AUSTIN -- Ten years in the making, BYU advanced to its first-ever NCAA Super Regional in school history, romping East Carolina 8-3 in the championship game of the NCAA Austin Regional at McCombs Field on Saturday.

JC Clayton finished an outstanding weekend, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs. Clayton went 8-for-11 (.727), in the Cougars’ three games, adding the game-winning sac fly against Texas on Friday. Jessica Fitu went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run while junior Paige Affleck earned the win with four strikeouts and two earned runs.

BYU (46-11) scored one run in the first four innings on a hopping ground ball by Jessica Dugas that brought in Caschjen Atagi, but the Cougars left two on base in the inning after ending the third inning empty-handed despite loading the bases with one out.

The Cougars would not make the same mistake again in the top of the fifth. Clayton extended her team-high hit streak to 13-straight games and senior Angeline Quiocho reached base each on singles to start the inning. After Andrea Ramirez flied out, Atagi loaded the bases on a walk.

Atagi’s walk set the stage for a six-run fifth inning when junior Jessica Fitu doubled deep to left to score two and put BYU in front, 3-2. Junior Delaney Willard and Amanda Kellum followed, each with an RBI-single.

After Dugas made it three-straight singles to put three runners on base, Kristin Delahoussaye hit a sac fly to bring in Willard and Clayton recorded her third hit of the day and second of the inning, scoring pinch runner Tiffany Messerschmidt to give BYU a commanding 7-2 lead.

It was the second day in a row the BYU lineup rocked a conference pitcher of the year, this time posting two-time Conference USA’s best hurler, Toni Paisley, with her worst numbers of the season with six earned runs on 12 hits. The Cougars finished with 17 hits on the day, tying for the third-most hits in a game for BYU this year.

Quiocho hit her first triple of the season in the top of the seventh, scoring Clayton for BYU’s final run.

BYU will await the winner out of the Tucson Regional and will begin its Super Regional at a site yet to be determined.

BYU vs East Carolina
May 22, 2010 at Austin, Texas (McCombs Field)
BYU 8 (46-11)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE,Kristin 2b..  4  0  1  1   0  0  3  2   2
CLAYTON, J.C. ss.........  5  2  4  1   0  0  3  3   0
QUIOCHO, Angeline 3b.....  5  1  2  1   0  2  1  3   2
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  5  0  1  0   0  0  9  2   4
DAVIS-ATAGI,Caschjen lf..  2  2  1  0   1  0  0  0   0
PURCELL-FITU, Jess. c....  4  1  2  2   0  1  5  0   0
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  4  1  2  1   0  0  0  0   1
 HUDSON, Alexandra rf....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
VANCE-KELLUM, Amanda dp..  4  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   2
 MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiff. pr.  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
DUGAS, Jessica cf........  4  0  3  1   0  0  0  1   0
AFFLECK, Paige p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 37  8 17  8   1  3 21 14  11
East Carolina 3 (44-18)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
SUMNER, Charina 2b.......  3  2  2  0   1  0  6  0   0
MERRIDA, Christina cf....  3  0  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
MORENO, Vanessa rf.......  4  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
GUSMAN-BROWN, Marina lf..  3  1  2  2   1  0  2  0   0
JIMENEZ, Sissy 1b........  4  0  1  1   0  1  3  1   4
AONA, Cristen 3b.........  3  0  1  0   0  0  1  1   1
TOM, Kaui ss.............  3  0  0  0   0  0  4  1   0
VELASQUEZ, Priscilla dp..  1  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
 RIGGS, Suzanne dp.......  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
CLARK, Kai c.............  3  0  1  0   0  2  4  0   1
PAISLEY, Toni p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 SUTTON, Faith p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 28  3  9  3   3  4 21  3   8
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 160 1 -  8 17  0
East Carolina....... 002 000 1 -  3  9  2
-----------------------------------------
E - Sumner(4); Jimenez(2). DP - E. Carolina 2. LOB - BYU 11; E. Carolina 8.
2B - PURCELL-FITU(8); Sumner(14). 3B - QUIOCHO(1). HBP - DAVIS-ATAGI. SH -
Merrida(11). SF - DELAHOUSSAYE(1). SB - CLAYTON(10); WILLARD(4); DUGAS(7);
Gusman-Brown(30).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige......  7.0  9  3  3  3  4 28 32 117
East Carolina          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
PAISLEY, Toni.......  4.2 12  7  6  1  1 26 29  85
SUTTON, Faith.......  2.1  5  1  1  0  2 11 11  41
Win - AFFLECK (32-8).  Loss - Paisley (31-11).  Save - None.
HBP - by Paisley (DAVIS-ATAGI). PB - PURCELL-FITU(10). Pitches/strikes: AFFLECK
117/69; Paisley 85/64; Sutton 41/33.
Umpires - HP: Steve McCown  1B: Terri Rosenwald  3B: Terry Holt
Start: 1 p.m.   Time: 2:07   Attendance: 482
Weather: Sunny, warm and breezy
BYU 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE popped up to 2b down the rf line (1-2). CLAYTON
popped up to ss (1-1). QUIOCHO struck out swinging (1-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
East Carolina 1st - Sumner grounded out to 3b (1-1). Merrida grounded
out to ss (1-2). Moreno singled down the lf line (0-1). Gusman-Brown walked
(3-0); Moreno advanced to second. Jimenez struck out looking (3-2). 0 runs,
1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 2nd - RAMIREZ singled through the right side (2-2). DAVIS-ATAGI
popped into double play 1b to 2b, bunt (2-1); RAMIREZ out on the play.
PURCELL-FITU singled up the middle (0-2). WILLARD popped up to ss (1-2). 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
East Carolina 2nd - Aona popped up to ss (0-1). Tom out at first 1b to
2b (0-0). Velasquez walked (3-2). Clark struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - VANCE-KELLUM flied out to lf (0-1). DUGAS reached on an error
by 1b to third base (2-2). DELAHOUSSAYE singled down the rf line (1-2); DUGAS
advanced to second. CLAYTON singled to third base (0-2); DELAHOUSSAYE advanced
to second; DUGAS advanced to third. QUIOCHO popped up to 2b (0-0). RAMIREZ
popped up to 3b (0-2). 0 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB.
East Carolina 3rd - Sumner singled to pitcher (0-2). Merrida out at
first 3b to 2b, SAC (1-0); Sumner advanced to second. Moreno grounded out to ss
(2-1); Sumner advanced to third. Gusman-Brown singled to third base, RBI (2-0);
Sumner scored. Gusman-Brown stole second. Jimenez singled to center field, RBI
(2-1); Gusman-Brown scored. Aona grounded out to 3b (0-1). 2 runs, 3 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 4th - DAVIS-ATAGI hit by pitch (1-1). PURCELL-FITU reached on a
throwing error by 2b, advanced to second (0-2); DAVIS-ATAGI advanced to third.
WILLARD popped up to ss (1-0). VANCE-KELLUM fouled out to c (0-0). DUGAS
singled to second base, RBI (0-0); PURCELL-FITU advanced to third; DAVIS-ATAGI
scored, unearned. DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to rf (0-1). 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error,
2 LOB.
East Carolina 4th - Tom lined out to 1b (0-0). Velasquez grounded out to
p (2-0). Clark struck out swinging (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 5th - CLAYTON singled to second base (1-2). QUIOCHO singled to third
base (0-2); CLAYTON advanced to second. RAMIREZ fouled out to lf (0-0).
DAVIS-ATAGI walked (3-2); QUIOCHO advanced to second; CLAYTON advanced to
third. PURCELL-FITU doubled down the lf line, 2 RBI; DAVIS-ATAGI advanced to
third; QUIOCHO scored; CLAYTON scored. WILLARD singled to right center, RBI
(1-0); PURCELL-FITU advanced to third; DAVIS-ATAGI scored. WILLARD stole
second. VANCE-KELLUM singled to left field, RBI (1-2); WILLARD advanced to
third; PURCELL-FITU scored. MESSERSCHMID pinch ran for VANCE-KELLUM. DUGAS
singled (1-2); MESSERSCHMID advanced to second. DELAHOUSSAYE fouled out to 2b,
SAC, RBI (0-0); MESSERSCHMID advanced to third; WILLARD scored. DUGAS stole
second. CLAYTON singled to third base, RBI (0-2); DUGAS advanced to third;
MESSERSCHMID scored. Sutton to p for Paisley. CLAYTON stole second. QUIOCHO
struck out looking (1-2). 6 runs, 7 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
East Carolina 5th - VANCE-KELLUM to dp for MESSERSCHMID. Sumner doubled
to center field (1-0). Merrida struck out swinging (1-2). Moreno lined out to
ss (2-1). Gusman-Brown singled, out at second cf to 1b to ss (0-0); Sumner
advanced to third. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - RAMIREZ grounded out to 3b (1-2). DAVIS-ATAGI singled up the
middle (1-1). PURCELL-FITU struck out swinging (0-2). WILLARD singled up the
middle (3-2); DAVIS-ATAGI advanced to second. VANCE-KELLUM lined out to 2b
(0-2). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
East Carolina 6th - HUDSON to rf for WILLARD. Jimenez grounded out to 2b
(2-0). Aona singled through the right side (0-1). Tom lined out to 3b (2-2).
Riggs to dp for Velasquez. Aona advanced to second on a passed ball. Riggs
grounded out to 2b (3-2). 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - Velasquez to dp for Riggs. DUGAS singled up the middle (0-1).
DELAHOUSSAYE grounded into double play ss to 1b (0-2); DUGAS out on the play.
CLAYTON singled (0-1). QUIOCHO tripled to center field, RBI (1-2); CLAYTON
scored. RAMIREZ lined out to 2b (1-1). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
East Carolina 7th - Clark singled to right field (0-1). Sumner walked
(3-2); Clark advanced to second. Merrida singled to third base (1-2); Sumner
advanced to second; Clark advanced to third. Moreno reached on a fielder's
choice (2-2); Merrida advanced to second; Sumner advanced to third; Clark out
at home p to c. Gusman-Brown reached on a fielder's choice, RBI (2-0); Moreno
out at second ss to 2b; Merrida advanced to third; Sumner scored. Jimenez
grounded out to p (1-1). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

PROVO -- No. 25 BYU will travel to Austin, Texas to compete in its sixth-straight NCAA regional tournament starting May 20, the NCAA Division I Softball Committee announced Sunday.

“We have a veteran team and there is more excitement than nervousness or apprehension,” said head coach Gordon Eakin. “There will be no surprises and we feel like we deserve to be where we are and have a chance to be successful.”

BYU (43-11) will compete against East Carolina (42-16) at 5 p.m. CST on Thursday, May 20, while host No. 7 Texas (32-13) faces Iona (28-24) at approximately 7:30 p.m. CST. Live stats and streaming video will be available for all games through www.NCAA.com.

“They are a scrappy team and they battle hard,” Eakin said of East Carolina. “They have really good speed and will definitely pose a strong challenge.”

The Cougars are 7-12 all-time in NCAA regional tournament play and look to advance to an NCAA super regional tournament for the first time in the program’s history.

One regional winner will advance to super regional competition for a best-of-three series May 28-29 at eight campus sites.

The remaining eight teams will advance to the Women's College World Series, an eight-team, double-elimination tournament. The championship final will be a best-of-three-series. The Women’s College World Series will be conducted June 3-9 at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

Mountain West Conference opponent San Diego State (33-14) received an at-large bid to the 64-team field and will travel to Los Angeles, California, to compete against No. 5 UCLA (40-11), St. Mary’s (CA) (30-21) and Fresno State (39-19) starting May 21.

Games are scheduled Thursday, May 20, Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at McCombs Field on UT’s campus.

Thursday, May 20
5 p.m. – Game 1: East Carolina vs. BYU (home)
7:30 p.m. – Game 2: Iona vs. Texas (home)
Friday, May 21
TBA – Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
TBA – Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
TBA – Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Saturday, May 22
TBA – Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
TBA -  35 minutes after conclusion if necessary