Cougars Cruise in Five Innings

ST. GEORGE, Utah -- The BYU softball team scored eight runs in the first three innings against Southern Utah, easily defeating the Thunderbirds 8-0 in five innings Tuesday.

Freshman pitcher Tori Almond struck out seven batters, all of whom went down in the first three innings of the game. The right-hander improved to 9-3 on the year in the Cougars' 17th shutout of the season.

From the plate, junior first baseman Stacie Graham hit 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run while junior Tiffany Messerschmidt also had two hits.

"We came out strong and took control of the game early which was nice to see," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin.

Half of BYU's runs came in the first inning. Three of the first four Cougar batters of the game reached to load the bases, setting up the game's first run by Kristin Delahoussaye on a passed ball by the SUU catcher.

After two more walks, the second resulting in another run scored, Graham laced a two-run single through the right side, scoring Caschjen Atagi and Jessica Fitu.

Atagi's ninth double of the season scored another two runs in the top of the second after JC Clayton and Messerschmidt had reached after each hitting singles.

The Cougars reached the eight-run mark with two final runs in the third, the first on a sac fly by Delahoussaye to score Carly Duckworth and the second on a single by freshman Madisen Robb that brought in Graham.

Sophomore pitcher Hannah Howell came on in relief for the fifth and final inning, getting one strikeout.

BYU (36-16, 9-2 MWC) next plays Utah (29-20, 7-3) in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 14, with the first game televised live by BYUtv starting at 2 p.m. MT and the second game slated for 4:30 p.m. MT. The Deseret First Duel contests will decide the Mountain West Conference champion with the Cougars needing one win to claim their third-straight MWC title.

BYU at Southern Utah
May 10, 2011 at St. George, Utah (DSC Softball Field)
BYU 8 (36-16)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  3  1  1  1   0  0  1  1   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dh..  2  1  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
 ROBB, Madisen pr........  2  1  1  1   0  0  1  2   0
CLAYTON, JC ss...........  3  1  1  0   1  1  0  1   0
 HUDSON,Alexandra pr.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
FITU,Jessica c...........  2  1  1  0   2  0  8  0   0
ATAGI,Caschjen 3b........  3  1  1  2   1  1  0  1   5
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  2  0  0  1   1  0  0  0   1
DUCKWORTH,Carly lf.......  2  1  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
GRAHAM, Stacie 1b........  3  1  2  2   0  0  4  0   0
DUGAS,Jessica cf.........  2  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   3
ALMOND,Tori p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 HOWELL,Hannah p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 24  8  9  7   7  4 15  5   9
Southern Utah 0 (24-32)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Jenavieve Purcell cf.....  2  0  0  0   0  2  1  0   0
 Sami Jo Parry cf........  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Aly Daniels ss...........  1  0  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
 Cora Cordova ss.........  1  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
Haylee Hoch rf...........  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   2
 Danielle Swopes rf......  1  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
Darleen Fernandez 3b.....  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   1
 Stephanie DeJesus 2b....  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   2
Heather Richardson c.....  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   0
 Brittany Henderson c....  1  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
Madison Resley dh........  2  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
Kadi Henderson 2b........  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
Nicole Huntsman 1b.......  2  0  0  0   0  1  3  0   2
Terysa Dyer lf...........  1  0  1  0   1  0  2  0   0
Heather Black p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Danielle Axe p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Kara Bendt p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Bubba Kearns p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 20  0  5  0   2  8 15  3   7
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
BYU................. 422 00 -  8  9  0
Southern Utah....... 000 00 -  0  5  1
--------------------------------------
E - K. HENDERSON. LOB - BYU 9; Thunderbirds 7. 2B - ATAGI; B. HENDERSON. SF
- DELAHOUSSAYE.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ALMOND,Tori.........  4.0  3  0  0  2  7 15 17
HOWELL,Hannah.......  1.0  2  0  0  0  1  5  5
Southern Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Heather Black.......  1.0  3  4  4  3  2  6  9
Danielle Axe........  1.0  3  2  2  0  0  6  6
Kara Bendt..........  2.0  2  2  1  3  2  8 12
Bubba Kearns........  1.0  1  0  0  1  0  4  5
Win - ALMOND (9-3).  Loss - BLACK (17-17).  Save - None.
WP - BLACK. PB - RICHARDSON.
Umpires -
Start: 1:00 pm   Time: 1:31   Attendance: 75
BYU starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dh MESSERSCHMID; 16/ss CLAYTON; 10/c FITU;
9/3b ATAGI; 28/rf WILLARD; 3/lf DUCKWORTH; 21/1b GRAHAM; 19/cf DUGAS; 8/p
ALMOND;
Southern Utah starters: 2/cf PURCELL; 22/ss DANIELS; 15/rf HOCH; 9/3b
FERNANDEZ; 3/c RICHARDSON; 0/dh RESLEY; 5/2b K. HENDERSON; 13/1b HUNTSMAN;
12/lf DYER; 7/p BLACK;
BYU 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE singled to center field. MESSERSCHMID singled to
third base, bunt; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second. CLAYTON struck out swinging.
FITU walked; MESSERSCHMID advanced to second; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to third.
FITU advanced to second; MESSERSCHMID advanced to third; DELAHOUSSAYE scored on
a passed ball. ATAGI walked. WILLARD walked, RBI; ATAGI advanced to second;
FITU advanced to third; MESSERSCHMID scored. DUCKWORTH struck out looking.
GRAHAM singled through the right side, 2 RBI; WILLARD advanced to third; ATAGI
scored; FITU scored. GRAHAM advanced to second on a wild pitch. DUGAS grounded
out to 3b. 4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Southern Utah 1st - PURCELL struck out swinging. DANIELS singled through
the left side. HOCH reached on a fielder's choice; DANIELS out at second ss to
2b. FERNANDEZ struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - AXE to p for BLACK. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to rf. MESSERSCHMID
singled to shortstop. ROBB pinch ran for MESSERSCHMID. CLAYTON singled to
pitcher; ROBB advanced to second. FITU grounded out to 3b; CLAYTON advanced to
second; ROBB advanced to third. ATAGI doubled to center field, 2 RBI; CLAYTON
scored; ROBB scored. WILLARD flied out to lf. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Southern Utah 2nd - ROBB to ss. CLAYTON to dh. RICHARDSON struck out
swinging. RESLEY struck out looking. K. HENDERSON grounded out to ss. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - B. HENDERSON to c for RICHARDSON. BENDT to p for AXE.
DUCKWORTH walked. GRAHAM reached on a fielding error by 2b; DUCKWORTH advanced
to second. DUGAS walked; GRAHAM advanced to second; DUCKWORTH advanced to
third. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to cf, SF, RBI; DUGAS advanced to second; GRAHAM
advanced to third; DUCKWORTH scored. ROBB singled to center field, RBI; DUGAS
advanced to third; GRAHAM scored, unearned. CLAYTON reached on a fielder's
choice; ROBB out at second 2b unassisted. FITU walked; CLAYTON advanced to
second. ATAGI struck out swinging. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 3 LOB.
Southern Utah 3rd - HUNTSMAN struck out swinging. DYER walked. PURCELL
struck out looking. DANIELS walked; DYER advanced to second. HOCH struck out
swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - PARRY to cf for PURCELL. WILLARD fouled out to 1b. DUCKWORTH
flied out to cf. GRAHAM singled to second base. DUGAS struck out looking. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 4th - CORDOVA to ss for DANIELS. SWOPES to rf for HOCH.
FERNANDEZ grounded out to ss. B. HENDERSON doubled down the lf line. RESLEY
singled to right field; B. HENDERSON advanced to third. K. HENDERSON popped up
to ss. HUNTSMAN grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 5th - DEJESUS to 2b for FERNANDEZ. K. HENDERSON to 3b. KEARNS to p
for BENDT. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to rf. ROBB flied out to lf. CLAYTON walked.
HUDSON pinch ran for CLAYTON. FITU singled up the middle; HUDSON advanced to
second. ATAGI reached on a fielder's choice; FITU out at second 2b to ss. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Southern Utah 5th - HUDSON to rf. WILLARD to dh. HOWELL to p for ALMOND.
DYER singled to pitcher. PARRY flied out to rf. CORDOVA singled to shortstop;
DYER advanced to second. SWOPES struck out swinging. DEJESUS grounded out to
3b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.