SEATTLE – An all-around team effort helped BYU hold Northwestern’s potent offense at bay on the way to a 7-2 victory on Thursday.

“It always feels good to win in the NCAA tournament,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “I would call that the consummate team win. Everybody contributed and we played all three aspects of the game: pitching, defense and hitting.”

Senior Katie Manuma, sophomore Gordy Bravo and freshman Lauren Bell each had two hits, a run and an RBI for the Cougars. Tori Almond (11-6) earned the victory going 4.2 innings with three strike outs and allowed only two earned runs.

With the game scoreless in the fifth inning, senior Carly Duckworth singled on a bunt, freshman Sydney Broderick was hit by a pitch and Bell walked to load the bases. Bravo singled to center to bring in the game’s first run. Manuma followed with a blooper just over the glove of the shortstop to score another and Ashley Thompson walked one in to make it 3-0 in favor of the Cougars. Mercedes O’Connor capped off the scoring with a double to left field extending BYU’s lead to 5-0 heading to the bottom of the frame.

After a scoreless first inning, Manuma led off the second inning with a double to right center for the first hit of the game. The Wildcats retired the next three batters to get out of the jam. Almond retired all three Northwestern batters in the bottom of the frame including two strikeouts.

In the third, Broderick reached on an error with two outs and stole second. A single by Bell moved her over to third, but Northwestern tracked down Bravo’s hit to left-center field to end the inning. The Wildcats got their first hit of the game in the bottom of the third with a blooper to center field that a diving Duckworth could not hold on to.

McKenzie St. Clair hit a two-out triple to left-center field in the fourth, but a pop-up to the first baseman left her stranded. St. Clair made an impressive defensive stop on the right hole and flipped the ball to first and Duckworth made a diving catch in center to strand a runner at second in the bottom of the frame.

Northwestern put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and leadoff hitter Emily Allard doubled to right center to cut the lead to 5-2. Ashlee Robinson made a leaping grab on a line drive down the third-base line to leave the runner stranded at third.

Robinson followed her spectacular defensive play with a double off the left-field wall to lead off the sixth. Broderick walked and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Bell singled through the left side to score Lacey Millett Hofstedt, who entered as a pinch runner for Robinson. Bravo then singled on a perfectly placed bunt to load the bases. A fielding error by the catcher on the next at bat allowed Broderick to score and make it 7-2 in favor of the Cougars heading to the final six defensive outs.

McKenna Bull held the Wildcats scoreless in the final two innings and struck out two in the seventh including the last batter to seal the game and earn the save.

BYU returns to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. PST to take on the winner of No. 12 Washington and Iona. Broadcast plans will be posted on BYUCougars.com when they become available.

SEATTLE – Seniors Tori Almond, Carly Duckworth and Katie Manuma will play in their last NCAA Regional round where they played their first as freshmen--in Washington.

BYU made it to the championship game against Washington three years ago, but was unable to overcome the Huskies to move on to the super regionals.

The Cougars will open play against Northwestern on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. PDT at Husky Softball Stadium. A full tournament schedule can be found at GoHuskies.com.

BYU (33-21, 12-2 WCC)
The Cougars won the inaugural West Coast Conference Championship after finishing the regular season on a 15-game winning streak. They finished No. 51 nationally in scoring offense at 5.50 runs per game and No. 70 with 0.85 home runs per game.

They are led by WCC Co-Freshman of the Year Sydney Broderick with a .365 average, six home runs and 31 RBI. Senior Katie Manuma's bat came alive to end the season hitting six home runs in the final four weeks of the season. She set career highs with 12 home runs and 49 RBI.

Almond was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week after coming off an illness to lead BYU to two wins over Saint Mary's. She finished with a 2.14 ERA, tied with Summer Tobias for the second-best ERA in a season at BYU. Freshman McKenna Bull was named to the All-WCC Second Team and finished the season with a 3.04 ERA and 191 strikeouts.

Northwestern (33-16, 14-9 Big Ten)
Northwestern finished the season at 33-16 with wins over Minnesota, Nebraska and Washington during the year. The Wildcats have the No. 11 scoring offense in the country, averaging 6.59 runs per game. They also have the No. 9 batting average in the country at .332.

They are led from the plate by sophomore Brianna LeBeau with a .394 batting average, 10 home runs and 39 RBI. Senior Marisa Bast is the top RBI hitter on the team with 51 on the season to go along with eight home runs.

Sophomore RHP Kristen Wood is the ace in the circle for Northwestern with an 18-9 record, 3.55 ERA and 215 strikeouts.

Washington (33-13, 13-9 Pac 12)
Washington finished the season ranked in the top 10 by both major polls. The Huskies finished fifth in the Pac 12 standings and swept Cal in the final regular season series.

Senior Victoria Hayward leads the Huskies with a .424 batting average to go along with 22 RBI. Junior Kylee Lahners is the power hitter for the Huskies, leading the team with 17 home runs and 59 RBI.

Senior Bryanna Walker leads the team in the circle with an 18-8 record and a 1.68 ERA, while striking out 139. Senior Kaitlin Inglesby is second in the rotation with a 13-4 record, a 2.06 ERA and 111 strike outs.

Iona (24-22, 14-6 MAAC)
Iona claimed its fourth Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship in the last five years. The Gaels had the No. 24 batting average in the country at .316 and the No. 39 scoring offense averaging 5.65 runs per game.

Senior Eileen McCann leads the team with a .416 batting average, while freshman Kristin Turner leads the team with 11 home runs and 52 RBI.

The Gaels utilize junior RHP Carly Argyle, sophomore RHP Jordan Courage and freshman RHP Sarah McMahon in the circle. As a pitching staff, they maintain a 4.15 ERA with 202 strikeouts.