Winning Streak Now At 11 For Softball

PROVO -- A double-header sweep of Southern Utah (20-29) kept BYU's (31-16) 11-game winning streak alive, as the Cougars defeated the Thunderbirds 8-0 and 6-5.

Despite the wins, BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said he wasn't happy with his team's effort.

"We walked onto the field just expecting to win," Eakin said, "and you can't do that in division one softball. We were lackadaisical. Especially in the second game, were just going through the motions."

After Jennifer Whiteley recorded her 56th hit of the year, fellow senior Jodi Norton hit a blooper over the second baseman's head putting two on for Emi Snow. Snow launched the second pitch she saw into orbit, and just like that the Cougars had a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.

Senior Tracee Hoch led off the second inning with a line drive down the middle. A fielding error by the Thunderbirds' first baseman put Hoch and sophomore Stephanie Platt at the corners with Monica Gonzales at the plate. Gonzales hit one into shallow left field to score Hoch. Whiteley stepped up next and got her second hit of the day along with her first RBI of the day with a single that sailed just past the first baseman. Platt's trot across home plate put BYU ahead 5-0.

The Cougars ended game one early in the bottom of the fifth when Kristina Brooks hit both Norton and Snow with pitches. Brooks' pitches loaded the bases for Dani Urincho-Snow, who hit a three-RBI double for the 8-0 victory.

Freshman Christie Zinanti threw the shutout one-hitter. Zinanti struck out five and retired 15 of the 19 batters she faced.

BYU entered the bottom of the first inning in the second game down 1-0. The deficit was short-lived as Andrea Ramirez tied the game with an RBI line drive down the middle in the bottom of the order. However, the Thunderbirds would retake the lead in the second behind three unearned runs, which were topped off by a Cassie Cresswell two-run homer to right field. Another run in the top of the third gave SUU a 5-1 advantage.

A pair of solo home runs from Norton in the third and Hoch in the fourth got the Cougars to within two. Hoch's swat tied BYU's all-time team record of 68 home runs hit in 2005. Senior Cortney Nix-Clark drove in Zinanti with a double that bounced off of the Thunderbirds' shortstop's glove and into left field to make it a 5-4 game.

Still trailing by one in the bottom of the sixth, Norton put BYU over the hump with a two-run shot, her 19th homer of the season, to left center.

"I'm proud of them for coming back," Eakin said. "That shows character for our team. But, we should have never gotten ourselves in that situation."

BYU hosts its archrival University of Utah on Friday at Gail Miller Field for Fireworks/Break the Attendance Record Night. Game time is set for 6 p.m., and fans who attended last Friday's game against New Mexico and brings their ticket stub this Friday will get in for free. There will be a fireworks show after the game.

Southern Utah at Brigham Young Univer
                Apr 24, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Southern Utah 0 (30-16)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cresswell cf.............  3  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
Carli rf.................  2  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0
Pratt c..................  2  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   0
Jenson 3b................  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  4   1
Kennedy ss...............  0  0  0  0   2  0  1  1   0
Merrill 1b...............  2  0  0  0   0  2  5  0   1
Niederhauser dp..........  1  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
Ashton 2b................  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Clapham lf...............  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Brooks p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 14  0  1  0   3  5 13  5   4
Brigham Young Univer 8 (20-28)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c......  3  0  0  0   0  1  5  2   0
Jennifer Whiteley lf.....  3  2  2  1   0  0  2  0   0
Jodi Norton ss...........  2  2  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
Emi Snow cf..............  2  2  1  3   0  1  0  0   2
Andrea Ramirez dp........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Daniela Urincho 1b.......  3  0  1  3   0  0  6  0   0
Tracee Hoch 2b...........  2  1  1  0   0  0  0  1   0
Stephanie Platt rf.......  2  1  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
Monica Gonzales 3b.......  2  0  1  1   0  0  1  0   0
Christie Zinanti p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
Totals................... 22  8  7  8   0  3 15  6   3
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 000 00 -  0  1  2
Brigham Young Univer 320 03 -  8  7  0
--------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - Merrill; Ashton. LOB - SUU 4; BYU Cougars 3. 2B - URINCHO. HR - SNOW.
HBP - Ashton; NORTON; SNOW. SH - Clapham. SB - Cresswell.
Southern Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Brooks..............  4.1  7  8  6  0  3 22 24
Brigham Young Univer   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christie Zinanti....  5.0  1  0  0  3  5 14 19
Win - ZINANTI (12-6).  Loss - Brooks ().  Save - None.
WP - ZINANTI. HBP - by ZINANTI (Ashton); by Brooks (NORTON); by Brooks (SNOW).
Umpires - HP: Terry Balse  1B: Clair McBride  3B: Brett Higgins
Start: 3:00 pm   Time: 1:15   Attendance: 220
Game: BYU_SUU4
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 000 00 -  0  1  2
Brigham Young Univer 320 03 -  8  7  0
--------------------------------------
Southern Utah starters: 22/cf Cresswell; 29/rf Carli; 20/c Pratt; 15/3b Jenson;
23/ss Kennedy; 9/1b Merrill; 10/dp Niederhauser; 27/2b Ashton; 16/lf Clapham;
24/p Brooks;
Brigham Young Univer starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON;
18/cf SNOW; 31/dp RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 5/rf PLATT; 24/3b
GONZALES; 14/p ZINANTI;
Southern Utah 1st - Cresswell singled. Carli grounded out to c;
Cresswell advanced to second. Pratt struck out swinging. Jenson grounded out to
p; Cresswell stole third. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 1st - NIX-CLARK struck out looking. WHITELEY
singled. NORTON singled; WHITELEY advanced to second. SNOW homered, 3 RBI;
NORTON scored; WHITELEY scored. RAMIREZ flied out to rf. URINCHO popped up to
ss. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 2nd - Kennedy walked. Kennedy out at first c to 1b, picked
off. Merrill struck out looking. Niederhauser walked. Ashton struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 2nd - HOCH singled. PLATT reached on an error by
1b; HOCH advanced to third. GONZALES singled, RBI; PLATT advanced to second;
HOCH scored. NIX-CLARK flied out to rf. WHITELEY singled, RBI; GONZALES
advanced to second; PLATT scored, unearned. NORTON popped up to 3b. SNOW struck
out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Southern Utah 3rd - Clapham grounded out to ss. Cresswell flied out to
lf. Carli struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 3rd - RAMIREZ grounded out to 3b. URINCHO grounded
out to 3b. HOCH grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 4th - Pratt popped up to 3b. Jenson grounded out to 2b.
Kennedy walked. Kennedy advanced to second on a wild pitch. Merrill struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 4th - PLATT struck out looking. GONZALES grounded
out to ss. NIX-CLARK grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Southern Utah 5th - Niederhauser flied out to rf. Ashton hit by pitch.
Clapham grounded out to p, SAC; Ashton advanced to second. Cresswell flied out
to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 5th - WHITELEY reached on an error by 2b, advanced
to second. NORTON hit by pitch. SNOW hit by pitch; NORTON advanced to second;
WHITELEY advanced to third. RAMIREZ fouled out to rf. URINCHO doubled, 3 RBI;
SNOW scored; NORTON scored; WHITELEY scored, unearned. 3 runs, 1 hit, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah at Brigham Young Univer
                 Apr 24, 2007 at Provo Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Southern Utah 5 (20-29)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cresswell cf.............  4  1  2  2   0  1  0  0   0
Carli dp.................  3  1  0  0   1  3  0  0   0
Pratt c..................  3  1  0  0   0  1  4  1   2
Jenson 3b................  1  0  0  0   2  0  0  0   0
Kennedy ss...............  3  0  1  2   0  1  2  0   0
Niederhauser rf..........  3  0  3  0   0  0  1  0   0
Clapham lf...............  3  1  0  0   0  0  1  0   2
Fernandez 1b.............  3  0  0  0   0  2  8  1   0
Ashton 2b................  3  1  1  1   0  0  2  0   0
Brooks p.................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  5   0
Totals................... 26  5  7  5   3  8 18  7   5
Brigham Young Univer 6 (31-16)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c......  2  1  1  1   0  0  8  2   0
Jennifer Whiteley lf.....  3  0  0  0   0  0  2  0   1
Jodi Norton ss...........  2  2  2  3   2  0  3  1   0
 Jana Anderson pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Emi Snow cf/rf...........  3  0  1  0   1  1  1  0   0
Andrea Ramirez rf/3b.....  2  0  1  1   0  0  2  3   0
Daniela Urincho 1b.......  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  2   0
Tracee Hoch 2b...........  2  1  1  1   1  0  0  0   3
Christie Zinanti dp/p....  3  1  0  0   0  1  0  0   3
Monica Gonzales 3b/cf....  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Stephanie Platt rf......  2  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
Christina Gwyn p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 23  6  7  6   4  3 21  9   7
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 131 000 0 -  5  7  1
Brigham Young Univer 101 202 X -  6  7  3
-----------------------------------------
E - Jenson; NIX-CLARK; SNOW; GONZALES. DP - BYU Cougars 1. LOB - SUU 5; BYU
Cougars 7. 2B - NIX-CLARK. HR - Cresswell; NORTON 2; HOCH. HBP - Pratt;
NIX-CLARK. SH - Jenson; NIX-CLARK; WHITELEY; RAMIREZ. SB - Carli 2;
Niederhauser 2; Clapham.
Southern Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Brooks..............  6.0  7  6  5  4  3 23 31
Brigham Young Univer   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christina Gwyn......  2.1  3  5  2  2  4 10 14
Christie Zinanti....  4.2  4  0  0  1  4 16 17
Win - ZINANTI (13-6).  Loss - Brooks ().  Save - None.
WP - GWYN. HBP - by Brooks (NIX-CLARK); by GWYN (Pratt).
Umpires - HP: Clair McBride  1B: Brett Higgins  3B: Terry Balser
Start: 4:45   Time: 2 hrs   Attendance: 284
Game: BYU_SUU5
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 131 000 0 -  5  7  1
Brigham Young Univer 101 202 X -  6  7  3
-----------------------------------------
Southern Utah starters: 22/cf Cresswell; 29/dp Carli; 20/c Pratt; 15/3b Jenson;
23/ss Kennedy; 10/rf Niederhauser; 16/lf Clapham; 26/1b Fernandez; 27/2b
Ashton; 24/p Brooks;
Brigham Young Univer starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON;
18/cf SNOW; 31/rf RAMIREZ; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 14/dp ZINANTI; 24/3b
GONZALES; 11/p GWYN;
Southern Utah 1st - Cresswell struck out swinging. Carli walked. Pratt
struck out swinging; Carli stole second. Jenson walked; Carli stole third.
Kennedy singled, RBI; Jenson out at second ss to 1b to 3b; Carli scored. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 1st - NIX-CLARK hit by pitch. WHITELEY out at first
1b to 2b, SAC; NIX-CLARK advanced to second. NORTON walked. SNOW walked; NORTON
advanced to second; NIX-CLARK advanced to third. RAMIREZ singled, RBI; SNOW
advanced to second; NORTON advanced to third; NIX-CLARK scored. URINCHO popped
up to c. HOCH popped up to c. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Southern Utah 2nd - Niederhauser singled. Clapham reached on an error by
c; Niederhauser out at second c to 1b to ss. Clapham stole second. Fernandez
struck out swinging. Clapham advanced to third on a wild pitch. Ashton reached
on an error by 3b, RBI; Clapham scored, unearned. Cresswell homered, 2 RBI,
unearned; Ashton scored, unearned. Carli struck out swinging. 3 runs, 2
hits, 2 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 2nd - ZINANTI grounded out to 1b unassisted.
GONZALES grounded out to p. NIX-CLARK flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 3rd - Pratt hit by pitch. Jenson grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt; Pratt advanced to second. Kennedy reached on an error by cf, advanced to
second, RBI; Pratt scored. SNOW to rf. RAMIREZ to 3b. ZINANTI to p. GONZALES to
cf. /  for GWYN. Niederhauser singled; Kennedy advanced to third. Niederhauser
stole second. Kennedy out at home c to ss, picked off. Niederhauser stole
third. Clapham flied out to lf. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 3rd - WHITELEY grounded out to p. NORTON homered,
RBI. SNOW struck out swinging. RAMIREZ grounded out to p. 1 run, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 4th - SNOW to cf. PLATT to rf for GONZALES. Fernandez
popped up to ss. Ashton singled. Cresswell singled; Ashton advanced to second.
Carli struck out swinging. Pratt popped up to 3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 4th - URINCHO flied out to rf. HOCH homered, RBI.
ZINANTI reached on an error by 3b. PLATT struck out swinging, out at first c to
1b; ZINANTI advanced to second. NIX-CLARK doubled, RBI; ZINANTI scored,
unearned. WHITELEY popped up to ss. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 5th - Jenson walked. Kennedy struck out swinging.
Niederhauser singled; Jenson advanced to second. Clapham hit into double play
3b to 1b; Jenson out on the play. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 5th - NORTON walked. ANDERSON pinch ran for NORTON.
SNOW singled; ANDERSON advanced to second. RAMIREZ grounded out to p, SAC,
bunt; SNOW advanced to second; ANDERSON advanced to third. URINCHO popped up to
ss. HOCH walked. ZINANTI struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
Southern Utah 6th - NORTON to ss for ANDERSON. Fernandez struck out
swinging. Ashton grounded out to 3b. Cresswell flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 6th - PLATT singled. NIX-CLARK grounded out to p,
SAC, bunt; PLATT advanced to second. WHITELEY grounded out to 1b unassisted;
PLATT advanced to third. NORTON homered, 2 RBI; PLATT scored. SNOW popped up to
2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 7th - Carli struck out looking. Pratt fouled out to lf.
Jenson grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.