PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team (14-7) is off to compete at the Stanford Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 25-27.
The competition at the Stanford Classic will be tough. The Cougars will face Hawai`i (16-16), Illinois (16-9-1), UCR (8-24) and No. 10 Stanford (20-7).
The game against Illinois, a team receiving votes in the top-25 poll, will mark the first meeting in BYU softball history.
No. 10 Stanford will also be a challenging game for BYU. There will be live stats available for the Stanford vs. BYU game. By clicking on the link available on the BYU softball schedule page (www.byucougars.com/softball/), then clicking on the 2004 schedule at the top, you will be able to access the live stats on Stanford's schedule page.
In the other two games against Hawai`i and UC Riverside, the Cougars lost to Hawai`i in the season opening game 7-3 and have beat UCR twice this season 7-0, 3-2.
The Cougars are coming off the San Diego Classic. Overall on the weekend, BYU went 4-1 to improve to 14-7 on the season. The Cougars hit a combined four doubles, seven triples, two homers and stole eight bases.
BYU defeated Dartmouth 10-5, Central Connecticut State 8-0, UC Riverside 3-2 and Indiana 2-0. The Cougars lost a close one to San Diego 4-3 in the first game of the tournament in eight innings.
Ianeta Le`i provided a spark for the Cougars and led BYU offensively batting 7-14 (.500), with two triples, a stolen base and 25 defensive putouts.
Jodi Norton and Lauren Watson also hit well going 5-12 (.417) and 5-16 (.313), respectively. Norton and Paige Paramore each notched two doubles a piece in the tournament. On the year, Norton leads the team with seven and Paramore has three.
For the pitching squad, Andersen stepped up to record 26 strikeouts. She went 3-1 in the tournament to post an 8-3 record. Against Central Connecticut State, Andersen pitched solid to record her first no-hitter of her career, which marks only the second one in BYU's history.
BYU Schedule at the Stanford Classic
March 25 Hawai`i 3 p.m. PT, 4 p.m. MT
March 26 Illinois 10 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. MT
UC Riverside 2 p.m. PT, 3 p.m. MT
March 27 Stanford 4 p.m. PT, 5 p.m. MT
BYU All-Time Records vs. Opponents
Hawai`i: 0-1
Illinois: marks the first match up
UC Riverside: 2-0
Stanford: 1-2