OGDEN, Utah – The pitcher-catcher duo of McKenna Bull and Sydney Broderick sparked BYU softball to an 8-0 victory over in-state opponent Weber State Tuesday afternoon.
Bull (19-5) picked up her 19th win of the season while Broderick drove in four runs, recording three or more RBI for the sixth time in her career as the Cougars (21-8) snapped the Wildcats' (22-11) seven-game win streak.
"We got back to playing good team softball today," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We were strong in all areas–pitching, defense and hitting. It was a good day."
The sophomore pitcher out of Ogden turned in a solid outing in her home town, allowing only four hits and two walks while striking out eight in five innings of work. The catcher Broderick led BYU with her four-RBI performance on 2-for-3 hitting.
Sophomores Ashley Thompson and Lauren Bell were perfect from the plate with three hits apiece. Freshman Alexa Strid also knocked in two runs with her second home run in four games.
Junior Gordy Bravo led off the game with a bloop single to shallow left. Bell and Thompson reached base with singles before Broderick’s one-out RBI-single got BYU on the board for the early 1-0 lead.
Bull then struck out four of the next seven batters over the next two frames before the Cougars opened up a flurry of scoring in the bottom of the third.
With runners on first and second, Broderick smashed a three-run homer over the center-field fence for her third of the season. Two batters later, Strid blasted her second home run of the year to tack on two more runs for the 6-0 tally.
In the bottom of the third, the Wildcats threatened with two runners on first and second, but the Cougars made their way out of the inning with two fly-outs and another Bull strikeout.
In the top of the fourth, Thompson hit the ball to the warning track in right for a double that scored Bell from first. A couple batters later, Thompson then scored from third as she stole home for the 8-0 lead heading into the bottom of the frame.
Weber State put two runners on in the bottom of the fifth, advancing them to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. Bull then struck out the next batter for her eighth of the game before Coco Tauali'i gunned the final batter out at first to end the game.
BYU next plays March 31 at 4 p.m. MDT against Utah State at Johnson Softball Field in Logan, Utah. Links to live stats, video and audio will be available on the softball schedule page.