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Cougars Split Final Two in Houston BYU moves to 7-6 on the year.
March 1, 2004
HOUSTON - BYU split its final two games with a close 2-1 loss to Mississippi State, but ended the tournament on a high note with a sweet 10-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday. With the split the Cougars are now 7-6 on the year. In game one, MSU played great defense to hold the Cougars scoreless until the final inning of play. Sophomore Ashlyn Russell hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to give BYU its only run of the game. A run in the top of the second inning and another in the top of the fifth were all the Bulldogs needed to get the 2-1 win over the Cougars. Russell's homer, Debbie Dodds' single, Jodi Norton's double and two singles from Paige Paramore contributed to the five BYU hits in the game.
Both pitchers pitched complete seven inning games. BYU sophomore Brooke Boyce (2-3) obtained the loss and MSU's Melissa Massey (6-3) got the win.
In game two, BYU rebounded to have a great offensive game against Pittsburgh and leave the tournament on a high note. The Cougars scored 10 runs off of 12 hits in the game to mark the most runs the team has scored in a game so far. The Cougars jumped out to an early three run lead in the first. Krystle Chamberlain started the inning off with a single to left field and Belinda Osborn followed with a single to shortstop. Paramore made it to first after being hit by a pitch which loaded bases for Ianeta Le`i who's single to centerfield scored Chamberlain. With runners on second and third, Russell reached on a fielder's choice to put Osborn out at home. Norton hit another double to score Paramore and Le`i. Pittsburg scored a run in the bottom of the first, but Chamberlain matched the run in the top of the second to put the Cougars up by three. With the momentum, BYU continued to hit the ball well and put four additional runs up in the top of the third. Le`i reached base on a walk, teammate Russell singled to centerfield, and Kate Walker hit a sacrifice hit to advance Le`i to third and Russell to second. Norton came through big again for BYU with her third double of the day to score Le`i and Russell, after then stealing third base on the Panthers. Dodds was walked and Jennifer Whiteley singled to score Norton. Lauren Watson grounded out to second but advanced Whiteley to second and Dodds to third on the play. Osborn was walked and then Paramore kept it going with a single to score Dodds. With three runners still on base, the inning was ended on a pop fly to centerfield. The Cougars would tally up two more runs in the top of the fifth with hits from Carli Jones and Le`i. The Panthers were only able to gather one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars ran away with the 10-2 win. BYU's Niki Andersen (4-2) got the win after striking out four of the 12 batters she faced in three innings of play. Ariel Capra came in for Andersen to pitch the final two innings for the Cougars. BYU will have time to rest up for its next appearance at the New Mexico State Invitational. The Cougars will match up with Marist, St. Peter's, New Mexico State, Drake and UTEP on March 12-13 in Las Cruces, N.M. |
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