SEATTLE – No. 12 seed Washington overpowered BYU softball on their way to a 9-0 victory on Friday afternoon ending the Cougars' 16 game winning streak.
“It was a bad day,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “Washington is an excellent team. They deserve a lot of credit for taking care of us the way they did, but we had a little to do with that too. We didn’t play how we are capable of playing.”
McKenna Bull came into the game and pitched 4.1 innings, striking out eight. McKenzie St. Clair and Katie Manuma each finished 1-for-2 and Ashley Thompson drew two walks.
Washington jumped out to a quick lead putting runners on first and second with one out. A single down the left field line brought in one and a two-out home run to left-center field made it 4-0 in favor of the Huskies and chased starter Tori Almond from the game.
Bull struck out two in the top of the second and retired the side. In the bottom of the inning, Manuma singled to lead things off and Thompson walked to move her into scoring position. Bryanna Walker of Washington retired the next three batters to end the threat.
In the top of the third, a bloop single fell in right field and a walk put runners on first and second with one out. Washington catcher Dani Braun doubled to left center field to bring both runners around to extend the Huskies’ lead to 6-0.
Washington added three more in the fourth, scoring a runner from first with a double to left center and a two-run home run to center field to make it 9-0. Thompson walked again and a two-out single by St. Clair put runners on first and second, but the Huskies got out of the jam yet again to keep BYU off the board.
The Cougars will take the field again tonight at 6 p.m. PDT against the winner Northwestern and Iona.