ST. GEORGE -- After a quiet start, some spectacular pitching by Christie Zinanti, and a two-run double from freshman Alexandra Hudson, BYU beat Seattle University 3-2.

"This was a game where our freshman really came out and lite a fire under us," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We played flat until Hudson stepped up, and then our bats came alive. We need to make the win happen every game and not just expect it."

The first, second, and third innings went by quickly and quietly for both teams as they retired one, two, three for the most part.

Seattle threatened in the bottom of the second with bases loaded and two out. The Cougars managed to pull it out in the end and keep the Redhawks at bay and keep them scoreless.

At the top of the fourth, the Cougars began to make their offensive push. Kristin Delahoussaye walked, and then was advanced by Jessica Dugas with a well- placed sacrifice bunt down the third-base line. After Delahoussaye successfully stole third base, she was tagged out at home trying to steal after a passed ball.

In the top of the fifth, BYU picked up right where they left off with Jessica Purcell-Fitu first at bat. After taking a 2-1 count, she sent a blooper into short centerfield just out of reach of the fielder. Immediately following Purcell-Fitu, Andrea Ramirez shot a single right up the middle advancing Purcell-Fitu to second.

After a sac-fly from Delaney Willard, Hudson made her official collegiate appearance and powered a two-run double right to the gap in left-center field. This brought home Purcell-Fitu and Ramirez and gave Hudson her first two RBI of the season and of her career.

"When I stepped up, I knew the situation I was in. I told myself I just need to get on base," Hudson said. "My success with this team is, and always will be, becuase of the support I get from my teammates. We are all equal on this team and that really encourages me."

In the bottom of the sixth, BYU’s untested freshman right-handed pitcher, Hannah Howell, came in and finished the inning, and the game. Coach Eakin is excited to see the improvements Howell makes this year.

The Cougars will have a quick turnaround today as they face UC Santa Barbara for their second opponent of their doubleheader. The game will start at 4 p.m.

Brigham Young Univ. at Seattle Univ.
Feb 12, 2010 at St. George
Brigham Young Univ. 3 (2-0)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE,Kristin 2b..  3  0  0  0   1  0  3  2   2
DUGAS, Jessica lf........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
QUICHO, Angeline 3b......  2  1  0  0   1  0  0  1   0
PURCELL-FITU, Jess. c....  3  1  2  0   0  1  7  1   0
 HOLT, Amy c.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  3  1  2  1   0  0  6  0   0
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  2  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   0
VANCE-KELLUM, Amanda dh..  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 CLAYTON, J.C. dh........  2  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
HUDSON, Alexandra cf.....  3  0  1  2   0  1  0  0   0
HICKS, Krista ss.........  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  3   1
 DAVIS-ATAGI,Caschjen ss.  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
ZINANTI, Christie p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 HOWELL, Hannah p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 25  3  6  3   3  4 21  7   4
Seattle Univ. 2 (0-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Katie Antich rf..........  3  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   3
Katie Peterson cf........  3  1  1  0   1  1  3  0   0
Megan MacIsaac ss........  3  0  0  0   1  3  0  2   0
Lauren Berin 1b..........  1  0  0  0   0  1  4  0   1
 Jessica Ulrich dh.......  2  1  1  2   1  0  0  0   0
Hannah Klein dh/1b.......  2  0  0  0   2  0  4  0   2
Theresa Clark 2b.........  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  2   2
Sandra Hernandez 3b......  2  0  0  0   1  1  1  2   0
 Allegra Wilde 3b........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Katie Gould lf...........  3  0  1  0   0  1  2  0   0
Caitlin Melnychenko c....  0  0  0  0   1  0  4  0   0
 Jessica Amador c........  2  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   1
Kelsey Reynolds p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Totals................... 24  2  4  2   8  7 21 10   9
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Brigham Young Univ.. 000 021 0 -  3  6  0
Seattle Univ........ 000 000 2 -  2  4  0
-----------------------------------------
LOB - Cougars 4; Red Hawks 9. 2B - HUDSON. HR - Ulrich. SB - DELAHOUSSAYE;
RAMIREZ. CS - DELAHOUSSAYE; PURCELL-FITU; Gould.
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ZINANTI, Christie...  5.0  1  0  0  8  6 15 23
HOWELL, Hannah......  2.0  3  2  2  0  1  9  9
Seattle Univ.          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Kelsey Reynolds.....  7.0  6  3  3  3  4 25 28
Win - ZINANTI (1-0).  Loss - Reynolds ().  Save - Howell (1).
WP - HOWELL.
Umpires - HP: Clair McBride  1B: Dan Ringsby  3B: Willy Newman
Start: 1:53   Time: 2:10   Attendance: 67
Weather: Sunny and clear...50 degrees
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to lf. DUGAS grounded
out to p. QUICHO grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 1st - Antich grounded out to 2b. Peterson grounded out to
ss. MacIsaac walked. Berin struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PURCELL-FITU struck out looking. RAMIREZ
grounded out to 2b. WILLARD grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Seattle Univ. 2nd - Klein walked. Clark popped up to c. Hernandez
walked; Klein advanced to second. Gould struck out swinging. Melnychenko
walked; Hernandez advanced to second; Klein advanced to third. Antich grounded
out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - Ulrich to dh for Berin. Klein to 1b.
VANCE-KELLUM grounded out to ss. HUDSON struck out swinging. HICKS struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 3rd - Peterson struck out swinging. MacIsaac struck out
looking. Ulrich walked. Klein walked; Ulrich advanced to second. Clark flied
out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - DELAHOUSSAYE walked. DUGAS grounded out to 3b,
bunt; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second. QUICHO flied out to cf. DELAHOUSSAYE
stole third. DELAHOUSSAYE out at home c unassisted, caught stealing. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 4th - Hernandez struck out swinging. Gould singled to
third base. Amador to c for Melnychenko. Amador infield fly to p. Gould out at
second c to 2b, caught stealing. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - PURCELL-FITU singled to center field. RAMIREZ
singled to center field; PURCELL-FITU advanced to second. WILLARD grounded out
to 3b; RAMIREZ advanced to second; PURCELL-FITU advanced to third. CLAYTON to
dh for VANCE-KELLUM. CLAYTON fouled out to 3b. HUDSON doubled to left field, 2
RBI; RAMIREZ scored; PURCELL-FITU scored. HICKS grounded out to p. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 5th - Antich walked. Peterson walked; Antich advanced to
second. MacIsaac struck out looking. Ulrich lined out to ss. Klein popped up to
2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to lf. DUGAS struck out
looking. QUICHO walked. PURCELL-FITU singled to shortstop; QUICHO advanced to
second. RAMIREZ singled to center field, RBI; PURCELL-FITU advanced to third;
QUICHO scored. RAMIREZ stole second; PURCELL-FITU out at home 2b to c, caught
stealing. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 6th - HOLT to c for PURCELL-FITU. HOWELL to p for ZINANTI.
Clark singled to right field. Hernandez flied out to rf. Gould infield fly to
2b. Clark advanced to second on a wild pitch. Amador grounded out to 3b. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - Wilde to 3b for Hernandez. WILLARD walked.
CLAYTON singled to third base; WILLARD advanced to second. DAVIS-ATAGI to ss
for HICKS. HUDSON out at first p to 3b, bunt, reached on a fielder's choice;
CLAYTON advanced to second; WILLARD out on the play. DAVIS-ATAGI flied out to
cf; CLAYTON advanced to third. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit,
0 errors, 2 LOB.
Seattle Univ. 7th - HICKS to ss for DAVIS-ATAGI. Antich grounded out to
2b. Peterson singled to center field. MacIsaac struck out looking. Ulrich
homered to center field, 2 RBI; Peterson scored. Klein grounded out to ss. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- On Thursday BYU's season debut in softball begins as it hosts the 11-team Red Desert Classic in St. George.

"We are very excited and the team has been preparing hard," said Angie Quiocho, a senior from Walnut, Calif. "This is where we first hit the dirt, and we are anxious to see how we do."

The Cougars face off against San Jose State for the first game on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. Joining BYU in the tourney are Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley, Idaho State, Maine, Seattle, Tulsa, UC Santa Barbara, Northern Colorado and San Jose State.

"Our coaching staff has really been supportive and they constantly motivate us to reach our greatest potential as a team," said Tiffany Messerschmidt, a sophomore from Thousand Oaks, Calif. "We, as a team, make every practice game-like by hitting against our pitchers which are the best in the conference. I know that we have prepared ourselves well for St. George."

BYU has opened their fourth-straight season by hosting the tournament at the Canyons Softball Complex.

On Friday the Cougars compete back-to-back against Seattle at 1:30 p.m., and then Santa Barbara at 4 p.m.

BYU plays its second doubleheader of the season on Saturday against Maine and Tulsa at 1:30 and 4 p.m. respectively.

With eight starters returning to the team, including both pitchers and All-American Jessica Pucell-Fitu, the Cougars hope to remain a force to be reckoned with.

In 2009 the Cougars finished the season 40-18, 12-2 MWC, competing in the fifth-consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Red Desert Classic is the first of seven tournaments for the Cougars, who return to St. George on April 2-3 for the Pre- Conference Tournament.

All Red Desert Classic games are listed below and will be updated during the tournament.

Red Desert Classic
Thu, Feb 11
BYU (5)         vs. San Jose St.   9-5 (BYU)
UCSB (5)        vs. No. Colorado   6-3 (UCSB)
Maine (1)       vs. Idaho St.      6-5 (Idaho State)
  
Fri, Feb 12
No. Colo.(5)    vs. Seattle       8-7 (Northern Colorado)
Maine (1)       vs. Utah St.      7-6 (Utah State)
Utah (4)        vs. San Jose St.  8-0 (Utah...in 5 innings)
Tulsa (3)       vs. Idaho St      8-0 (Tulsa)
Seattle (5)     vs. BYU           3-2 (BYU)
Utah Valley (1) vs. Maine         10-8 (UVU)
Utah St. (4)    vs. Idaho St.     9-0 (Utah State)
Tulsa (3)       vs. UCSB          3-1 (UCSB)
BYU (5)         vs. UCSB          13-3 (BYU)
San Jose St.(1) vs. Utah Valley   7-3 (San Jose State)
Utah (4)        vs. No. Colorado  6-5 (Utah)
  
Sat, Feb 13
UCSB (5)        vs. Maine         3-2 (UCSB)
Idaho St. (1)   vs. Utah          5-3 (Utah)
San Jose St.(4) vs. No. Colorado  15-8 (San Jose State)
Tulsa (3)       vs. Utah St.      8-1 (Tulsa)
Maine (5)       vs. BYU           9-1 (BYU)
Utah Valley (1) vs. Idaho St.     10-4 (UVU)
San Jose St.(4) vs. Seattle       7-3 (San Jose State)
No. Colo. (3)   vs. Utah St.      7-3 (Utah State)
BYU (5)         vs. Tulsa         7-5 (BYU)
UCSB (1)        vs. Utah Valley   4-2 (UCSB)
Seattle (4)     vs. Utah          9-1 (Utah)
Sun, Feb 14
Utah (5)        vs. Tulsa         6-5 (Utah)
Seattle (1)     vs. Utah St.      4-3 (Utah State)
Final Standings
BYU          5-0
Utah         5-0
UCSB         4-1
Utah St.     4-1
San Jose St. 3-1
Tulsa        2-3
UVU          2-2
Idaho St.    1-4
N. Colo.     1-4
Maine        0-5
Seattle      0-5