PROVO, Utah – After falling in a close contest, 1-0, the BYU softball team jumped out early and went on to a 7-3 win over No. 15 Hawai'i on Saturday at Miller Park in front of a record 1,953 fans.

BYU improved to 24-11 and 4-3 in the Western Athletic Conference while Hawai'i goes to 32-4 and 6-2 in WAC play.

"I think our girls were determined and played that way but in that first game they just happened to be playing right where we hit them," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "When we went into the locker room between games we decided to come out and not let a loss happen twice on our own field so I'm proud of them for coming out and setting the tone." 

Video Highlights and Interviews

Game One

Despite record attendance and superb pitching from junior Hannah Howell, BYU was unable to gain a run and lost 1-0 to Hawai'i.

Any other day, Howell's 2-hit, 5-strikeout performance would have been enough for a win against a powerful Hawai'i team that came into Provo with 46 home runs and a 31-3 record.

But Hawai'i pitcher Stephanie Ricketts held BYU just to one hit to hold the Cougars scoreless.

After two consecutive walks drawn by Hawai'i in the top of the sixth, a deep hit to center field was caught but advanced runners to second and third. A walk loaded the bases and a short grounder back to the pitcher permitted the Rainbow Wahine runner on third to make it home and put the game's only run on the board.

BYU's Delany Willard singled to center field in the bottom of the fourth for BYU's lone hit of the game, but was put out in an attempt to steal second to end the inning.

Game Two

BYU came out with a vengeance in the second game, scoring six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hawai'i had previously given up a season-high four runs in two other games this season before the Cougar bats came alive.

The Cougars hit the holes they couldn't find in the first game, racking up singles and sending around six runners on Hawai'i pitcher Kaia Parnaby who had a 0.74 ERA and 12-1 record in 13 appearances coming into the game.

Senior Jessica Dugas went 2 for 2 in the first inning alone, starting things off for the Cougars with a single. After a walk and a successful double steal, sophomore and Hawai'i native Katie Manuma laced a hit to right field, scoring Dugas and JC Clayton.

Ashlee Brawley, Anna Hudson and Dugas each added an RBI single in the inning while Carly Duckworth brought in another on a fielder's choice to give BYU starter Tori Almond plenty of room going into the second inning.

Almond struck out seven and allowed just one earned run to pick up the win and go to 8-2 on the year.

"If we keep playing how we did in that second game, we're on the right track," Eakin said.

In the top of the sixth, Hawai'i's Jessica Iwata's homer to left field brought in teammate Tara Anguiano to finish out the scoring.

Up next for the Cougars is a game at Idaho State on Monday, Apr. 9, at 4 p.m. MT in the first of a five-game week for BYU, including a home game Apr. 11 against Utah Valley and a three-game series beginning Friday, Apr. 13.

PROVO, Utah - The BYU softball team plays five games this week at Gail Miller Field, starting off with a doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 3, against Southern Utah before playing three games over the weekend against No. 15 Hawai'i, the current Western Athletic Conference standings leader.

BYU is currently 21-10 and 3-2 in the WAC after winning two against UMKC and losing two at Fresno State last week. The Cougars are currently 1.5 games behind the league leader Hawai'i, which is 5-1 after sweeping its series against New Mexico State over the weekend.

BYUtv will nationally televise the second Southern Utah game along with both games against Hawai'i on Saturday.

Southern Utah
Tues., Apr. 3
3:30 p.m., 6 p.m. MT

No. 15 Hawai'i
Fri., Apr. 6
6 p.m. MT

Sat., Apr. 7
1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. MT

COUGAR QUICK FACTS
— BYU is 118-23 (.837) all-time against in-state opponents, including a 37-3 record vs. SUU.
— BYU hosts Hawai’i for the first time in series history this weekend. The Rainbow Wahine are the first ranked team to play at Miller Field since Apr. 24, 2008, when No. 19 San Diego State played a doubleheader against the Cougars and the highest ranked team since No. 9 Arizona State played BYU in an NCAA Regional on May 19, 2007. Hawai'i is the highest ranked team to ever play a regular season game in Provo.
— Picking up her second WAC Hitter of the Week award a week ago, senior Delaney Willard has emerged as an All-America candidate. The right fielder is ranked in the NCAA top-15 in six different categories, including batting average (4th, .483), slugging percentage (4th, 1.000), RBI per game (3rd, 1.45), on base percentage (5th, .578), home runs per game (12th, 0.39) and home runs (14th, 12).
— BYU is currently on a 27-game home win streak, good for second longest in the country. Last season, the Cougars went 14-0 and they are 6-0 at home this year. BYU also has a 37-game, regular season, non-conference win streak, having not lost since Southern Utah earned a 10-5 victory on Apr. 11, 2006.

OPPONENT NOTES

SOUTHERN UTAH
•    BYU has a 23-game win streak against the T-Birds, having not lost since 2006. In the last six games since 2010, BYU has outscored SUU 62-6.
•    Mikkel Griffin and Terysa Dyer both bat above .400 for SUU, with Griffin leading the team at .427 with 44 hits, eight doubles and eight home runs.
•    In the circle, Heather Black has a 2.57 ERA and 13-9 record with 92 strikeouts and 132 hits allowed.
•    Southern Utah is currently tied for No. 3 in the Summit League standings at 8-4 behind only North Dakota State (8-1) and Western Illinois (10-2).
•    Among common opponents, BYU went 2-0 against UMKC while SUU went 2-1 against the Kangaroos last weekend.

HAWAI'I
•    Hawai’i is making its first-ever trip to Gail Miller Field, having never played in Provo.
•    The Rainbow Wahine are atop the WAC standings with a 5-1 record, 1.5 games ahead of the Cougars.
•    Hawai’i leads the conference in pitching with a 0.83 ERA - Fresno State is second all the way down with an ERA of 2.55. Stephanie Ricketts has an ERA of 0.90 in 21 appearances with an 18-2 record and 154 strikeouts. Kaia Parnaby has a 0.71 ERA in 12 apperances, currently with an 11-1 record.
•    The Rainbow Wahine can also hit, leading the WAC in slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored and home runs.
•    Hawai’i won its first 21 games of the season before losing to Texas on Mar. 13.
•    Among common opponents, BYU and Hawai’i have both defeated UMKC, Memphis, Portland State, Cal State Northridge, Idaho State, UC Santa Barbara and New Mexico State. Hawai’i also beat DePaul, a team to which the Cougars lost while Hawai’i was defeated by Texas A&M, a team BYU has both beat and lost to this season.

UNBEATABLE AT HOME
The Cougars have the second-longest home win streak in the nation, having currently won 27 in a row, including a 14-0 season last year. BYU is 6-0 this season at Miller Field. Louisiana-Lafayette has a 31-game home win streak, currently the longest in the nation.

GRAND OLE TIME
BYU players have hit four grand slams this season, including two by senior Delaney Willard (Cal State Northridge, Purdue) and one each by senior Stacie Toney (No. 14 Texas A&M) and freshman Megan Arnold (UMKC). The four grand slams is tied for third-most by a BYU team in a season behind five from the 2010 squad and six by the 2003 team.