TEMPE, Ariz. -- Coco Tauali’i and Sydney Broderick both had energizing performances Thursday in BYU’s season-opening split against Virginia and San Jose State at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. The Cougars (1-1) topped the Cavaliers (0-2) 5-4 in dramatic walkoff fashion to start the day before falling to the Spartans (1-1) 9-8 in another one-run game.

“The emotional first game with Virginia hitting a grand slam in the seventh led us to a slower start in the second game against San Jose State,” BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. “We needed to play cleaner defense and not issue as many bases on balls, and then we could have taken care of the first game easier. I was proud of them for battling back.”

Tauali’i’s walkoff double clinched the one-run win over Virginia. She finished the day going 2-for-6 with two doubles in addition to the RBI. Broderick came alive in the second game of the day, exploding with two home runs and four RBI in the one-run setback to San Jose State. It was the first multi-home run game for a BYU player since Katie Manuma did it against Tennessee last year on Feb. 27.

Several other Cougars shined on the first day of the season. Senior outfielder Lacey Hofstedt led the team in batting on the day, going 3-for-6 with one RBI and one stolen base.

Junior centerfielder Gordy Bravo and sophomore shortstop Lauren Bell both went 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored in the first game. Sophomore second baseman McKenzie St. Clair chipped in on the day with two RBI, two runs scored and two walks drawn while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Sophomore Ashley Thompson went 1-for-4 with three walks, two runs scored and one stolen base. 

Pitcher McKenna Bull threw a complete game against Virginia, allowing six hits and three earned runs while striking out nine.

Game 1

The game was scoreless for the first two innings until BYU cashed in for three runs in the bottom of the third. Bravo led off the inning with a single through the left side before advancing to second on Bell’s walk. Mercedes O’Connor then reached base on an error, loading the bases. Thompson drove in the first run for the Cougars with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Bravo.

A couple batters later BYU tacked on another with bases loaded, this time with O’Connor on second and Broderick and Bell on first and third, respectively. Senior Megan Arnold was granted first base, taking a hit by pitch, allowing Bell to come home. The second baseman St. Clair followed with an RBI of her own on a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring O’Connor.

The Cougars added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning. St. Clair singled to center to lead off, eventually advancing to third on bunts by Tauli’i and Hofstedt. Bravo then walked before Bell reached base on an error that scored St. Clair for a 4-0 lead, heading into the possible last half-inning.

In the top of the seventh, Virginia’s Megan Harris reached first on an error to lead off the inning. Two walks loaded the bases for the Cavaliers, bringing the potential game-tying run to the plate.

The next batter Allison Davis homered to left field to knot the game at four apiece. The home run was only the fifth hit given up at that point in the game by Bull.

Virginia forced a bottom-of-the-seventh situation, but BYU honed in, stringing together a sequence with two outs to clinch its first win of the season. After Broderick flied out to right and Arnold grounded out to third, St. Clair  singled to short, putting the go-ahead run on first. Third baseman Tauali’i came through in the clutch with a double to left field for the game-winning RBI, scoring St. Clair all the way from first.

Game 2

Following the emotionally charged finish from the first game of the day, the Cougars gave up three runs in the first inning to the Spartans.

BYU battled back, scoring in each of the next three innings while holding San Jose State scoreless in those frames.

The Cougars scored in the second when Thompson advanced home as St. Clair was caught stealing second base. The next inning led off with Tauali’i’s second double of the day, this time to right field. She scored next on Hofstedt’s RBI bunt-single.

BYU climbed back in front in the fourth inning beginning with Broderick’s first homer of the game after she belted one to right field. Freshman Madison Merrell then tripled to left in her second collegiate at-bat. St. Clair then came up with her second sacrifice fly on the day as she scored Merrell from third for the 4-3 Cougar lead before heading to the top of the fifth.

San Jose State rallied, scoring one on a double to left-center before taking the lead 5-4 with a bases-on-balls RBI. The Cougars were held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth before the Spartans strung together more hitting for four more runs and a 9-4 advantage.

In the bottom half of the frame, Merrell drove in O’Connor to make the score 9-5. Then San Jose State only sent three batters to the plate in the top of the seventh as BYU turned a double play and got a Spartan to strike out looking. The Cougars attempted the comeback as Broderick’s timely three-run shot to right-center put them within one. The comeback fell short as the game ended with a groundout to the pitcher.

BYU continues play in the Kajikawa Classic with two games Friday, one against New Mexico at 11:15 a.m. MST and the other against California at 2 p.m. MST. Live stats will be available on the Cal athletics website for the second game. Updates will be posted on Twitter @BYUSoftball.

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball travels to Tempe, Arizona, for the start of the 2015 season in the Kajikawa Classic beginning Thursday.

Kajikawa Classic
Feb. 5-7
Tempe Sports Complex
Tempe, Arizona

Virginia
Thursday, Feb. 5 at 4:30 p.m. MST

San Jose State
Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. MST

New Mexico
Friday, Feb. 6 at 11:15 a.m. MST

California
Friday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. MST

Cal Poly
Saturday, Feb. 7 at 9:15 a.m. MST

Results will be updated daily on the BYU Athletics website. Scoring updates for the whole tournament will be available on the Arizona State website.

BYU

Coming off it's fourth-consecutive championship in its fourth-different conference, BYU softball aims for another postseason run to extend its streak of 10-straight NCAA appearances. This will be the first time since the 2011 season that the Cougars have played in the same conference two years in a row. The Cougars have taken the conference title each year since 2009. The 2015 season welcomes back six sophomore starters led by pitcher McKenna Bull and catcher Sydney Broderick. Bull broke the BYU freshman record for strikeouts in a season (206) and is 10th all-time at BYU. Broderick hit .360 with six home runs and 31 RBI in addition to stringing together a 16-game hitting streak in 2014.

The Cougars are coached by Gordon Eakin who holds a 483-223 record entering his 13th year as head coach.

Virginia

Virginia looks to improve coming off a tough 2014 campaign in which the team went 8-43 (1-25 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Cavaliers return two seniors, two juniors and six sophomores while welcoming six freshmen. Returning contributors include Aimee Chapdelaine (8-36, 6.90 ERA, 91 SO) while Madison Labshere (.230 BA, 6 HR, 23 RBI) and Iyana Hughes (.256 BA, 12 RBI).

San Jose State

After a 30-24 season overall record and a 13-11 mark in Mountain West Conference play, San Jose State looks to compete with key players returning. Pitcher Allison Lang led the team with a 3.03 ERA and a 12-5 win-loss record with 56 strikeouts in 2014. Other pitchers Madison Fish and Katelyn Linford return after they went 8-6 and 9-12, respectively. Batting leaders include Jessie Hufstetler (.441, 5 HR, 44 RBI) and Sharon-Renae Estrada (.311, 4 HR, 34 RBI).  Michelle Cox also had a solid season, batting .342. 

New Mexico

The Mountain West’s New Mexico hopes to improve on a 16-36 (7-17 MW) 2014 season. The Lobos hope to show strides of growth as they bring back a host of pitching in Lauren Soles (6-8, 6.14 ERA, 42 SO), Carrie Sheehan (5-10, 7.00 ERA, 67 SO), Lisa Rodrigues (4-9, 7.38 ERA, 62 SO) and Tess McPherson (1-9, 12.44 ERA, 25 SO). Brandi Heimburg (.388, 1 HR, 15 RBI), McPherson (.375, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and Mariah Rimmer (.308, 4 HR, 34 RBI) come back to improve upon their 2014 seasons at the plate.

California

The Pac-12’s California was picked to finish seventh in the conference preseason poll. Following a 23-29 (4-18 Pac-12) season, the Golden Bears will try to find its stride with returning pitchers Nisa Ontiveros (9-9, 4.23 ERA, 52 SO) and Stephani Trzcinkski (8-15, 4.93 ERA, 86 SO). Key batters returning this season are Cheyenne Cordes (.401, 13 HR, 40 RBI), Kylie Reed (.352, 19 RBI), Danielle Henderson (.345, 12 HR, 37 RBI) and Breana Kostraba (.324, 5 HR, 30 RBI).

Cal Poly

After a second-place finish in the Big West, Cal Poly looks to best its 33-19 (14-7) 2014 record. Sierra Hyland (26-8, 1.94 ERA, 263 SO) will be the mainstay from the circle while also contributing for her own cause at the plate. She batted .366 with six home runs and 36 RBI last season. Other key batters include Emily Ceccacci (.356, 21 RBI), Jillian Andersen (.318, 20 RBI) and Lauren Moreno (.273, 5 HR, 30 RBI).