SANTA CLARA, Calif.—A five-inning 11-0 victory helped the BYU softball team seal its series-sweep against Santa Clara, after defeating the Broncos 3-0 in game one on Saturday at the SCU Softball Field.

BYU (23-22, 12-4 Pacific Coast Softball Conference) didn’t allow Santa Clara (6-39, 3-13 PCSC) to score a single run in the series and held them to just seven hits all weekend.

Game 1

The game stayed quiet through three innings. Howell gave up just two hits and BYU’s defense didn’t allow a single runner to advance past second, throwing out Santa Clara’s Stephanie Fisher, who was trying to extend her double into a triple in the bottom of the third, with a perfect relay from Gordy Bravo to Coco Taualii to Madisen Robb.

BYU broke the scoreboard in the top of the fourth following a single from Bravo and a Santa Clara error to place runners on first and second. Alexandra Hudson Shamo took advantage and smacked a double to score Bravo. Robb then grabbed an infield single to score another Cougar run and put BYU up 2-0.

Anna Hudson sparked a one-run fifth with a lead-off double to left-center field. Lacey Millett replaced Hudson as a pinch runner and used her speed to score on a single from JC Clayton.

Howell managed to snag two quick outs against the Broncos in the bottom of the frame, but walked two to force a BYU pitching change. Katie Manuma came in relief and recorded the third out to her first batter faced.

Shamo doubled for the second time in the game to start the top of the sixth, but was erased following a fly out and a 4-6 double play.

With the 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, Manuma surrendered a single to the Broncos, for just their third hit of the day. However, BYU’s defense answered with a 5-4-3 double play to clear the bases. After giving up a walk to the next SCU batter, Howell re-entered the game for Manuma and forced a pop out to secure her team’s third 3-0 victory of the series. Howell earned the win to improve to 11-14 on the season.

Game 2

BYU’s offense broke out with a seven-run first inning to start things off. The Cougars had seven hits in the frame, including a two-RBI double from Bailie Hicken on her second at bat of the inning. Clayton, Hicken and Bravo each had singles to start the inning to lead BYU to its first run. Manuma and Millett earned an RBI apiece on a sacrifice fly and infield single, respectively, while two of the Cougar runs were scored off wild pitches to give BYU the quick 7-0 advantage.

Clayton and Hicken struck again in the top of the third with back-to-back singles, sparking a three-run inning for the Cougars. Both runners scored following a sacrifice fly from Bravo and a double from Manuma. Tauali’i brought in one more run with her second single of the day.

Singles from Bravo and Megan Arnold in the top of the fifth allowed BYU to plate one more run. Shamo walked to load the bases and then Tauali’i was hit by a pitch to send in Bravo and put BYU up 11-0.

Caroline Umphlett entered the game in relief of Tori Almond, who had pitched a one-hitter through four innings to earn the win, in the bottom of the fifth. Umphlett recorded the first out, but then gave up two-straight walks to the Broncos. However, a 4-6 double play ended the game by run-rule to give BYU its second conference sweep of the season.

BYU will return home for a conference series against CSU Bakersfield on Friday with a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. MDT.

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.