PROVO, Utah — No. 20 BYU women’s softball extends its win streak to 16 games as McKenna Bull and the Cougars topped Grand Canyon 6-0 on Wednesday night at Gail Miller Field.
“Coming into the game we had been playing well,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We are a confident team right now, and I thought we played that way throughout this game.”
The Cougars' (37-10, 9-0 West Coast Conference) current 16-game winning streak ties for the longest streak in BYU softball history. BYU also had 16-game win streaks in 2007, 2009 and 2014.
Bull pitched a complete game for the Cougars, her 20th of the season. The senior has now pitched 43.2–straight scoreless innings. Bull struck out nine on Wednesday. Solid pitching and defense held the Lopes (36-18, 11-4 WAC) to just two hits in seven innings of play.
Briielle Breland led BYU in hitting, recording three RBI and going 2 for 3 from the plate with a home run. Libby Sugg tallied two RBI in the win on a home run, her 11th of the season.
BYU vs. Grand Canyon Box Score
Lexi Tarrow recorded the Cougars’ first hit as the sophomore reached first base on a hit up the left field line. Sugg then homered over the center field fence to give BYU the early 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning.
After two consecutive scoreless innings from both teams, the Cougars scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. A ground out to second by Alexa Strid scored Ashley Thompson from third to give BYU the 3-0 lead. Breland then singled to right and advanced to second on an error to score Caitlyn Larsen Alldredge. With Breland’s RBI, the Cougars claimed the 4-0 lead through four complete innings.
Bull retired three-straight batters in the top of the sixth, throwing just seven pitches.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cougars increased their lead to six, 6-0. After Thompson reached base on a walk, Breland drilled the ball deep past the left center wall for the home run off of her former team
BYU will continue its 2017 campaign as the Cougars travel to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos in a three-game series on May 5-6. The first game of the series will begin at 4 p.m. PDT on Friday.