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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- A three-run home run from Angeline Quiocho gave the BYU softball team all the offense they needed at the NCAA Chapel Hill regional in a 3-0 shutout victory over No. 13 North Carolina.
Quiocho's offensive performance -- including her sixthi-inning homer -- was complimented by BYU hurler Christina Gwyn-Trice's complete-game outing. She gave up five hits and struck out three North Carolina batters.
"We played great defense, Christina Gwyn-Trice pitched a solid game and our hitters were able to make the adjustments to (Danielle) Spaulding, who threw a great game," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "I knew if we kept competing we would eventually break through. Our girls did a tremendous job today."
North Carolina's southpaw, Spaulding, had a strong hold of BYU's offense and allowed only four hits and struck out 14 BYU batters.
After perfect first innings from both sides, senior Daniela Snow led off the second with a free ride to first when she was hit by the pitch, giving BYU (43-18) its first base runner.
Snow made the stretch from first to third when a fielding error gave Caschjen Davis two bases. With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Spaulding got her fifth strikeout of the afternoon to retire the side without allowing a run.
After throwing two perfect innings, Gwyn-Trice allowed a leadoff single and the runner was advanced on a sacrifice bunt.
The score remained at a 0-0 deadlock until the top of the sixth inning. Monica Gonzales singled off of a bunt and stole second. Snow reached first on a walk to put two runners on base. Then Quiocho hit a bomb over the centerfield fence to score the only three runs of the game. Quiocho leads the team with 18 homers.
BYU held their lead and squashed North Carolina's scoring opportunity in the seventh inning with a double play to win the game.
The Cougars will face No. 23 Georgia today at 1 p.m. at Anderson Stadium in Chapel Hill.
The winner of the double-elimination Regional will advance to the NCAA Super Regional. All of the action from the Chapel Hill Regional is available via livestats at www.byucougars.com.
• BYU track: At Fort Worth, Texas, looking to win its 11th straight outdoor conference title, the BYU men's track team got off to an early start, racking up a one-two-three finish in the decathlon at the Mountain West Conference Championships.
Junior Justin Palmer won the decathlon title with a season-best 7,054 points. Freshman Chase Dalton finished second with 6,982 points and freshman Jordan Calderwood set a personal best by over 400 points with 6,650 points.
"This is the best we've ever done in this event -- a one, two, three finish," BYU head men's coach Mark Robison said. "This is a great way to start. Holy cow, to score 24 points right out of the gate really sets the tone. I don't think I could have asked for anything more."
Palmer's championship in the decathlon marks the first time since 2004 a BYU athlete has won the decathlon title. Curtis Pugsley won the decathlon title in both 2003 and 2004.
All totaled, the Cougars won seven of the 10 events over the two-day competition, including the high jump, the javelin and the discus, all on Thursday.
In the women's competition, freshman Chelsi Petersen finished in seventh place overall to give the Cougars two team points. Peterson, a native of St. George, finished the day's competition with a personal-best 2:29.64 in the 800 meters, earning 4,883 points over seven events.
"Chelsi did a good job for us over the past two days," BYU head women's coach Craig Poole said. "The beautiful thing about her performance is she did well in her weak events and could have done better in her stronger events. So, she has a very bright future ahead of her.
On the men's side, BYU picked up an additional eight team points Thursday evening after sophomore Leif Arrhenius was credited with a regional qualifying toss of 198 feet, 2 innches in the hammer throw to finish second behind Colorado State's Alex Godell.
BYU currently leads the men's field with 32 points, followed by Colorado State (20), Air Force (19) and Wyoming (7). On the women's side, Colorado State is ahead with 15 points, with New Mexico trailing at 10. San Diego State (9), TCU (3) and BYU (2) are third, fourth and fifth, respectively, heading into Day 3.
Competition continues today, starting with the women's 10,000-meter run at 6:30 a.m. MT. |
