STANFORD, Calif. – Katie Manuma, Gordy Bravo and Ashlee Robinson combined to lead the Cougars but were unable to comeback, losing 3-5 against No. 17/22 Stanford on Thursday.
“Overall we played a quality game,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We just didn’t get the timely hits we needed and one inning their speed created some defensive miscues for us.”
Manuma, Bravo and Robinson all hit .500 for the Cougars (7-11) and were all involved in scoring the three BYU runs. Tori Almond (0-2) went five innings with five strikeouts and allowed just three earned runs.
After two scoreless innings, Stanford (18-5) got on the board first with a couple of singles and a double to take the 2-0 lead over BYU.
Manuma and McKenzie St. Clair singled to start the fourth inning but couldn’t advance any further. Stanford then took advantage of two BYU errors in the bottom of the frame to score its third run of the game and a wild pitch to get its fourth.
The Cougars mounted a comeback in the top of the fifth after a Robinson double; Lauren Bell walked and Bravo singled to third to load the bases. Ashley Thompson walked to bring Robinson in and Bell scored on a wild pitch. Manuma then singled up the middle to score another and cut the Cardinal’s lead to 4-3. Stanford answered scoring one in the bottom of the inning on a double to right-center to make it 5-3 in its favor.
BYU threatened again in the sixth after Robinson walked and Bravo singled, but it could not cross a runner and Stanford closed the Cougars out in the seventh to secure the win.
BYU returns to action tomorrow against Portland State at 10 a.m. PST before taking on North Dakota State at 12:15 p.m. PST.