Cougars Lose Heartbreaker to Utes

PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team (31-15) lost a heartbreaker to in-state rival Utah (23-20) Saturday at Gail Miller Field, falling 6-4 after an early 3-0 lead. The Ute victory evens the season series at one game apiece after BYU recorded an 8-0 shutout on Friday in the first two games of the softball Deseret Duel Rivalry series.

"I am disappointed with the game," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "We had the flow and momentum on our side until we gave up an error. We let them back in the game and lost the momentum."

True freshman Kristin Delahoussaye went 3-for-4 on the day with one home run to lead the Cougars. Sophomore Angeline Quiocho improved her hitting streak to 11 games with a 2-for-4 outing while posting two RBI. Utah pitcher Ashley Smuda went the distance for the Utes, improving to 14-9 on the year with the win.

Delahoussaye got the Cougars started to lead off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run straight over the center field fence. She knocked her third bomb of the year on a full count to give BYU an early 1-0 lead. Quiocho then singled through the gap on the left side to bring home Amanda Vance, who reached on an error, to make it 2-0 in favor of the Cougars after the first inning.

BYU pitcher Paige Affleck, who entered the game with a 1.26 ERA on the year, continued her dominance on the mound as she limited the Utes to just one base runner in the first three innings on a walk while recording three strikeouts.

With the Cougars leading 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Quiocho brought home her second teammate of the day with a two-out RBI triple to right field that scored Cacshjen Davis. Davis walked to lead off the inning and then stole second to move into scoring position for Quiocho.

The Utes got their first hit of the day to lead off the fourth inning with a single to left field by Sharee Fonoti. However, Fonoti was called out at second on a fielder's choice on the next Utah batter. Angie Boardman kept the Ute rally alive with a two-out single up the middle and Kristie Keller due up. Keller made good on the opportunity with a double to score two Ute runs before making it all the way home on a fielding error by Cougar rightfielder Stephanie Platt-Hopkins to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

BYU responded in the bottom of the inning as Vance singled for the 13th-straight game to bring in Delahoussaye, who beat the tag at home to give the Cougars a one-run lead at 4-3.

But the Ute bats weren't done as Devina Quintero took the first pitch of the sixth inning over the right field fence to once again tie the score at 4-4. Coach Eakin decided to go to his bullpen after the long ball, bringing in Cougar ace Christina Gwyn-Trice, who pitched the shut-out against Utah the night before. However, Trice fared no better, giving up a first-pitch home run to Kara Foster that tilted the score 5-4 in favor of the Utes. Trice settled down after the first pitch, striking out two batters while retiring the side.

After a leadoff strikeout in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cougars got the bats going again with back-to-back singles from Monica Gonzales and Delahoussaye. Davis then reached on an error by the second baseman to load the bases for Vance. However, Ute first baseman Foster made a diving play to catch Davis' pop up and then threw to third for a double play to end the inning and maintain the Utah lead.

The Utes added another run in the top of the seventh inning when Fonoti hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Meghan Crouse. Trailing 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars could not get anything going as Utah retired the side in order to get the win.

BYU will next be in action on Tuesday with a double-header against Idaho State beginning at 3 p.m.

Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                          Utah at Brigham Young Univ.
                Apr 19, 2008 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Utah 6 (23-20,6-4 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
PHILLIPS, Diana cf.......  3  0  1  0   1  0  2  1   0
FONOTI, Sharee ss........  3  0  1  1   0  0  1  2   1
QUINTERO, Devina 3b......  3  1  1  1   1  0  1  2   1
 MEDINA, Tori pr.........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
FOSTER, Kara 1b..........  3  1  1  1   0  2  7  1   1
BOARDMAN, Angie dp.......  3  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
KELLER, Kristie lf/rf....  3  1  1  2   0  1  2  0   0
HOFFMAN, Andrea c........  3  0  0  0   0  1  6  0   0
HEMINGWAY, Staci 2b......  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  2   0
MATTHEWS, Kelly rf.......  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
 CROUSE, Meghan ph/lf....  2  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
SMUDA, Ashley p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 27  6  7  5   2  7 21  9   3
Brigham Young Univ. 4 (31-15,7-3 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE,Kristin 2b..  4  2  3  1   0  0  2  3   1
DAVIS, Caschjen lf.......  1  1  0  0   3  0  1  0   0
VANCE, Amanda dp.........  4  1  1  1   0  1  0  0   2
SNOW, Daniela 1b.........  4  0  0  0   0  0  9  0   2
QUIOCHO, Angeline 3b.....  4  0  2  2   0  0  1  5   0
WILLING, Emi c...........  3  0  0  0   1  0  7  0   1
PURCELL, Jessica ss......  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  1   2
HOPKINS, Stephanie rf....  3  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
GONZALES, Monica cf......  1  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 TRICE, Christina p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 27  4  7  4   5  4 21 10   8
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Utah................ 000 302 1 -  6  7  4
Brigham Young Univ.. 201 100 0 -  4  7  1
-----------------------------------------
E - FONOTI; HEMINGWAY; SMUDA 2; HOPKINS. LOB - UTAH 3; BY 8. 2B - KELLER. 3B
- QUIOCHO. HR - QUINTERO; FOSTER; DELAHOUSSAYE. SH - GONZALES. SF - FONOTI.
SB - PHILLIPS 2; CROUSE; DAVIS; VANCE; GONZALES.
Utah                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SMUDA, Ashley.......  7.0  7  4  2  5  4 27 33
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  5.0  4  4  3  2  4 19 21
TRICE, Christina....  2.0  3  2  2  0  3  8  9
Win - SMUDA (14-9).  Loss - TRICE (13-6).  Save - None.
WP - TRICE. PB - HOFFMAN.
Umpires - HP: Bobby Shelton  1B: Brett Higgins  3B: Bob Marcialis
Start: 2:00 p.m   Time: 2:12   Attendance: 584
AFFLECK faced 1 batter in the 6th.
Game: UTAH2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                   Utah at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
                Apr 19, 2008 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Utah................ 000 302 1 -  6  7  4
Brigham Young Univ.. 201 100 0 -  4  7  1
-----------------------------------------
Utah starters: 20/cf PHILLIPS; 1/ss FONOTI; 33/3b QUINTERO; 12/1b FOSTER; 16/dp
BOARDMAN; 5/lf KELLER; 13/c HOFFMAN; 19/2b HEMINGWAY; 4/rf MATTHEWS; 10/p
SMUDA;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 9/lf DAVIS; 6/dp VANCE; 22/1b
SNOW; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 18/c WILLING; 10/ss PURCELL; 5/rf HOPKINS; 24/cf GONZALES;
12/p AFFLECK;
Utah 1st - PHILLIPS grounded out to 2b. FONOTI grounded out to p.
QUINTERO walked. FOSTER struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE homered to center field, RBI.
DAVIS walked. VANCE reached on an error by p; DAVIS out at second p to ss. SNOW
flied out to lf. VANCE stole second. QUIOCHO singled to left field, RBI; VANCE
scored, unearned. QUIOCHO advanced to second on a passed ball. WILLING grounded
out to 2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Utah 2nd - BOARDMAN grounded out to 2b. KELLER struck out looking.
HOFFMAN grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - PURCELL struck out swinging. HOPKINS fouled
out to c. GONZALES walked. GONZALES stole second. GONZALES advanced to third on
an error by p. DELAHOUSSAYE grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1
error, 1 LOB.
Utah 3rd - HEMINGWAY grounded out to 3b. MATTHEWS struck out swinging.
PHILLIPS fouled out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - DAVIS walked. VANCE struck out looking. DAVIS
stole second. SNOW flied out to cf. QUIOCHO tripled, RBI; DAVIS scored. WILLING
walked. PURCELL flied out to rf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Utah 4th - FONOTI singled to left field. QUINTERO reached on a fielder's
choice; FONOTI out at second 3b to 2b. FOSTER struck out swinging. BOARDMAN
singled up the middle; QUINTERO advanced to second. MEDINA pinch ran for
QUINTERO. KELLER doubled, scored on an error by rf, 2 RBI, unearned; BOARDMAN
scored; MEDINA scored. HOFFMAN grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error,
0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - QUINTERO to 3b for MEDINA. HOPKINS reached on
an error by ss. GONZALES out at first 3b to 2b, SAC; HOPKINS advanced to
second. DELAHOUSSAYE singled up the middle, advanced to second on the throw;
HOPKINS advanced to third, out at home cf to c. DAVIS walked. VANCE singled to
shortstop, RBI; DAVIS advanced to second; DELAHOUSSAYE scored, unearned. SNOW
grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Utah 5th - HEMINGWAY flied out to 2b. CROUSE pinch hit for MATTHEWS.
CROUSE grounded out to 3b. PHILLIPS walked. PHILLIPS stole second. FONOTI
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - KELLER to rf. CROUSE to lf. QUIOCHO flied out
to cf. WILLING grounded out to ss. PURCELL struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Utah 6th - QUINTERO homered to right field, RBI. TRICE to p for AFFLECK.
FOSTER homered to left center, RBI. BOARDMAN struck out looking. KELLER
grounded out to 3b. HOFFMAN struck out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - HOPKINS struck out swinging. GONZALES singled
to right center. DELAHOUSSAYE singled to right center; GONZALES advanced to
second. DAVIS reached on an error by 2b; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second;
GONZALES advanced to third. VANCE popped up to 1b; GONZALES out at third 1b to
3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Utah 7th - HEMINGWAY struck out looking. CROUSE singled up the middle.
PHILLIPS singled up the middle; CROUSE advanced to second. PHILLIPS stole
second; CROUSE stole third. FONOTI flied out to lf, SF, RBI; CROUSE scored.
PHILLIPS advanced to third on a wild pitch. QUINTERO fouled out to 3b. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - SNOW flied out to rf. QUIOCHO grounded out to
ss. WILLING grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.