No. 25 BYU picks up 4-2 win at Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Holding off a late-rally in the seventh, No. 25 BYU softball defeated Oregon State 4-2 on Friday afternoon.

“Today's win was a complete team effort," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Arissa Paulson threw great. She didn't start the game with her best stuff, but it was a gusty effort. The team played great defense, got key hits and made adjustments. It was a nice team win."

BYU (22-10, 0-0 West Coast Conference) was out-hit 6-5 by Oregon State (16-14, 1-5 Pac-12) in the win. Both teams had no errors.

Arissa Paulson pitched 6.2 innings for the Cougars, throwing six strikeouts in the victory. Senior Lauren Bell led the offense, going 2 for 4.

BYU at Oregon State Box Score

The Beavers struck first in the bottom of the first. A single with the bases loaded brought in a run. However, with the bases still loaded, Paulson struck out two straight to stop more from reaching home. The Cougars trailed 1-0 after the first inning.

In the top of the second, BYU answered back with two runs. The first was scored after Brooke Vander Heide was walked with the bases loaded to send Alexa Strid home. In the next at bat, Rylee Jensen hit a hard single to the short stop, bringing in Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge. The Cougars led 2-1 at the end of the first two innings.

Following a scoreless third, the top of the fourth saw another run come in for BYU. Alldredge hit a solo homer over right field to extend the Cougars’ lead to 3-1. That was her fourth home run of the season.

The top of the sixth saw Alldredge reach home a second time. A double to left center from Briielle Breland gave Alldredge a chance to run all the way to home plate, extending BYU’s advantage to 4-1.

The Beavers fought to stay in it in the bottom of the seventh, leading off with a solo home run to left field. With two outs and a runner on first, McKenna Bull came in to relieve Paulson. She got the final batter swinging to complete the 4-2 win.

The second and final game of the series between these two teams will be on Saturday at noon PDT. Live stats will be available on the BYU softball schedule page.