Cougars snag Saturday doubleheader sweep to conclude Littlewood Classic

TEMPE, Ariz. — Strong and timely hitting helped BYU softball beat Memphis and Cal State Fullerton to conclude Littlewood Classic play at Farrington Softball Stadium on Saturday.

GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE

The Cougars (8-2, 0-0 Big 12) used a five-run sixth and four-run seventh to pull away from the Tigers. Leading through the first six innings against Cal State Fullerton, the Titans took the lead with four runs in the seventh before an RBI-double by Huntyr Ava forced extras and a Maddie Udall single walked it off in the eighth.

Game 1: BYU 12 | Memphis 5
The Cougars struck first in the top of the first as Maddie Bejarano singled into left field and moved to second on a Lauren Flanders sacrifice bunt. After a four-pitch Violet Zavodnik walk, Ava tripled off the wall in right, scoring both Bejarano and Zavodnik for an early 2-0 lead.

Clawing back, the Tigers sent a solo shot to left in the bottom of the second, and added another run in the third to tie things up at 2-2.

BYU sent seven batters to the plate in the top of the fourth inning, led by a leadoff double from Keila Kamoku. She would score on a bases-loaded walk by Bejarano that put the Cougars back in front, 3-2, but BYU left the bases loaded on a fly out the next batter.

Memphis took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, earning a leadoff single before sending a 2-run home out to left field, making it 5-4, Tigers.

Breaking it open in the sixth, BYU sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring five runs in the frame to take an 8-4 lead. Hailey Morrow, Udall, Ailana Agbayani, Bejarano, Lily Owens, Zavodnik, Ava and Kamoku all reached base safely, with another bases-loaded walk by Bejarano and and singles from both Owens and Ava scoring runs.

The Cougars added four more runs in the top of the seventh inning when Udall led off with a double down the left field line and Agbayani singled up the middle to score Udall. After Zavodnik was hit by a pitch, Ava hammered a 3-1 pitch deep to left field, a 3-run shot that had BYU leading 12-4.

Memphis got one back in its half of the seventh, leading off the inning with a solo shot to left before going down in order, finishing off game one, 12-5.

Game 2: BYU 6 | Cal State Fullerton 5 (8)
Scoreless through the first two and a half innings, BYU broke through in the bottom of the third with Morrow and Lexie Bennett both beating out infield singles. Lauren Flanders came in to pinch run for Morrow, and both she and Bennett moved into scoring position on a groundout. Bejarano then singled, bringing them home for another early 2-0 lead.

The Cougars tacked on two more in the fourth, as Owens doubled down the left field line and Udall singled, putting runners on the corners. Morrow reached on an error, allowing Owens to score and advancing Lennon, pinch running for Udall to move to third. BYU executed a double steal the next at-bat, bringing Lennon home to go up 4-0.

Fullerton got one back in the top of the fifth inning, stringing together three two-out base hits to make it 4-1, Cougars.

The Titans rallied in the seventh, batting through their order and plating four runs on five hits to take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh.

BYU answered back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game and send it into extras. Agbayani was hit by a pitch to lead off, and moved to second on a Bejarano sacrifice bunt. Ava doubled to right center a batter later to score Agbayani and even the game at 5-5.

With the extra-inning rules in the eighth, Cal State Fullerton started with a runner on second. The Titans advanced her on a double down the left field line, but a groundout and fly out kept the game tied.

Owens began the bottom of the eighth inning at second base, advancing to third on a Kamoku sacrifice bunt. Udall then took a 1-0 pitch into right center, walking it off for the Cougars, 6-5.

Up Next
BYU will head to Palm Springs, California next week for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic from Feb. 22-24. It will face Bethune-Cookman, UC Riverside, Long Beach State, Cal Poly and Rutgers in the tournament.