PROVO -- BYU (41-18, 16-4) wrapped up its regular season with a 5-3 win over San Diego State (32-24, 8-12).
The Cougars finished their third consecutive 40-win season by winning 26 of their final 30 games. BYU's victory over SDSU Saturday afternoon gave the team an impressive 15-1 home record this season.
"It's nice to win on senior day," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Everyday we knew we had to be on top of our game. I expected them to come out a lot stronger and play the way they know how to play today."
Junior Emi Snow took a 1-0 pitch over the centerfield wall in the bottom of the second to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. The home run was Snow's 16th of the year, doubling her previous career total of eight in this season alone.
In the third it was Andrea Ramirez going to the exact spot as Snow, this time for a three-RBI double making it a 4-0 game heading into the fourth. The Aztecs began a comeback in that fourth inning behind three runs with two outs. Senior Cortney Nix-Clark prevented any more damage from being done by catching Brittany Knudsen stealing second to end the inning.
BYU created some breathing room in the sixth when Tracee Hoch hit a double to center field that allowed pinch-runner Jana Anderson to come home all the way from first base for the 5-3 final.
Freshman Christie Zinanti recorded her 19th win of the year behind four innings of play, while Christina Gwyn picked up the save. Each pitcher struck out three on the day.
Having clinched the Mountain West Conference title, the Cougars receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will await the announcement of who their regional opponent will be and where they will play. The selection will be made Sunday between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (MST) on ESPNews.
San Diego State at Brigham Young Univer
May 12, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
San Diego State 3 (32-24,8-12 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Brittany Knudsen lf...... 3 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Tamani Wells cf.......... 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Melissa Owens p/1b....... 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 1
Monica Alnes ss.......... 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Lindsey Marquez 2b....... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
Dani Sidoti rf........... 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Christy Hollingshead dp.. 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Katy Erickson pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Megan McDonald c......... 2 0 1 1 1 0 7 1 1
Stefanie Quiochocho pr.. 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christine Kulick 3b...... 3 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 1
Janae Portugal 1b........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Christina Ross p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 25 3 5 3 4 6 18 6 6
Brigham Young Univer 5 (41-18,16-4 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Cortney Nix-Clark c...... 3 0 0 0 0 2 7 1 0
Jennifer Whiteley lf..... 2 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0
Angeline Quiocho 3b...... 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 3 0
Emi Snow rf.............. 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
Andrea Ramirez dp/1b..... 3 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 0
Jodi Norton ss........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1
Daniela Urincho 1b/dp.... 3 0 2 0 0 0 6 0 0
Jana Anderson pr........ 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tracee Hoch 2b........... 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0
Monica Gonzales cf....... 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Christie Zinanti p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Christina Gwyn p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 24 5 8 5 2 7 21 9 4
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
San Diego State..... 000 300 0 - 3 5 0
Brigham Young Univer 013 001 X - 5 8 1
-----------------------------------------
E - URINCHO. LOB - SDSU 6; BYU Cougars 4. 2B - RAMIREZ; HOCH. HR - SNOW. SH
- ALNES; NORTON. SB - KNUDSEN; WELLS 2; ALNES; WHITELEY. CS - KNUDSEN;
URINCHO.
San Diego State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Melissa Owens....... 3.0 6 4 4 1 5 13 15
Christina Ross...... 3.0 2 1 1 1 2 11 12
Brigham Young Univer IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Christie Zinanti.... 4.0 5 3 3 3 3 17 20
Christina Gwyn...... 3.0 0 0 0 1 3 8 10
Win - ZINANTI (19-8). Loss - OWENS (9-10). Save - GWYN (2).
Umpires - HP: Bob Marcialis 1B: Brett Higgins 3B: Clair McBride
Start: 2:00 pm Time: 2:09 Attendance: 484
ZINANTI faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Game: BYU_SD4
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
San Diego State..... 000 300 0 - 3 5 0
Brigham Young Univer 013 001 X - 5 8 1
-----------------------------------------
San Diego State starters: 39/lf KNUDSEN; 17/cf WELLS; 23/p OWENS; 9/ss ALNES;
19/2b MARQUEZ; 8/rf SIDOTI; 7/dp HOLLINGSHEAD; 20/c MCDONALD; 18/3b KULICK;
27/1b PORTUGAL;
Brigham Young Univer starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 33/3b QUIOCHO;
18/rf SNOW; 31/dp RAMIREZ; 8/ss NORTON; 22/1b URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 24/cf
GONZALES; 14/p ZINANTI;
San Diego State 1st - KNUDSEN grounded out to ss. WELLS reached on an
error by 1b. WELLS stole second. OWENS struck out looking. ALNES grounded out
to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 1st - NIX-CLARK struck out looking. WHITELEY
grounded out to 1b unassisted. QUIOCHO flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 2nd - MARQUEZ grounded out to 3b, bunt. SIDOTI struck
out swinging. HOLLINGSHEAD walked. MCDONALD flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 2nd - SNOW homered, RBI. RAMIREZ singled. NORTON
out at first p to 2b, SAC, bunt; RAMIREZ advanced to second. URINCHO singled;
RAMIREZ advanced to third. HOCH struck out swinging. URINCHO out at first c to
2b to 1b, caught stealing. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 3rd - KULICK struck out looking. KNUDSEN walked. KNUDSEN
stole second. WELLS popped up to p. OWENS flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 3rd - GONZALES walked. NIX-CLARK struck out
swinging. WHITELEY singled; GONZALES advanced to second. QUIOCHO singled;
WHITELEY advanced to second; GONZALES advanced to third. SNOW struck out
swinging. RAMIREZ doubled, 3 RBI; QUIOCHO scored; WHITELEY scored; GONZALES
scored. NORTON struck out swinging. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 4th - ALNES singled. ALNES stole second. MARQUEZ popped
up to 2b. SIDOTI singled, advanced to second on the throw; ALNES advanced to
third. HOLLINGSHEAD reached on a fielder's choice; SIDOTI advanced to third;
ALNES out at home p to c. MCDONALD singled, RBI; HOLLINGSHEAD advanced to
second; SIDOTI scored. ERICKSON pinch ran for HOLLINGSHEAD. KULICK singled,
RBI; MCDONALD advanced to second; ERICKSON scored. QUICHOCHO pinch ran for
MCDONALD. KNUDSEN singled, RBI; KULICK advanced to second, advanced to third on
the throw; QUICHOCHO scored. KNUDSEN out at second c to ss, caught stealing.
3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 4th - MCDONALD to c for QUICHOCHO. OWENS to 1b.
ROSS to p for PORTUGAL. URINCHO popped up to 1b. HOCH grounded out to 1b
unassisted. GONZALES grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
San Diego State 5th - URINCHO to dp for RAMIREZ. RAMIREZ to 1b for
URINCHO. WELLS walked. GWYN to p for ZINANTI. OWENS struck out swinging; WELLS
stole second. ALNES out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt; WELLS advanced to third.
MARQUEZ grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 5th - NIX-CLARK popped up to 1b. WHITELEY walked.
QUIOCHO struck out swinging. WHITELEY stole second. SNOW flied out to rf. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 6th - RAMIREZ to dp for URINCHO. URINCHO to 1b for
RAMIREZ. HOLLINGSHEAD to dp for ERICKSON. SIDOTI flied out to lf. HOLLINGSHEAD
grounded out to ss. MCDONALD walked. KULICK struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univer 6th - RAMIREZ grounded out to 3b. NORTON struck out
swinging. URINCHO singled. ANDERSON pinch ran for URINCHO. HOCH doubled,
advanced to third on the throw, RBI; ANDERSON scored. GONZALES grounded out to
2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
San Diego State 7th - URINCHO to 1b for ANDERSON. KNUDSEN struck out
looking. WELLS grounded out to ss. OWENS grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.