PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team (26-14, 4-5) will host No. 23 Pacific at Gail Miller Field on Thursday, April 22 at 6 p.m. This will mark the first time in the BYU softball program's history that the two schools will play.
The game will be televised on BYU-TV with Jay Monsen providing the play-by-play with Gary Sheide as the color analyst. The television broadcast is also available on Direct TV and the Dish Network through the BYU-TV channel. Live stats will also be available to the game with a link on the BYU softball schedule page.
The Cougars are coming off a sweep over Utah Valley State College on Tuesday 8-2, 11-1. BYU came into this week after playing their first away conference games last weekend against Colorado State and New Mexico. BYU dropped two games to Colorado State (2-4, 0-2) last year's MWC regular season champions, and picked up a win at New Mexico 2-1. The second game of the New Mexico doubleheader was called in the fifth inning because of darkness with the Cougars leading 5-1 over the Lobos.
BYU comes into the match up against Pacific batting .299 as a team and posting a 3.18 overall ERA as a pitching staff.
Leading BYU offensively is sophomore Ianeta Le`i batting .353 with 10 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 21 RBI and a team-high 23 walks on the year. Sophomore Paige Paramore bats .348 with seven doubles, 25 RBI and seven home runs. Paramore is currently on a nine-game hitting streak. Senior Kate Walker and freshman Jodi Norton are next hitting .333, respectively. Walker has six home runs and has knocked in 23 RBI, while Norton has a team-high 11 doubles and 27 RBI. Sophomore Ashlyn Russell posts a team-high seven homeruns. Speedy freshman Krystle Chamberlain leads the team in stolen bases stealing 10-out-of-11 bases this season.
For the pitching staff, sophomore Brooke Boyce leads the squad in ERA with 2.43. Boyce has a 9-6 record in 96.1 innings pitched. Junior Niki Andersen is also pitching solid with a 2.89 ERA in 118.1 innings pitched. Andersen leads the trio in strikeouts with 101 and posts an impressive 14-5 record. Junior Ariel Capra registers a 3-3 record in 51.2 innings pitched on the mound.
After Pacific, the Cougars will take on Utah in Salt Lake for a conference doubleheader. The last meeting at Gail Miller Park on April 10, BYU split with the Utes winning the first game 5-4 and losing the second contest in a close 9-8 battle.