BYU’s softball team secured a 5-4 victory over Long Beach State on Friday evening at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, held at Big League Dreams Complex in Cathedral City, California. The win came in the first game of a doubleheader for BYU.
The Cougars, now holding a 3-9 record overall and 0-0 in Big 12 play, took control of the game with a five-run fifth inning. This offensive surge proved crucial as Long Beach State narrowed the gap by scoring three runs across the sixth and seventh innings.
Ilove’a Brittingham played a key role for BYU, going 1-for-3 with a home run and four RBIs. Lexie Bennett contributed two hits in three at-bats, while Tristen Turlington added a double. Starting pitcher Gianna Mares earned her third win of the season after pitching six innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs while striking out six batters. Jada Villegas closed out the game to record her first save.
Long Beach State opened scoring in the third inning following a single, an error by BYU, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly caught by Hailey Shuler. Despite singles from Lily Owens and Lexie Bennett in the bottom half of that inning, BYU could not score.
In the fifth inning, after walks to Miranda Mansfield and Owens and another single from Bennett prompted an LBSU pitching change, Hailey Morrow reached on a fielder’s choice that brought Mansfield home. Brittingham then hit a grand slam to right center field on her second pitch of the at-bat, giving BYU a 5-1 lead.
Long Beach State responded with one run in the sixth inning through two singles, a stolen base, and another sacrifice fly. In their final opportunity during the seventh inning, Long Beach State managed three consecutive singles to score once more before Villegas replaced Mares on the mound. An obstruction call allowed another run to score for LBSU before BYU secured two groundouts to end the game.
With this result, Mares improved her record to 3-1 while Villegas collected her first save of the year.
BYU will complete its Friday doubleheader against Auburn later that evening at 8 p.m. PT on FloCollege.
