Late comeback too much as BYU falls 3-2 to Drake

EUGENE, Ore. – BYU softball narrowly fell to Drake, 3-2, after a late Bulldogs comeback Thursday afternoon at Jane Sanders Stadium.

“It was a tough loss and a game of inches,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We’ll have to rebound, come back and take it one pitch at a time. That truly was a game of inches, so we will have to regroup.”

The Bulldogs (44-10, 24-1 Missouri Valley Conference) narrowly outhit the Cougars (35-21, 13-1 West Coast Conference) seven to six as the teams committed two and one errors, respectively.

Six different BYU players had one hit apiece: Rylee Jensen, Briielle Breland, Lexi Tarrow, Libby Sugg, Bridget Fleener and Brooke Vander Heide. Jensen and Madison Merrell scored the team’s two runs.

Kerisa Viramontes and Autumn Moffat shared pitching duties. Viramontes recorded six strikeouts without giving up any walks while Moffat had two strikeouts.  

After two scoreless innings, BYU got on the board first in the third after three-consecutive singles. Jensen singled to second base before Breland laid down a bunt and Tarrow hit a single to first base. Sugg then sent the ball down the left-field line and reached on a fielder’s choice as Jensen beat the throw to home and scored to take a 1-0 lead.

Drake responded in the bottom of the third as Nicole Newman sent a solo shot to right center, tying it up 1-1.

In the fourth frame, Merrell walked before a sacrifice bunt from Caitlyn Alldredge moved her up. Vander Heide singled to center field as Merrell advanced to third and then scored on a Drake fielding error for a 2-1 BYU lead.

The Bulldogs evened the score again in the bottom of the fifth. Newman singled up the middle before Libby Ryan came in as a pinch runner. Ryan stole second and advanced to third on a BYU throwing error. When Mandi Roemmich singled to center, Ryan came home to make it 2-2.

Drake continued the scoring in the sixth and took the lead for the first time in the game. Taryn Pena led off with a triple to right center before Kelsey Wright was hit by a pitch and Newman was intentionally walked. Tasha Alexander walked with bases loaded to go up 3-2.

BYU vs. Drake Box Score

BYU will play UAlbany on Friday at 5:30 p.m. PDT. If the Cougars win that game, they will also play a second game on Friday at 8 p.m. PDT.