CATHEDRAL CITY -- Mustering only four hits in each game, No. 25 BYU softball dropped its first two games of the Cathedral City Classic, 6-4 to Florida State and 9-3 against Virginia, on Thursday.

Senior catcher Jessica Fitu had half of the Cougars' hit total, including two-straight singles to start the game before fouling out in her third at bat, ending a streak of seven-straight plate appearances with a hit and 11-straight appearances resulting in the senior reaching a base.

Down 3-0 in the top of the third, BYU built a short-lived lead by scoring all of its runs in the inning. Junior Stacie Graham scored on a throwing error by the Seminole catcher, then junior Jessica Dugas reached home from third after Florida State attempted to stop sophomore JC Clayton from stealing second base.

After junior Tiffany Messerschmidt reached base on a single, senior Kristin Delahoussaye sent in the Cougars' third run of the inning with her own base hit. Fitu capped off the scoring with another RBI-single, bringing in Messerschmidt.

Florida State answered right back in the bottom of the same inning with two runs thanks to a home run by Jen Lapicki with two outs.

Senior Paige Affleck had a season-high eight strikeouts.

Game 2

Against Virginia, the Cougars held the lead through four innings, but a sudden eight-run fifth for the Cavaliers doomed BYU in its second game of the day.

Fitu again had half of BYU's hits, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and a stolen base.

Freshman Lacey Millett hit a single in the fourth inning to score freshman Carly Duckworth, then stole second base, setting her up to come home when Clayton reached on a Virginia fielding error, taking a 3-1 lead.

The Cougars had previously scored one run in the first due to two errors by Virginia that brought in Clayton.

But the Cavaliers ran out in front with eight runs on four hits, including two doubles.

BYU goes against two ranked teams on Friday, facing No. 18 Nebraska at 10:30 a.m. PT and No. 8 Tennessee at 1 p.m. PT.

BYU Softball 2011
#25 BYU vs Florida State
Feb 24, 2011 at Palm Springs, Calif. (Wrigley Field)
BYU 4 (6-5)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CLAYTON, JC ss...........  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  2   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa lf..  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  3  0  1  1   1  0  0  2   0
FITU,Jessica c...........  3  0  2  1   0  0  9  0   0
ATAGI,Caschjen 3b........  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
MANUMA, Katie 1b.........  3  0  0  0   0  1  8  0   1
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  2  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   1
GRAHAM, Stacie dh........  2  1  0  0   1  1  0  0   3
DUGAS,Jessica cf.........  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
AFFLECK,Paige p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 25  4  4  2   2  7 18  8   5
Florida State 6 (8-4)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Senas, C cf..............  3  0  1  1   0  2  0  0   0
Brown, T 3b..............  3  1  1  0   0  0  1  3   1
Ahrberg, R dh............  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
Stager, A ss.............  3  0  0  1   0  2  1  2   1
Hensley, K lf............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
 Hamilton, B lf..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Lapicki, J 1b............  2  2  1  2   1  0  9  0   0
Jackson, S rf............  3  1  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
Gomez, C c...............  2  1  1  1   0  0  9  0   0
 Stanley, B ph...........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
Borden, M 2b.............  2  0  0  1   0  0  0  0   0
 Bryant, A ph............  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Hamilton, S p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Totals................... 26  6  7  6   1  8 21  9   3
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 004 000 0 -  4  4  2
Florida State....... 032 010 X -  6  7  1
-----------------------------------------
E - DELAHOUSSAYE; FITU; Gomez, C(1). LOB - BY 5; FSU 3. 2B - Jackson, S(3).
3B - Brown, T(4). HR - Lapicki, J(1). HBP - WILLARD. SH - CLAYTON; ATAGI. SB
- CLAYTON; DELAHOUSSAYE; FITU; GRAHAM; Senas, C(7); Lapicki, J(1); Jackson,
S(1); Gomez, C(1).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
AFFLECK,Paige.......  6.0  7  6  6  1  8 26 27
Florida State          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Hamilton, S.........  7.0  4  4  2  2  7 25 30
Win - Hamilton, S (4-3).  Loss - AFFLECK (4-3).  Save - None.
HBP - by Hamilton, S (WILLARD).
Umpires - HP: John Bennett  1B: Calvin Walker  3B: Vince Price
Start: 9:58am   Time: 1:50   Attendance: 215
Weather: Sunny
BYU starters: 16/ss CLAYTON; 20/lf MESSERSCHMID; 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 10/c FITU;
9/3b ATAGI; 31/1b MANUMA; 28/rf WILLARD; 21/dh GRAHAM; 19/cf DUGAS; 12/p
AFFLECK;
Florida State starters: 8/cf Senas, C; 6/3b Brown, T; 35/dh Ahrberg, R; 9/ss
Stager, A; 23/lf Hensley, K; 16/1b Lapicki, J; 14/rf Jackson, S; 0/c Gomez, C;
22/2b Borden, M; 25/p Hamilton, S;
BYU 1st - CLAYTON lined out to 1b. MESSERSCHMID grounded out to p.
DELAHOUSSAYE grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Florida State 1st - Senas, C struck out swinging. Brown, T reached on a
fielding error by 2b. Ahrberg, R grounded out to 2b; Brown, T advanced to
second. Brown, T advanced to third on a throwing error by c. Stager, A struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - FITU singled through the left side. ATAGI grounded out to p,
SAC, bunt; FITU advanced to second. MANUMA fouled out to c. WILLARD struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Florida State 2nd - Hensley, K grounded out to p. Lapicki, J walked.
Lapicki, J stole second. Jackson, S singled to shortstop; Lapicki, J advanced
to third. Gomez, C singled to pitcher, RBI; Jackson, S advanced to second;
Lapicki, J scored. Gomez, C stole second; Jackson, S stole third. Borden, M
grounded out to ss, RBI; Gomez, C advanced to third; Jackson, S scored. Senas,
C singled to shortstop, RBI; Gomez, C scored. Senas, C stole second. Brown, T
grounded out to c unassisted. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - GRAHAM walked. GRAHAM stole second. DUGAS reached on a
fielder's choice. CLAYTON reached on a throwing error by c, SAC, bunt; DUGAS
advanced to third; GRAHAM scored. CLAYTON stole second; DUGAS scored on the
throw, unearned. MESSERSCHMID singled to second base; CLAYTON advanced to
third. DELAHOUSSAYE singled to center field, RBI; MESSERSCHMID advanced to
second; CLAYTON scored, unearned. FITU singled to right field, RBI;
DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to third; MESSERSCHMID scored. FITU stole second. ATAGI
reached on a fielder's choice; FITU advanced to third; DELAHOUSSAYE out at home
3b to c. MANUMA struck out swinging. WILLARD hit by pitch; ATAGI advanced to
second. GRAHAM popped up to ss. 4 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Florida State 3rd - Ahrberg, R singled, bunt. Stager, A struck out
looking. Ahrberg, R advanced to second. Hensley, K struck out swinging.
Lapicki, J homered to left field, 2 RBI; Ahrberg, R scored. Jackson, S out at
first 3b to ss to 1b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - DUGAS grounded out to p. CLAYTON grounded out to p.
MESSERSCHMID grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Florida State 4th - Gomez, C grounded out to 1b unassisted. Borden, M
grounded out to p. Senas, C struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 5th - DELAHOUSSAYE walked. FITU fouled out to 3b. ATAGI flied out to
rf. DELAHOUSSAYE stole second. MANUMA grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Florida State 5th - Brown, T tripled down the rf line. Ahrberg, R struck
out swinging. Stager, A grounded out to 2b, RBI; Brown, T scored. Hensley, K
lined out to 3b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - Hamilton, B to lf for Hensley, K. WILLARD struck out swinging.
GRAHAM struck out looking. DUGAS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Florida State 6th - Lapicki, J grounded out to 3b. Jackson, S doubled
down the rf line. Stanley, B pinch hit for Gomez, C. Stanley, B struck out
looking. Bryant, A pinch hit for Borden, M. Bryant, A struck out swinging. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - Gomez, C to c for Stanley, B. Borden, M to 2b for Bryant, A.
CLAYTON struck out swinging. MESSERSCHMID struck out swinging. DELAHOUSSAYE
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

No. 25 BYU softball is traveling to Cathedral City, Calif., to participate in the Cathedral City Classic on Feb. 24-26, facing Florida State, Virginia, No. 18 Nebraska, No. 8 Tennessee and Ohio State.

COUGAR QUICK HITS

— BYU is a combined 6-13 all-time against this week’s Cathedral City Classic opponents.

— BYU holds a 1-2 record against ranked teams thus far on the year, defeating No. 19 Texas A&M, 7-2, and losing 3-2 to No. 14 Oregon and 7-4 to No. 18 Stanford. The Cougars will face two more ranked teams, No. 18 Nebraska and No. 8 Tennessee, both on Friday, Feb. 25.

— Senior catcher Jessica Fitu was named the MWC Player of the Week after hitting .750 last week, including a 5-for-5 performance against Cal State Northridge, including the fourth grand slam of her career, a BYU record.

— Sophomore Hannah Howell was also named MWC Pitcher of the Week after winning two games versus SIUE and Cal Poly. Howell held opponents to zero runs and 15 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.

— BYU currently leads the MWC in batting average, on base percentage, runs, hits, RBI, doubles, total bases and walks.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

BYU and Florida State have faced off just twice, splitting a doubleheader in Provo in 2005. FSU has won five of its last six games and is lead by Kelly Hensley with a .421 average, including eight hits and two home runs. Tiffani Brown leads the team with 14 hits, including three triples, while Sarah Hamilton has 53 strikeouts for FSU, sporting a 3-3 record and 1.34 ERA.

This will be the fourth meeting in the last five years between BYU and Virginia, with the Cougars holding a current two-game win streak. The Cavaliers will play their first games outside of North Carolina this weekend after going 3-2 last week. Virginia’s Stephanie Harris has 12 hits and Taylor Williams has

11 to pace the Cavaliers with Melanie Mitchell starting all but two games this year, currently sitting at a 4-2 record and 2.61 ERA.

Nebraska has a long history with the Cougars, leading BYU in the series, 5-3. However, BYU has won three of the last four, including a 5-1 win last season. The Cornhuskers have started off hot this season with a 10-1 record, their only loss coming to Arizona. Taylor Edwards has had a huge year so far, recently breaking an NCAA record by hitting a home run in seven-straight games. She is batting .405 with 15 hits and 19 RBI. Pitcher Ashley Hagemann boasts a team-high 1.51 ERA and 7-1 record, including 62 strikeouts in nine overall appearances.

Tennessee has never lost to BYU in three tries, including a 4-0 win last time the two teams met in 2009. Like BYU this season, the Lady Volunteers have defeated Cal Poly, Boise State and SIUE while losing to Stanford. Seven Tennessee starters are hitting at least .400 led by Shelby Burchell’s .565 average and four home runs. Cat Hosfield has a 0.60 ERA in five appearances.

BYU is also looking for its first win against Ohio State. The Buckeyes have won just two of their last six games. Alicia Herron leads the team with 15 hits and eight RBI. Kasie Kelly has pitched 36.0 innings for OSU and has a 3.50 ERA and 2-1 record.

GRAND RECORD

Senior catcher Jessica Fitu hit the fourth grand slam of her career last weekend against Cal State Northridge, setting a new BYU record for most grand slams in a career and tying for third place all-time in the NCAA record books.