Cougars open conference play at Santa Clara

PROVO, Utah — BYU softball is set to open its final season in the West Coast Conference this week with a three-game set at Santa Clara on Friday and Saturday, April 7-8.

The Cougars (17-9, 0-0 WCC) went 3-2 last week after a win at Utah Tech on Monday and a 2-2 finish at LSU’s Purple & Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge. BYU hung around with the 12th-ranked Tigers on night one, leading 2-1 in the fifth inning before falling 3-2.

Beating Louisiana Tech in game one of a doubleheader on Friday, 5-3, the Cougars then dropped the nightcap to LSU in five innings, 10-2, but left the Bayou with a 1-0 Saturday win over NC State.

Freshman Ailana Agbayani earned WCC Pitcher of the Week honors after her performance last week. The starting shortstop pitched a total of eight innings in relief for BYU, including 4 1/3 of scoreless ball at the Purple & Gold Challenge, also earning the Cougars’ Monday win at Utah Tech.

Agbayani finished second on the team for the week with a .389 batting average and .421 on-base percentage, while also tallying 10 assists and seven putouts on a perfect fielding percentage en route to the first WCC award of her young career.

Senior Mallory Barber proved to be the ultimate utility player for BYU, starting at center field and second base, and also playing a handful of innings at shortstop last week. At the plate, Barber led the team with a .462 batting average, .615 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage.

Recording two doubles and an RBI on the week, the Spanish Fork, Utah product recorded a stolen base at Utah Tech and reached base safely at least once in each of the Cougars' four games in the Bayou.

Dating back to last season, BYU has won 12-straight conference games. The Cougars have also won seven of nine WCC-opening series during their time in the league.

BYU leads the all-time series with Santa Clara, 30-3, with a 16-2 record against the Broncos in California. BYU head coach Gordon Eakin is 28-2 against Santa Clara during his tenure.

Santa Clara (16-14, 0-0 WCC)

• The Broncos split a doubleheader at Fresno State last week, winning game one 12-10 in eight innings before dropping game two, 5-4
• Santa Clara will play a doubleheader against Nevada on Wednesday, April 5 before hosting BYU this weekend
• The Broncos have also had a handful of games canceled due to winter weather
• Santa Clara has three three-game win streaks and one four-game win streak this season
• Gina Carbonatto is 53-80 (.398) in four seasons with the Broncos 

The Cougars are slated to play five games next week, hosting No. 24 Utah on Monday, April 10 and Utah Valley on Tuesday, April 11, before heading back to California to continue WCC play at Loyola Marymount, April 14-15.