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Cougars Finish Strong at San Diego Classic Stanford Invitational up next for Cougars.
March 23, 2004
SAN DIEGO - The BYU softball team (14-7) finished strong at the San Diego Classic with wins against UC Riverside 3-2 and Indiana 2-0 on Saturday. "Both teams (UCR, IU) played good defense and we were able to execute at the right times," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "We played good, solid softball today." In the second match up this season against UCR, BYU got an early 2-0 lead by scoring two runs off of two hits in the bottom of the first inning. With runners on second and third, Paige Paramore grounded out to third but brought in Krystle Chamberlain to score the first run of the game. Ianeta Le`i kept the offense going with a single to second base, which scored Jennifer Whiteley for the second run of the inning.
The Cougars would add another run in the bottom of the third inning off of a double from Paramore, which scored Whiteley, who tripled the play before. BYU took the three-run advantage after three innings of play.
The Highlanders rallied back to score their only two runs in the top of the fourth inning. UCR was able to capitalize on two BYU errors to score two runs off of one hit, to only trail the Cougars by a run. Both teams played tough defense to allow no runs the remainder of the game, leaving the Cougars with the 3-2 win. Veteran Niki Andersen (8-3) continued to do a great job for the Cougars picking up the win and pitching in her third game in a row. She struck out 10 of the 25 batters she faced in 7.0 innings. In the second contest against Indiana, BYU recorded its fourth shutout of the season in the 2-0 victory, with its only two runs coming in the top of the fourth inning. BYU was able to take advantage of two IU defensive errors to score two runs in the fourth. The lone hit of the game came from Paramore whose single scored Whiteley (reached on a fielding error from lf) for the first run of the game. On the play, Paramore advanced to third base off another Hoosier error, this time by the centerfielder. A sacrifice fly to right field from Ianeta Le`i then brought home Paramore who scored the second run of the game. Brooke Boyce recorded the win pitching the entire seven innings and improved her record to 4-3 on the season. 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. Le`i provided a spark for the Cougars and led the Cougars 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 Paramore each notched two doubles a piece in the tournament. For the pitching squad, Andersen stepped up to record 26 strikeouts. She went 3-1 in the tournament to post an 8-3 record. BYU won't have much time to rest up as they will compete at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. March 25-27. The Cougars will face top quality opponents including Hawai`i, Illinois, No. 10 Stanford and UC Riverside at the tournament. |
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