PROVO, Utah – Sophomore pitcher McKenna Bull earned a single-season record 33rd win as BYU softball took the final game of the series 8-0 in five innings against cross-county foe Utah Valley Tuesday night at Gail Miller Field.
"Thirty-three wins in one season is phenomenal," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "McKenna's had a terrific year; she's been the cornerstone of our team. We've worked her every weekend really hard and she's held up well. Sydney Broderick had a huge home run in the first to set the tone for this game tonight. We're going to miss playing here at home for the rest of the season. This is a great environment to play in."
Bull threw her 27th complete game of the season while breaking the tie with former Cougar pitcher Paige Affleck for most wins in a single season. The Ogden, Utah, native held the Wolverines to just one hit in the game while striking out eight and pitching her eighth shutout of the year.
"It feels good," Bull said of the outing. "It was double sweet that I did get the record and that I also got to pitch a good game against a team I had struggled against early on in the season."
Broderick went 1-for-3 with three RBI while Gordy Bravo and Lauren Bell each went 1-for-2 with two RBI in the win.
UVU (16-39) started out the first inning strong with a double from Morgan Smith. The Wolverines couldn't capitalize, however, ending the inning with two runners on base after Bull's second-straight strikeout.
With runners on second and third in the bottom of the first, Broderick homered to center field to give BYU (38-10) a 3-0 edge early on. It was her seventh home run of the season.
Bull then retired UVU's batters in order during the second, third and fourth innings.
Bravo collected an RBI with a single straight up the middle before a double from Bell scored two more Cougar runners. Megan Arnold followed by doubling to left field, allowing Bell to score a run and increasing the advantage to 7-0.
With the bases loaded for BYU in the bottom of the fifth, Caitlyn Larsen scored the final run on Bravo's walk-off sacrifice fly, ending the game early.
The Cougars return to conference play Friday at Loyola Marymount in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. PDT. The game will be streamed live on TheW.tv. Links to live stats and the video feed can be found on the BYU softball schedule page.