FRESNO -- The Cougars hit a combined 16 runs in two games Saturday at the Bayer Cropsience Classic with a 5-3 win over Providence followed by a 11-0 victory over Northern Illinois.

Timely hitting proved to be the source of success for the Cougars who totaled 18 hits, including several extra-base hits on the day.

The Cougars’ big three slugger paved the way for the team. Junior Angeline Quiocho totaled 4 RBI, going 3-for-6 with a triple and a home run. Andrea Ramirez was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, while Jessica Purcell went 4-for-8 with 4 RBI.

Sophomore Paige Affleck (7-5) got the win for the Cougars against Providence, allowing two runs off of four hits. From the offensive side, Quiocho had two-extra base hits included a home run and a triple.

After freshman Tiffany Messerschmidt walked, Quiocho’s triple to the right-center gap brought in Messerschmidt for an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third inning, Quiocho increased the Cougars to a 2-0 lead with a long ball over the right field fence.

Providence fought back in the top of the fourth as Affleck allowed two runs off of three hits, including a triple and double. BYU came back in the bottom half of the inning, as a bases loaded walk gave Quiocho her third RBI of the game.

With two outs and the bases loaded, the Providence right fielder was charged with an error after dropping a foul ball. The error proved costly as sophomore Jessica Purcell singled to left to bring in two runners to give BYU a 5-2 lead.

In the nightcap the Cougars were led by Christie Zinanti (6-5, ). Zinanti tossed her third complete-game shutout of the season. She allowed three hits, striking out eight batters.

After a scoreless first inning, a two-out two-RBI double by freshman Delaney Willard gave BYU a 2-0 lead over Northern Illinois after two complete innings. The Cougars increased their lead to 3-0 when Purcell led off the top of the fourth with a solo homer.

Two Cougar lefties, senior Monica Gonzales and Messerschmidt, set the table with back-to-back singles in the top of the six. An error allowed Quiocho to load the bases for Purcell who singled to right field for two RBI.

Quiocho advanced to third on the play and reached home on a sacrifice fly from freshman Coreen Lopez, giving BYU a 6-0 lead after five innings.

With two runners on in the sixth inning, Messershmidt singled to third base, and an error on the defender’s part allowed both runners to score. Quiocho singled to bring in Messerschmidt, before Purcell doubled down the left field line to bring in Quiocho.

Yet, before ending the inning the Cougars brought in another run when Amanda Vance singled to left to score Purcell.

With the 11-0 lead going unanswered in the bottom of the sixth, the eight-run rule was enacted to give BYU the victory.

The Cougars will face Northern Illinois again at the Bayer Cropscience Classic Saturday at 10 a.m., before facing No. 9 Cal at 2 p.m. to finish the Classic.

Livestats for both games are available at www.byucougars.com

Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                       Providence vs Brigham Young Univ.
                Mar 06, 2009 at Fresno, Calif. (Bulldog Diamond)
Providence 2 (2-7)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
HUBER rf.................  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
REVENS 3b................  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  2   2
SHEEHY cf................  3  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
BECKER 1b................  2  1  1  1   0  0 10  1   0
STRATTON 2b..............  2  0  0  0   0  0  3  3   0
GARCIA ss................  3  0  1  1   0  0  1  3   1
ROSSI lf.................  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
BERTELS c................  3  0  0  0   0  2  1  1   1
ABRAMS dp................  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
MACCIO p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 24  2  4  2   1  4 17 13   4
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (12-10)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GONZALES, Monica cf......  3  1  1  0   1  0  0  0   2
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dp..  3  2  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
QUIOCHO, Angeline 3b.....  2  1  2  3   2  0  1  2   0
PURCELL, Jessica c.......  4  0  2  2   0  0  5  0   3
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  2  0  0  0   1  0  7  0   0
LOPEZ, Coreen 2b.........  3  0  1  0   0  0  1  3   1
 NIX-THOMAS, Whitney pr..  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
WILLARD, Delaney lf......  2  0  0  0   1  0  1  0   0
HOPKINS, Stephanie rf....  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   0
HICKS, Krista ss.........  0  1  0  0   2  0  3  0   0
 VANCE, Amanda ph........  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ZINANTI, Christie p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 AFFLECK, Paige p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  1   0
Totals................... 23  5  6  5   8  0 21  6   7
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Providence.......... 000 200 0 -  2  4  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 101 102 X -  5  6  0
-----------------------------------------
E - HUBER; STRATTON; GARCIA. DP - Providence 1. LOB - Providence 4; BYU 7.
2B - GARCIA; PURCELL. 3B - SHEEHY; QUIOCHO. HR - QUIOCHO. HBP - BECKER. SH -
STRATTON. SB - MESSERSCHMID.
Providence             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MACCIO..............  5.2  6  5  2  8  0 23 31
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ZINANTI, Christie...  0.0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
AFFLECK, Paige......  7.0  4  2  2  1  4 24 27
Win - AFFLECK (7-5).  Loss - MACCIO (1-2).  Save - None.
HBP - by AFFLECK (BECKER).
Umpires - HP: Brandon Bluhm  1B: Dennis Wren  3B: Red Barker
Start: 12:01 pm   Time: 1:46   Attendance:
Weather: cold - 50's
Game: PRC1
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                Providence vs Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
                Mar 06, 2009 at Fresno, Calif. (Bulldog Diamond)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Providence.......... 000 200 0 -  2  4  3
Brigham Young Univ.. 101 102 X -  5  6  0
-----------------------------------------
Providence starters: 3/rf HUBER; 10/3b REVENS; 11/cf SHEEHY; 21/1b BECKER; 5/2b
STRATTON; 13/ss GARCIA; 2/lf ROSSI; 9/c BERTELS; 17/dp ABRAMS; 4/p MACCIO;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 24/cf GONZALES; 20/dp MESSERSCHMID; 33/3b
QUIOCHO; 10/c PURCELL; 31/1b RAMIREZ; 7/2b LOPEZ; 11/lf WILLARD; 5/rf HOPKINS;
22/ss HICKS; 14/p ZINANTI;
Providence 1st - AFFLECK to p for ZINANTI. HUBER lined out to 3b. REVENS
popped up to ss. SHEEHY popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - GONZALES lined out to 3b. MESSERSCHMID walked.
MESSERSCHMID stole second. QUIOCHO tripled to right field, RBI; MESSERSCHMID
scored. PURCELL grounded out to p. RAMIREZ walked. QUIOCHO out at home c to 2b
to c. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Providence 2nd - BECKER lined out to ss. STRATTON grounded out to 2b.
GARCIA fouled out to c. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - LOPEZ grounded out to 3b. WILLARD walked.
HOPKINS popped up to ss. HICKS walked; WILLARD advanced to second. GONZALES out
at first 1b to 2b, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Providence 3rd - ROSSI walked. BERTELS struck out swinging. ABRAMS
singled to center field; ROSSI advanced to second. HUBER reached on a fielder's
choice; ABRAMS out at second 2b unassisted. REVENS struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - MESSERSCHMID grounded out to ss. QUIOCHO
homered to left field, RBI. PURCELL doubled to right center. RAMIREZ grounded
out to 2b; PURCELL advanced to third. LOPEZ grounded out to p. 1 run, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Providence 4th - SHEEHY tripled down the rf line. BECKER singled to
center field, RBI; SHEEHY scored. STRATTON grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC,
bunt; BECKER advanced to second. GARCIA doubled to left field, RBI; BECKER
scored. ROSSI struck out swinging. BERTELS struck out swinging. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - WILLARD lined out to 2b. HOPKINS grounded out
to ss. HICKS walked. GONZALES singled to left field; HICKS advanced to second.
MESSERSCHMID reached on an error by ss; GONZALES advanced to second; HICKS
advanced to third. QUIOCHO walked, RBI; MESSERSCHMID advanced to second;
GONZALES advanced to third; HICKS scored, unearned. PURCELL flied out to rf.
1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Providence 5th - ABRAMS popped up to p. HUBER grounded out to 2b. REVENS
grounded out to 3b, bunt. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - RAMIREZ grounded out to ss. LOPEZ singled to
left field. NIX-THOMAS pinch ran for LOPEZ. WILLARD lined into double play 2b
to 1b; NIX-THOMAS out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Providence 6th - LOPEZ to 2b for NIX-THOMAS. SHEEHY flied out to rf.
BECKER hit by pitch. STRATTON grounded out to p; BECKER advanced to second.
GARCIA fouled out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HOPKINS grounded out to 3b. VANCE pinch hit
for HICKS. VANCE grounded out to p. HICKS to ss for VANCE. GONZALES walked.
MESSERSCHMID reached on an error by 2b; GONZALES advanced to second. QUIOCHO
walked; MESSERSCHMID advanced to second; GONZALES advanced to third. Dropped
foul ball, E9. PURCELL singled to center field, 2 RBI; QUIOCHO advanced to
second; MESSERSCHMID scored, unearned; GONZALES scored, unearned. 2 runs, 1
hit, 2 errors, 2 LOB.
Providence 7th - ROSSI grounded out to 3b. BERTELS flied out to lf.
ABRAMS grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU softball team (10-10) continues it’s 33-game road stand at the Bayer Cropscience Classic in Fresno, Calif., where it will face two top-25 opponents.

The Cougars will first face the hosting No. 21/24 Fresno State Bulldogs at 7 p.m. (PST) on Thursday. The Bulldogs are 8-6 on the season, but are coming off a tremendous 2008, when they finished 54-13 at the NCAA Regionals. Fresno State leads the all-time series 5-1.

On Friday BYU will take on Providence in the first game of an afternoon doubleheader. Providence is 5-8 on the season. The Cougars last met Providence in a 12-2 victory in 2002.

The nightcap will feature BYU against Northern Illinois. The meeting will be the first between the two schools.

With another matchup against Northern Illinois on Saturday morning, BYU will then face its toughest competition of the Classic in No. 9/10 Cal. After finishing 2008 in the NCAA Super Regional, the Golden Bears are 14-3 on the season.

The Cougars look to snap their five-game losing streak to top-25 opponents this season. BYU has faced No. 1/3 Washington (then No. 15), No. 3/1 Alabama (No. 1), No. 8/9 Michigan (No. 6), No. 7/8 Tennessee (No. 12) and No. 20/22 Louisville (RV) this season.

Livestats for the game are available at www.byucougars.com.