Cougars secure doubleheader wins over Santa Clara; score a season-high of 20 runs

PROVO, Utah — BYU softball broke an all-time record during its double-header wins over the Santa Clara Broncos with scores of 20-1 and 3-2 at Miller Park on Friday evening. The Cougars extended their overall record to 31-10, upping their current winning-streak to eight.

"I'm proud of the team for staying focused in game two after exploding offensively in game one," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "This is a crazy game, and sometimes it can turn around in a heartbeat, but we had timely pitching and timely offense in both games. I'm proud of the team for the two victories."

Game One

Game Highlights

• BYU scored a season-high of 20 runs, tied for the third-most runs of all time in a single game in BYU softball history
• The Cougars had 13 runs in the top of the fourth, breaking a 14-year-old record for most all-time runs in a single inning
• Marissa Chavez and Violet Zavodnik both hit three-run home runs each

The Broncos struck first with a line-drive home run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.

With two outs in the first inning, Violet Zavodnik singled to right field and stole second to move into scoring position. Huntyr Ava worked a 2-2 count before hitting a sharp line drive to right-center field to score Zavodnik, squaring the game at one.

Alyssa Podhurcak drew a two-out walk before advancing to second on a passed ball, with Ava advancing to third. Marissa Chavez took the 1-0 offering and hit a line drive off the wall to score Ava and Podhurcak to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead going into the second inning.

Podhurcak led off in the bottom of the third with a double to right field before Chavez brought her around to score with a line-drive single to center field. Chavez moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Mallory Barber doubled off the center field wall to score Chavez, extending the Cougar lead to 5-1.

With two outs, the Cougars tacked on another run when Martha Epenesa doubled off the right-center field wall. Taylei Williams singled to left field to score Epenesa and give the Cougars a 7-1 lead as they moved to the top of the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning the Cougars put up a program-record 13 runs to take a 20-1 lead into the top of the fifth. Here are the highlights of the historic inning:

• Huntyr Ava singled up the middle then Lauren Flanders entered as her pinch runner
• Podhurcak was walked, putting runners at first and second
• Chavez hit a three-run bomb to left field to stretch the lead to 10-1 with no outs
• Macy Simmons singled to center and Taryn Lennon entered as the pinch runner who then stole second
• Mallory Barber was walked to put runners on first and second
• A Brooke Hill-Barrington single brought around Lennon to score making it 11-1
• Alexis Gilio doubled, advancing Hill-Barrington to third and scoring Barber
• Zavodnik cracked the second three-run home run of the inning to deep left-center field
• Ava and Bridget Fleener drew back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second
• Emma Andrewjeski reached on an error to load the bases
• A passed ball scored Ava making it 16-1, moving Andrewjeski to second and Podhurcak to third
• Lennon’s RBI single to left field scored Podhurcak and moved Andrewjeski to third, stretching the BYU lead to 17-1
• Barber's RBI double marked her third RBI of the game, scoring Andrewjeski and moving Lennon to third, making it an 18-1 BYU advantage
• Epenesa singled to left field scoring Lennon to tie the school record of 12-runs in a single inning
• Gilio recorded a second-straight single to right field to score Barber and set a program record with 13 runs in the inning

The 13 runs broke the 14-year-old record for runs in an inning set in 2008 game against Southern Utah when BYU scored 12 runs in a singular inning.

The Cougars got three quick outs in the top of the fifth to end the game in mercy rule fashion by a score of 20-1.

Game Two

Santa Clara got on the board first again in game two, plating one run in the top of the third after a single, passed ball and single down the left field line.

Game Highlights

• Martha Epenesa: 1-2, 1 R, RBI
• Violet Zavodnik: 1-3, 1 R, 2 RBI
• Chloe Temples: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 7 K

BYU answered in its half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Hill-Barrington walked to open the inning and was pinch ran for by Lennon. An Epenesa groundout advanced Lennon to second before Zavodnik launched a two-run homer to right field.

Epenesa gave the Cougars a 3-1 advantage in the fifth, adding another run on a solo shot to right center.

Two-straight singles and a groundout helped the Broncos get one run back in the sixth, making it 3-2 for BYU.

Moffat-Korth came in to pitch and recorded a four-out save, striking out three and forcing a groundout to end the game, sealing the Cougars' second victory of the day.

Up Next

The Cougars and Broncos will meet in the series finale at 12 p.m. MDT at Gail Miller Field on Saturday. The game will be streamed on byutv.org and the BYUtv app.