AUSTIN -- Taking advantage of the opportunity given, BYU defeated East Carolina 1-0 in the first game of the NCAA Regionals on Thursday.

BYU (44-11) advances to play at 2:30 p.m. CDT on Friday against the host, No. 7 Texas.

Kristin Delahoussaye and JC Clayton began the fourth inning with back-to-back singles for the Cougars’ first hits of the game. After Angeline Quiocho and Andrea Ramirez popped out, Caschjen Atagi was hit by a pitch.

With the bases loaded and two outs, East Carolina pitcher Toni Paisley again hit a BYU batter, this time beaning Jessica Fitu to send home Delahoussaye and give BYU a 1-0 lead.

"East Carolina is a good team," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "They play scrappy and don't give up a lot of runs. We just stayed with it."

BYU starting pitcher Paige Affleck, a 30-game winner in the regular season, struck out five batters in the second through fourth innings, eventually finishing with six strikeouts in a four-hit shutout.

East Carolina threatened to score in the top of the sixth, putting runners on second and third with the Pirates’ star hitter Marina Gusman-Brown at the plate. Brown sent a low hopper to left which the shortstop Clayton bobbled, but the East Carolina base runner was called for interference, ending the inning with no runs for the Pirates.

Clayton, the MWC Freshman of the Year, finished the game as the only Cougar with two hits, going 2-for-3. A number of other hits went long and to the warning track, but the Texas air kept the ball in the park.

"We hit the ball well, it just didn't go anywhere with this humidity," Eakin said. "But the fact that we've played in a regional before and been here before was really the key to staying with it and winning the game."

East Carolina vs Brigham Young Univ.
May 20, 2010 at Austin, Texas (McCombs Field)
East Carolina 0 (42-17)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Sumner 2b................  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  1   1
Merrida cf...............  2  0  0  0   1  1  2  0   0
Moreno rf................  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   0
Gusman-Brown lf..........  3  0  2  0   0  1  4  0   0
Aona 3b..................  3  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
Jimenez 1b...............  3  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
Tom ss...................  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   0
Velasquez dp.............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
Clark c..................  1  0  0  0   0  1  4  1   0
 Jordan ph...............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Paisley p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 23  0  4  0   1  6 18  3   5
Brigham Young Univ. 1 (44-11)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE,Kristin 2b..  3  1  1  0   0  1  1  4   0
CLAYTON, J.C. ss.........  3  0  2  0   0  0  3  3   0
QUIOCHO, Angeline 3b.....  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   2
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  3  0  0  0   0  1  9  1   0
DAVIS-ATAGI,Caschjen lf..  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
PURCELL-FITU, Jess. c....  2  0  1  1   0  0  6  0   0
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   4
VANCE-KELLUM, Amanda dp..  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
DUGAS, Jessica cf........  2  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Totals................... 23  1  5  1   0  5 21  9   6
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
East Carolina....... 000 000 0 -  0  4  0
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 100 X -  1  5  1
-----------------------------------------
E - PURCELL-FITU(1). DP - BYU 1. LOB - E. Carolina 5; BYU 6. 2B -
Sumner(12). 3B - PURCELL-FITU(3). HBP - Tom; Velasquez; DAVIS-ATAGI;
PURCELL-FITU. SB - Gusman-Brown(29); DUGAS(6).
East Carolina          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Paisley.............  6.0  5  1  1  0  5 23 25  85
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  7.0  4  0  0  1  6 23 26  96
Win - AFFLECK (31-8).  Loss - Paisley (30-10).  Save - None.
HBP - by AFFLECK (Velasquez); by Paisley (DAVIS-ATAGI); by Paisley
(PURCELL-FITU); by AFFLECK (Tom). Inherited runners/scored: None.
Pitches/strikes: Paisley 85/63; AFFLECK 96/60.
Umpires - HP: Terri Rosenwald  1B: Patti Gunst  3B: Terry Holt
Start: 5:01 PM   Time: 1:28   Attendance:
Weather: 91, Sunny, Wind S 10 MPH
East Carolina 1st - Sumner grounded out to ss (1-1 BS). Merrida grounded
out to ss (2-0 BB). Moreno lined out to p (0-1 F). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE lined out to 3b (2-2 BKBK).
CLAYTON grounded out to ss (1-2 BKFFF). QUIOCHO flied out to cf (0-0). 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Carolina 2nd - Gusman-Brown struck out swinging (1-2 BKKS). Aona
grounded out to 2b (0-0). Jimenez struck out looking (2-2 KSBBK). 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - RAMIREZ flied out to cf (3-2 KKBBB).
DAVIS-ATAGI flied out to rf (1-1 BK). PURCELL-FITU flied out to rf (1-1 BF).
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Carolina 3rd - Tom struck out swinging (1-2 SBFFS). Velasquez hit
by pitch (2-0 B). Clark struck out swinging (0-2 KSS). Sumner popped up to 3b
(0-1 K). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - WILLARD fouled out to lf (0-2 FF).
VANCE-KELLUM grounded out to 2b (0-0). DUGAS struck out looking (1-2 FBFFFFK).
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
East Carolina 4th - Merrida struck out looking (2-2 BFBSK). Moreno
grounded out to 2b (2-2 KKBB). Gusman-Brown singled up the middle (3-2 BBFBF).
Gusman-Brown stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by c. Aona
grounded out to 3b (3-2 KKBBFBFF). 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - DELAHOUSSAYE singled to left center (0-0).
CLAYTON singled, bunt (0-0); DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second. QUIOCHO flied out
to lf (3-2 BFBKB). RAMIREZ fouled out to 1b (1-0 B). DAVIS-ATAGI hit by pitch
(1-1 K); CLAYTON advanced to second; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to third.
PURCELL-FITU hit by pitch, RBI (1-2 FS); DAVIS-ATAGI advanced to second;
CLAYTON advanced to third; DELAHOUSSAYE scored. WILLARD flied out to lf (0-1
F). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
East Carolina 5th - Jimenez lined out to ss (1-1 FB). Tom hit by pitch
(3-2 SKFFBFBB). Velasquez grounded into double play 1b to ss (3-2 BFBBF); Tom
out on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - VANCE-KELLUM flied out to rf (1-2 BKF). DUGAS
singled to shortstop (2-2 FKBB). DELAHOUSSAYE struck out swinging (0-2 KKFS).
DUGAS stole second. CLAYTON singled to third base (1-1 BK); DUGAS advanced to
third. QUIOCHO struck out looking (0-2 FFK). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
East Carolina 6th - Jordan pinch hit for Clark. Jordan struck out
looking (0-2 KSK). Sumner doubled to left center (2-0 BB). Merrida walked (3-0
BBBB). Moreno grounded out to 1b unassisted (0-0); Merrida advanced to second;
Sumner advanced to third. Gusman-Brown singled (0-0); Merrida out at second ss
unassisted, interference. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - Clark to c for Jordan. RAMIREZ struck out
swinging, out at first c to 1b (2-2 BFBF). DAVIS-ATAGI struck out looking (1-2
BFKK). PURCELL-FITU tripled to right field (0-0). WILLARD fouled out to lf (0-2
FF). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
East Carolina 7th - Aona grounded out to 2b (0-0). Jimenez singled
through the right side (3-2 BBFFB). Tom reached on a fielder's choice (0-0);
Jimenez out at second ss to 2b. Velasquez grounded out to 2b (0-2 KK). 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

PROVO -- No. 25 BYU will travel to Austin, Texas to compete in its sixth-straight NCAA regional tournament starting May 20, the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced Sunday.

“We have a veteran team and there is more excitement than nervousness or apprehension,” said head coach Gordon Eakin. “There will be no surprises and we feel like we deserve to be where we are and have a chance to be successful.”

BYU (43-11) will compete against East Carolina (42-16) at 5 p.m. CST on Thursday, May 20, while host No. 7 Texas (32-13) faces Iona (28-24) at approximately 7:30 p.m. CST. Live stats and streaming video will be available for all games through www.NCAA.com.

“They are a scrappy team and they battle hard,” Eakin said of East Carolina. “They have really good speed and will definitely pose a strong challenge.”

The Cougars are 7-12 all-time in NCAA regional tournament play and look to advance to an NCAA super regional tournament for the first time in the program’s history.

One regional winner will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series May 28-29 at eight campus sites.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The championship final will be a best-of-three-series. The Women’s College World Series will be conducted June 3-9 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Mountain West Conference opponent San Diego State (33-14) received an at-large bid to the 64-team field and will travel to Los Angeles, California, to compete against No. 5 UCLA (40-11), St. Mary’s (CA) (30-21) and Fresno State (39-19) starting May 21.

Games are scheduled Thursday, May 20, Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at McCombs Field on UT’s campus.

Thursday, May 20
5 p.m. – Game 1: East Carolina vs. BYU (home)
7:30 p.m. – Game 2: Iona vs. Texas (home)
Friday, May 21
TBA – Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
TBA – Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
TBA – Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Saturday, May 22
TBA – Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
TBA -  35 minutes after conclusion if necessary