OKLAHOMA CITY — No. 6-seed BYU softball dropped a 4-2 contest to No. 3-seed Iowa State in the quarterfinal of the Big 12 Championship at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park on Thursday night.
The Cougars (32-17, 13-11 Big 12) took an early lead on an Aleia Agbayani home run, but gave up runs in the third, fourth and fifth frames, including two Cyclone home runs of their own, that put them in a deficit they were unable to come back from.
BYU recorded six hits to Iowa State’s seven, and also left six runners on base to the Cyclones’ seven, but tallied two errors to ISU’s one.
Player Highlights
- Aleia Agbayani: 2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
- Lindy Milkowski: 2-3
- Kate Dahle (L, 8-6): 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, K
- Jada Villegas: 2 IP, 1 H, 3K
After a leadoff Lily Owens walk and Hailey Morrow sacrifice bunt to open the game, BYU grounded and fouled out, leaving Owens at second.
Iowa State put runners on the corners with two outs on consecutive singles before starter Kate Dahle got out of the jam with a swinging strikeout.
The Cougars got on the board in the second inning with Agbayani sending a homer to right center, her second long bomb in as many nights.
Dahle worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second, closing the inning out by snagging a comeback up the middle.
Morrow beat out an infield single with two outs in the third, but a groundout would end the attack.
The Cyclones tied things up in the bottom of the third, stringing together a single and a walk while using two BYU fielding errors to plate a run before BYU got out of the bases loaded jam with a 6-4-3 double play.
Lindy Milkowski led off the top of the fourth with a single to third, but a trio of outs left her pinch runner stranded at first.
Iowa State took a two-run lead in the home half, singling through the left side before a two-run homer to left center, putting it ahead 3-1.
Owens drew a two-out hit by pitch in the fifth, but a foul out the next batter left the Cougars’ fourth runner of the night stranded.
A solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth then gave the Cyclones a 4-1 advantage.
BYU got a run back in the sixth with Milkowski singling, Keila Kamoku reaching on a fielder’s choice and moving to second on a wild pitch before Agbayani doubled into the left center gap to make it 4-2, ISU.
Iowa State put two in scoring position in the bottom of the frame before Villegas, who came on in relief in the fifth, got out of the jam with a line out.
The Cougars put the tying runner at the plate after Miranda Mansfield slapped a single into center and advanced to second on a fielding error, but a fly out and line out on three pitches doomed the potential comeback, 4-2.
On Deck
BYU will now await its postseason fate, with the NCAA Selection Show slated for Sunday, May 11 at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN2.