ST. GEORGE, Utah — Hailey Morrow drove in the winning run as BYU softball rallied to beat Idaho State, 4-3 in its final game of the Trailblazer Tournament at Karl Brooks Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars faced a 3-0 deficit through three innings, coming from behind to tie the game in the fifth and take the lead in the seventh.
Player Highlights
- Kaysen Korth: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K
- Hailey Morrow: 1-3, RBI
- Mallory Barber: 1-4, RBI
- Jaelynn Lambert: 0-3, 2 RBI
Idaho State struck first, leading off the bottom of the second with a single, and getting another runner on via a hit batter. The Bengals then hit out a 3-run homer to take an early lead.
BYU got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning, with Breezy Hayward being hit by a pitch and both Violet Zavodnik and Jaelynn Lambert reaching on back-to-back ISU errors.
Lexie Bennett, pinch running for Hayward, and Zavodnik were both able to score on Lambert’s play with the ball rolling all the way to the outfield fence, making it 3-2, Idaho State.
The Cougars tied things up in the top of the fifth, with Ailana Agbayani singling and Hailey Morrow drawing a walk. Mallory Barber then singled through the left side to score Agbayani and even the game at 3-3.
In the seventh inning, Maddie Bejarano drew a two-out walk, bringing up Morrow. The freshman catcher sent a 1-0 pitch ricocheting off the Bengal third baseman’s glove down the left field line, allowing Bejarano to slide in and score just under the tag at the plate to put BYU in front at 4-3, its first lead of the game.
The Cougars lead would hold up in the bottom of the seventh, with two Idaho State strikeouts and a groundout finishing off the 4-3 BYU win and 3-1 finish at the Trailblazer Tournament.
BYU will have an 11-day break before hosting in-state rival Utah in the home opener at Gail Miller Field on Wednesday, March 15. The game will be televised on BYUtv and streamed on the BYUtv app.