PROVO -- BYU softball remained perfect at home and in Mountain West Conference play with a 5-2 victory over UNLV Saturday at Gail Miller Field. The Cougars — who have won 13 straight — are now 32-14 overall and 7-0 at home and in the MWC while the Rebels fall to 25-17 overall and 2-6 in league action.
"It's great to continue to put complete games together," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We got ourselves into trouble with bases on balls, but we worked our way out of jams as the runs continued to come."
Paige Affleck pitched a complete-game, two-hitter for BYU with nine strikeouts — placing her third all-time in school history for career strikeouts with 290. Andrea Ramirez got things done at the plate with a 3-for-3, three-RBI performance. With two doubles Ramirez moves into second in school history for career doubles with 39. Her three RBIs give her 109 for her career, good for ninth all-time
After Affleck opened the game by striking out the side the Cougars scored in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. Messerschmidt doubled with one out for BYU and later scored on a single by Ramirez.
Affleck needed just eight pitches to take care of the Rebels in the second inning and the Cougars manufactured a run to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Stephanie Hopkins led off by reaching first on an error by UNLV short stop Jaci Hull. Hopkins advanced to second on a Krista Hicks walk and later scored on a Kristi Delahoussaye ground out.
The Rebels threatened in the fourth as Affleck walked the first two batters of the inning. Hull and Brittany Bollinger advanced to second and third, respectively, on a ground out to first. Bollinger tried to score on a fielder’s choice but Cougar short stop Hicks threw her out at home. Affleck struck out the next batter to end the inning.
BYU used two hits in the fourth to add another run and make the score 3-0. Hicks singled and was later thrown out at second on a Monica Gonzales groundout. Delahoussaye hit a ball deep to right field to score Gonzales from first. The inning ended when Delahoussaye was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple.
Ramirez came through with runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth, stroking a double to right-center for her second and third RBIs of the day to give the Cougars a 5-0 advantage.
The Rebels ended the shutout and the no-hit bid in the sixth when Kendall Fearn hit a double down the leftfield line to score Hull from first, who reached on a walk. Affleck got two of the next three batters to ground out to end the inning. UNLV added another run in the seventh on a Brittany Bolinger groundout.
BYU scored five runs on five hits and had no errors while the Rebels had two runs on two hits and had one error.
The Cougars return to action on Thursday, April 23, with a home doubleheader against cross-town foe Utah Valley. The first game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Gail Miller Field.
Notes
With a single in the fourth inning freshman Krista Hicks extended her career-best hitting streak to seven games ... Hicks reached base in all three of her at-bats — all of which went to a full count — with a walk, a hit and being hit by a pitch ... Paige Affleck bid for a shutout and no-hitter was broken up with one out in the sixth when Kendall Fearn hit a double to score Jaci Hull ... Affleck recorded nine strikeouts, including three in the first and three in the third ... BYU improved to 7-0 in the MWC and at home with the win ... the Cougars are now 27-3 when scoring first ... Andrea Ramirez went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, her team-leading fifth three-hit game this season and 18th multi-hit game of the year, tied for the team lead ... Ramirez has recorded three RBIs on four occasions and has 13 multi-RBI games this season ... BYU has won 13-straight games and 16 of 17 ... at 7-0 at home this season the Cougars have won 11-straight at home dating back to last season.
Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
UNLV Rebels at Brigham Young Univ.
Apr 18, 2009 at PROVO, Utah (Miller Park)
UNLV Rebels 2 (32-14,7-0 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
NICHOLS, Marissa dp...... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
BOLINGER, Brittany cf.... 3 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0
HULL, Jaci ss............ 2 1 0 0 2 2 1 3 1
FEARN, Kendall 1b........ 2 0 1 1 0 0 7 0 0
FARLEY, Chey pr......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HOLLAND, Ashli 2b........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0
DE LA TORRE, Alyssia rf.. 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
CUICO, Korin rf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FATA, Elena 3b........... 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 2
BERNARDI, Bri c.......... 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 1 0
SANCHEZ, Stefani pr..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BRIONES, Laura c........ 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
BENDT, Tara lf........... 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
O'CONNOR, Jessica p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
BREGANTE, Stephanie p... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 21 2 2 2 6 9 18 11 7
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (25-17,2-6 MWC)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b.. 4 0 1 2 0 1 0 3 0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dp.. 3 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
QUIOCHO, Angeline cf..... 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
PURCELL, Jessica c....... 1 1 0 0 2 0 9 1 0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b....... 3 0 3 3 0 0 11 0 0
LOPEZ, Coreen 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
HOPKINS, Stephanie rf.... 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
HICKS, Krista ss......... 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 0
NIX-THOMAS, Whitney pr.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GONZALES, Monica lf...... 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
AFFLECK, Paige p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 21 5 7 5 4 2 21 11 6
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
UNLV Rebels......... 000 001 1 - 2 2 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 110 120 X - 5 7 0
-----------------------------------------
E - HULL(16). LOB - LV 7; Cougars 6. 2B - FEARN(9); DELAHOUSSAYE(4);
MESSERSCHMID(3); RAMIREZ 2(14). HBP - CUICO; HICKS. SH - FEARN(4); BENDT,
T.(2); QUIOCHO(5); GONZALES 2(3). SB - SANCHEZ(2). CS - QUIOCHO(2).
UNLV Rebels IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
O'CONNOR, Jessica... 4.1 7 5 4 4 2 17 23 87
BREGANTE, Stephanie. 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 4 6 28
Brigham Young Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
AFFLECK, Paige...... 7.0 2 2 2 6 9 21 30 110
Win - AFFLECK (15-7). Loss - O'CONNOR (9-6). Save - None.
WP - AFFLECK(9). HBP - by AFFLECK (CUICO); by BREGANTE (HICKS). Pitches/strikes:
O'CONNOR 87/47; BREGANTE 28/15; AFFLECK 110/62.
Umpires - HP: Ray Meibos 1B: Willie Newman 3B: Jack Krauser
Start: 2:07 Time: 1:59 Attendance: 322
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 54 degrees
Game: livegame
Play-by-Play
The Automated ScoreBook
UNLV Rebels at Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
Apr 18, 2009 at PROVO, Utah (Miller Park)
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
UNLV Rebels......... 000 001 1 - 2 2 1
Brigham Young Univ.. 110 120 X - 5 7 0
-----------------------------------------
UNLV Rebels starters: 23/dp NICHOLS; 18/cf BOLINGER; 21/ss HULL; 37/1b FEARN;
7/2b HOLLAND; 30/rf DE LA TORRE; 9/3b FATA; 11/c BERNARDI; 3/lf BENDT, T.; 1/p
O'CONNOR;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dp MESSERSCHMID; 33/cf
QUIOCHO; 10/c PURCELL; 31/1b RAMIREZ; 7/3b LOPEZ; 5/rf HOPKINS; 22/ss HICKS;
24/lf GONZALES; 12/p AFFLECK;
UNLV Rebels 1st - NICHOLS struck out swinging (3-2). BOLINGER struck out
swinging (0-2). HULL struck out swinging (2-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE struck out looking (0-2).
MESSERSCHMID doubled down the lf line (3-2). QUIOCHO struck out looking (1-2).
PURCELL walked (3-1). RAMIREZ singled up the middle, RBI (3-1); PURCELL
advanced to second; MESSERSCHMID scored. LOPEZ grounded out to 1b unassisted
(3-2). 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV Rebels 2nd - FEARN grounded out to 3b (3-1). HOLLAND flied out to
rf (0-0). DE LA TORRE grounded out to p (2-1). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - HOPKINS reached on an error by ss (1-1). HICKS
walked (3-2); HOPKINS advanced to second. GONZALES out at first 3b to 2b, SAC
(0-1); HICKS advanced to second; HOPKINS advanced to third. DELAHOUSSAYE
grounded out to ss, RBI (2-1); HICKS advanced to third; HOPKINS scored,
unearned. MESSERSCHMID lined out to 3b (2-2). 1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
UNLV Rebels 3rd - FATA struck out swinging (1-2). BERNARDI walked (3-2).
SANCHEZ pinch ran for BERNARDI. BENDT, T. struck out swinging (1-2). SANCHEZ
stole second. NICHOLS struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - BERNARDI to c for SANCHEZ. QUIOCHO singled to
right field (0-0). QUIOCHO out at second c to ss, caught stealing. PURCELL
grounded out to 2b (3-1). RAMIREZ doubled to right field (1-1). LOPEZ grounded
out to 2b (1-1). 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV Rebels 4th - BOLINGER walked (3-1). HULL walked (3-2); BOLINGER
advanced to second. FEARN grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC (1-1); HULL
advanced to second; BOLINGER advanced to third. HOLLAND reached on a fielder's
choice (2-1); HULL advanced to third; BOLINGER out at home ss to c. DE LA TORRE
struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b (0-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - CUICO to rf for DE LA TORRE. HOPKINS flied out
to lf (0-0). HICKS singled through the left side (3-2). GONZALES reached on a
fielder's choice (0-0); HICKS out at second ss to 2b. DELAHOUSSAYE doubled, out
at third rf to 2b to 3b, RBI; GONZALES scored. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
UNLV Rebels 5th - FATA walked (3-1). BERNARDI struck out swinging (0-2).
BENDT, T. grounded out to 1b unassisted, SAC (0-0); FATA advanced to second.
FATA advanced to third on a wild pitch. NICHOLS grounded out to 2b (3-2). 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - MESSERSCHMID walked (3-1). QUIOCHO out at
first p to 2b, SAC (0-0); MESSERSCHMID advanced to second. PURCELL
intentionally walked (3-0). RAMIREZ doubled to right center, 2 RBI (1-0);
PURCELL scored; MESSERSCHMID scored. BREGANTE to p for O'CONNOR. LOPEZ fouled
out to 1b (2-1). HOPKINS popped up to 3b. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
UNLV Rebels 6th - BOLINGER grounded out to ss (1-2). HULL walked (3-1).
FEARN doubled down the lf line, RBI (1-0); HULL scored. FARLEY pinch ran for
FEARN. HOLLAND grounded out to ss (0-0). CUICO hit by pitch (2-2). FATA
grounded out to 2b (1-0). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - FEARN to 1b for FARLEY. HICKS hit by pitch
(3-2). NIX-THOMAS pinch ran for HICKS. GONZALES out at first p to 2b, SAC
(1-0); NIX-THOMAS advanced to second. DELAHOUSSAYE lined out to 1b (3-2).
MESSERSCHMID grounded out to ss (3-2). 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV Rebels 7th - HICKS to ss for NIX-THOMAS. BRIONES to c for BERNARDI.
BRIONES walked (3-2). BENDT, T. singled, bunt (1-1); BRIONES advanced to
second. NICHOLS grounded out to ss (0-1); BENDT, T. advanced to second; BRIONES
advanced to third. BOLINGER out at first p to 2b to 1b, RBI (0-0); BENDT, T.
advanced to third; BRIONES scored. HULL struck out looking (0-2). 1 run, 1