Provo, Utah-The BYU softball team came back from six runs down against Salt Lake Community College Friday at Gail Miller Field to tie the Bruins 7-7 in the BYU fall tournament debut.
SLCC struck first in the top of the first, scoring on a wild pitch to grab a one-run lead. The Bruins added to their lead in the second with a lead-off homerun and then used timely hitting and walks to plate four more runs for a comfortable 6-0 lead.
BYU struck back in the second and loaded the bases for Coryn Tauali’i who earned a walk to bring in the first Cougar run of the game. With bases still loaded, Jenna Goar stepped up to the plate and drove the ball to left field for an RBI single to bring the score to 6-2.
SLCC earned back one run right away on another homerun to lead off the third, but BYU’s defense held strong to shut down the next three Bruins.
In the bottom of the third, a walk by Bailie Hicken and a single by Marissa Bravo set up Katie Manuma for a three-run homerun to cut the Bruin lead to two.
BYU continued to chip away at the SLCC lead in the bottom of the fourth and converted on three singles to tie the game at 7-7.
BYU answered on defense to shut down the first three Bruin batters in the fifth, with two strikeouts from Hannah Howell. BYU recorded six-straight outs through the sixth and the seventh to hold the score to 7-7.
In the bottom of the inning, Hicken earned her second hit of the night to put a runner on base for the Cougars and Manuma followed suit with a walk. The Cougars, however, couldn’t bring a runner in and the game ended in a 7-7 tie.
BYU will play Colorado Northwestern and Southern Utah at home Saturday at 11 a.m. MDT and 4:30 p.m. MDT, respectively.