SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Pitchers Hannah Howell and Tori Almond held Santa Clara to just three hits on the day to spur BYU to a 3-0 victory in both games of a doubleheader against the Broncos at the SCU Softball Field on Friday.

“Our pitching and our defense was very good today,” head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We fought with enough timely hits to support the pitching and score some runs for the two wins."

BYU improves to 21-22 on the season and 10-4 in Pacific Coast Softball Conference play, while Santa Clara falls to 6-37 and 3-11 in the PCSC. 

Game 1

Howell answered her perfect game against LMU on Saturday  with a one-hitter in her start against Santa Clara to improve to 10-14 on the season. JC Clayton and Carly Duckworth each had two hits apiece and both scored one run in the game.

Clayton smacked her second double of the season to start things off in the top of the first, but two fly outs and a ground out left her stranded at third. Madisen Robb hit a double in the second, to extend her hitting streak to five games, but wasn’t able to cross the plate for BYU.

The Cougars were finally able to put themselves on the board with a two-out rally in the top of the third. Clayton singled to the pitcher to start the rally and circled the bases on a triple to right field from Duckworth. Gordy Bravo followed with a single to left field to score Duckworth and give BYU the 2-0 lead.   

Howell continued to hold the Bronco batters at bay in the bottom of the frame with two-straight strikeouts and a forced ground out to hold the BYU advantage.

A single from Alexandra Hudson Shamo to start the top of the seventh helped BYU to a security run in the inning. The Cougars loaded the bases with just one out and were finally able to score a run off of a single from Duckworth, her second RBI of the day.  

Howell retired the first three batters in order in the bottom of the frame to secure the 3-0 victory for BYU.

Game 2

Clayton followed up game one with two more hits in game two, including two runs scored and one RBI. Bravo contributed three hits to the team’s total of nine in the game.

In the top of the first, Clayton singled up the middle, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Duckworth to place herself in scoring position. After walking, Katie Manuma stole second to draw the throw and was caught in a rundown, which allowed Clayton to score and give BYU a 1-0 lead.

Tori Almond took the mound for game two and sat down the first three batters she faced in the bottom of the first to hold the 1-0 lead for BYU. Almond had 10 strikeouts after giving up just two hits to improve to 7-5 on the season.

Almond had yet to give up a hit to the Broncos until SCU smakced a single in the fourth inning, but the Cougar defense was able to hold strong and keep the Broncos from crossing the plate.

Lacey Millett got things moving after pinch running for Mylee Davis to start the fifth inning. Millett stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. She then scored following an infield single from Clayton to give BYU the 2-0 advantage. BYU added on another run following a sacrifice bunt from Duckworth and back-to-back singles from Bravo and Manuma.

Santa Clara singled to start the bottom of the seventh, but the Cougar defense answered with a 6-3 double play and then a foul out sealed the 3-0 victory for BYU.

BYU will complete its series with Santa Clara Saturday in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. PDT. 

PROVO, Utah--Coming off a 2-2 series split with LMU, the BYU softball team remains atop the Pacific Coast Softball Conference as it travels to Santa Clara for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday with doubleheaders on both days starting at 12 p.m. PDT at the newly built SCU Softball Field. 

BYU QUICK HITS

• Senior pitcher Hannah Howell recorded the second perfect game in program history against LMU on Saturday. Her perfect five innings helped lead the team to an 11-0 victory. She was named College Sports Madness Player of the Week in the PCSC for her performance, her second honor this season.
• BYU had a combined three hits in its two games against LMU on Friday, but the Cougar bats came alive on Saturday with 26 combined hits to outscore LMU 20-4 in the doubleheader. 
• The Cougars have an overall record of 4-1 against the Broncos, including a four-game win streak. This will be the first time the two teams will play since 2010. 
• After this series, BYU will return to Provo for an 11-game home stand to end the regular season.
• Gordy Bravo had the team’s first in-the-park home run against LMU.

OPPONENT NOTES

The Broncos are just 6-34 on the season and 3-9 in Pacific Coast Softball conference play. Santa Clara returns junior outfielder Stephanie Fisher as its offensive leader. As a sophomore, she led the team with 13 doubles and a .510 slugging percentage and has continued her dominance at the plate this year with a .372 batting average to lead the Broncos. She is the only player on her team to be hitting over .300 and is ranked in the top three in multiple categories in the PCSC including batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage and triples. Fisher is on tap to beat her record in doubles with nine already on the season and also leads the team with three home runs. Newcomer Casandra Padilla also has three home runs and is second on the team with a .294 clip. On the mound, senior Carissa Theis has three of the team’s six wins. She also leads the staff with a 3.98 ERA, 89.2 innings pitched and 63 strikeouts. Santa Clara has three wins  in the PCSC, including two against LMU and one against CSU Bakersfield. The Broncos were swept by Saint Mary’s in their last conference series and look forward to their second home conference series against BYU. Five of their six wins have come at home this season on their brand new softball field. 

PERFECT HOWELL

Senior pitcher Hannah Howell recorded the first perfect game of her career and the second in BYU softball history on Saturday against Loyola Marymount. Summer Tobias has the only other perfect game in BYU history against Utah Valley in 2005. Howell pitched a clean five innings to lead the team to an 11-0 victory over the Lions, alongside three strikeouts in the game. Howell earned both wins against LMU on Saturday to save BYU’s run at the NCAA tournament with a series split against the Lions. 

This season, Howell has pitched a total of 132.1 innings and compiled a record of 9-14. She has an ERA of 1.50 in conference play to lead the team, with a 5-2 record and 20 strikeouts in seven appearances. Her career record at BYU is 36-25 alongside 328 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA. 

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

Many of the BYU softball players, apart from Howell's perfect game, had standout performances last weekend in the team's conference series against LMU. Coco Tauali'i had a career-high and team-high five RBI in Saturday's first game against the Lions. Tauali'i went 2 for 3 in the game and hit her first home run of the season and career. She also grabbed two RBI on a single and sacrifice fly in the game. Madisen Robb was noticed as a top performer in the PCSC for her .455 average and five runs scored last week. She hit her second three-run home run of the season against USU and continued to lead the Cougars offensively against LMU. She had one of the team's three hits on Friday and is currently on a career-high four-game hitting streak. Gordy Bravo knocked BYU's first in-the-park home run of the season in the team's last game against LMU. She also tied her season and career-high of three RBI in that game and had four runs scored on the day. JC Clayton broke out of her slump on Saturday, going 4 for 6 with two runs scored and three stolen bases. 

WHERE TO WATCH

All four games against Santa Clara will be available to follow via live stats. Check the schedule for updated information throughout the series.