
Game notes:
ID-547930
GWYN faced 2 batters in the 4th.
Game: BYU-ASU3
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                   R  H  E
------------------------------------------
Arizona State....... 003 300 00 -  6  7  1
Brigham Young Univer 003 000 0X -  3  7  2
------------------------------------------
Arizona State starters: 12/dp Mapes; 16/cf Cochran; 9/3b Cruz; 22/2b Cowles;
33/c Miller; 99/1b Muenz; 21/lf Vasquez; 5/ss Baca; 8/rf Smith; 7/p Burkhart;
Brigham Young Univer starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON;
18/rf SNOW; 31/dp RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 24/cf
GONZALES; 11/p GWYN;
Arizona State 1st - Mapes struck out swinging. Cochran flied out to lf.
Cruz struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 1st - NIX-CLARK flied out to cf. WHITELEY singled.
NORTON walked; WHITELEY advanced to second. SNOW struck out swinging; NORTON
advanced to second; WHITELEY advanced to third. RAMIREZ struck out swinging.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Arizona State 2nd - Cowles popped up to 3b. Miller flied out to lf.
Muenz walked. Vasquez grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 2nd - URINCHO grounded out to 2b. HOCH struck out
looking. QUIOCHO flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Arizona State 3rd - Baca singled. Smith singled; Baca advanced to
second. Mapes doubled, advanced to third on a fielding error by lf, RBI; Smith
advanced to third, scored on an error by lf; Baca scored. RAMIREZ to 1b.
URINCHO to dp. Cochran flied out to cf, SAC, RBI; Mapes scored on the throw,
unearned. Cruz grounded out to ss. Cowles struck out swinging. 3 runs, 3
hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 3rd - GONZALES singled. NIX-CLARK singled; GONZALES
advanced to second. WHITELEY singled, RBI; NIX-CLARK advanced to second;
GONZALES scored. WHITELEY stole second; NIX-CLARK stole third. NORTON doubled,
2 RBI; WHITELEY scored; NIX-CLARK scored. PLATT pinch ran for NORTON. SNOW
struck out swinging. RAMIREZ walked. URINCHO struck out swinging; RAMIREZ out
at second 2b unassisted. HOCH reached on a fielder's choice. 3 runs, 4 hits,
0 errors, 2 LOB.
Arizona State 4th - NORTON to ss for PLATT. Miller walked. Muenz
homered, 2 RBI; Miller scored. URINCHO to p. GWYN to dp. Vasquez homered, RBI.
Baca singled. Smith reached on a fielding error by 3b; Baca advanced to second
on an error by 3b. Mapes grounded out to 2b, SAC; Smith advanced to second;
Baca advanced to third. Cochran grounded out to ss. Cruz grounded out to ss.
3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 4th - QUIOCHO struck out swinging. GONZALES
singled. NIX-CLARK lined out to lf. WHITELEY grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Arizona State 5th - Cowles grounded out to 3b. Miller flied out to lf.
Muenz grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 5th - NORTON grounded out to 3b. SNOW struck out
swinging. RAMIREZ doubled. URINCHO flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
Arizona State 6th - Vasquez grounded out to p. Baca walked. Smith
singled; Baca advanced to second. Trevino pinch hit for Mapes. Smith advanced
to second on a wild pitch; Baca advanced to third on a wild pitch. Trevino
popped up to 1b. Cochran walked. Cruz grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 6th - Hixson to lf for Vasquez. HOCH struck out
swinging. QUIOCHO lined out to cf. GONZALES walked. NIX-CLARK struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Arizona State 7th - Cowles lined out to 2b. Miller flied out to lf.
Muenz flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 7th - WHITELEY popped up to 3b. NORTON flied out to
lf. SNOW reached on an error by 1b. ANDERSON pinch ran for SNOW. RAMIREZ struck
out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Arizona State 8th - SNOW to rf for ANDERSON. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- For the second year in a row BYU (41-18) will be a regional host in the NCAA Women's College World Series.

"It just continues to put us on the softball map," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said of his team getting the hosting nod. "People are getting used to our name more and more."

Certainly getting used to the Cougars are the three other teams coming to Provo, which include No. 7 Arizona State (49-15), Cal Poly (39-15) and Southern Utah (29-29). BYU played Cal Poly twice this season, Southern Utah five times and ASU once.

"We've played all three teams that are in our regional," Eakin said. "All of those teams are capable of beating us. Arizona State obviously poses the biggest threat, being a World Series team from last year. We'll have to play our very best game in order to advance."

The double-elimination round begins with BYU squaring off against Big West title winners Cal Poly. The two teams split their season series this year with the Cougars taking the first matchup 7-1 in February and the Mustangs evening the score with a 2-0 victory over BYU in March.

BYU won all five of its games against SUU this season but lost its only contest with ASU in March by the score of 1-8. Senior catcher Cortney Nix-Clark said the familiarity with their opponents and their surroundings should help give the Cougars an edge in the opening round of play.

"We know what kind of teams they are, and anybody's capable of beating anybody," Nix-Clark said. "But, having our fans there, knowing how to play our field and being able to sleep in our own beds is a huge advantage for us. The biggest thing is to not overlook anybody. We can't take anybody lightly because they're going to be fighting just as hard as we will be."

Teammate and fellow senior Jodi Norton echoed Nix-Clark's sentiments saying she's happy she hasn't played her last game on her home field just yet.

"I screamed," Norton said of learning that BYU would host. "I was jumping up and down with my friends and family. I can't believe it. We've played all the teams, and we've beaten two out of three of them. I'm just shocked that we're hosting."

Tickets can be ordered by calling (801) 422-BYU1. All-session passes for adults are $20 and $15 for students and seniors. Adult single-session passes are $7 and $5 for students and seniors. Children ages one and younger will be admitted free of charge. Tickets can also be purchased at the ticket office at Miller Park prior to each game.

Regional tournament games will be played May 17-19. A noon (MST) start time and a 3 p.m. game are scheduled for Thursday. Friday will feature games at noon, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. The championship game will be played Saturday at noon. Information on which teams will be playing at the specified times is forthcoming. The winner of the Provo Regional moves on to play in the Super Regionals from May 25-26.