SACRAMENTO -- Seniors Jennifer Whiteley and Tracee Hoch both went 2-for-3, but the Cougars were unable to find offense anywhere else as BYU (12-10) fell to Iowa (15-12), 4-0, at the Capital Classic.

BYU had two on and one out in both the first and sixth innings, but couldn't get the timely hit in either situation. That was the story of the day for the Cougars, who left a total of seven base runners stranded throughout the game. Other than Whiteley and Hoch, Hawkeyes' pitcher Brittany Weil got the best of BYU's bats. Weil struck out 15 of the 28 batters she faced in the complete game shut out.

With her team leading 1-0, Emily Nichols hit a lead-off homer to left field in the bottom of the third inning. A Cougar fielding error later in the inning allowed Taylor Leichsenring to score, and Jenna Spratt stole home to cap the scoring in the inning and the game.

BYU starting pitcher Dani Urincho recorded her first loss of the season. Urincho gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings of play.

The Cougars lost to Minnesota, 5-2, in the late game, which is not officially part of the Capital Classic.

BYU vs Iowa
               Mar 15, 2007 at Sacramento, Calif. (Shea Stadium)
BYU 0 (12-9)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
NIX-CLARK c..............  3  0  0  0   0  3  3  2   1
 JENKINS c...............  1  0  0  0   0  1  2  1   1
WHITELEY lf/cf...........  3  0  2  0   0  0  0  0   0
NORTON ss/3b.............  2  0  0  0   1  2  2  1   0
QUIOCHO 3b/dh............  2  0  0  0   1  1  1  1   0
SNOW cf..................  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   2
 ANDERSON cf/lf..........  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
URINCHO p................  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  1   2
 ZINANTI p...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
HOCH 2b..................  3  0  2  0   0  1  2  1   0
RAMIREZ dh/ss............  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  0   0
PLATT rf.................  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   1
GWYN 1b..................  0  0  0  0   0  0  6  1   0
Totals................... 25  0  4  0   2 15 18  8   7
Iowa 4 (15-12)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nichols c................  3  1  1  1   1  0 15  0   0
Leichsenring rf..........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   3
Downs 3b.................  3  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Daumen pr...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
McGlaughlin 2b...........  2  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   1
 Spratt pr...............  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
West lf..................  3  1  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
Digmann dh...............  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
Riemersma ss.............  1  0  0  1   1  0  2  0   1
Ackerson 1b..............  3  0  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
 Adreon pr...............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Heidgerken cf............  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 Brown ph................  0  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   0
Weil p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 24  4  8  2   3  2 21  0   7
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 000 0 -  0  4  2
Iowa................ 013 000 X -  4  8  0
-----------------------------------------
E - NORTON; QUIOCHO. DP - Cougars 1. LOB - Cougars 7; Hawkeyes 7. 2B - HOCH.
HR - Nichols. HBP - RAMIREZ. SH - McGlaughlin. SF - Riemersma. SB - Spratt;
West 2; Digmann. CS - Daumen.
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
URINCHO.............  5.0  8  4  2  1  1 21 24
ZINANTI.............  1.0  0  0  0  2  1  3  5
Iowa                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Weil................  7.0  4  0  0  2 15 25 28
Win - Weil (1-0).  Loss - URINCHO (2-1).  Save - None.
HBP - by Weil (RAMIREZ).
Umpires - HP: Dennis Hobart  1B: Bill Terrell  3B: Andre Solorio
Start: 1:00 pm   Time: 1:50   Attendance: 78
Game: BYUIOWA
Play-by-Play
Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
BYU................. 000 000 0 -  0  4  2
Iowa................ 013 000 X -  4  8  0
-----------------------------------------
BYU starters: 10/c NIX-CLARK; 3/lf WHITELEY; 8/ss NORTON; 33/3b QUIOCHO; 18/cf
SNOW; 22/p URINCHO; 4/2b HOCH; 31/dh RAMIREZ; 5/rf PLATT; 11/1b GWYN;
Iowa starters: 1/c Nichols; 10/rf Leichsenring; 2/3b Downs; 12/2b McGlaughlin;
6/lf West; 22/dh Digmann; 8/ss Riemersma; 24/1b Ackerson; 11/cf Heidgerken; 7/p
Weil;
BYU 1st - NIX-CLARK struck out looking. WHITELEY singled to left field.
NORTON walked; WHITELEY advanced to second. QUIOCHO struck out swinging. SNOW
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Iowa 1st - Nichols grounded out to ss. Leichsenring grounded out to c.
Downs reached on a fielding error by 3b. McGlaughlin fouled out to 3b. 0
runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - URINCHO flied out to lf. HOCH doubled to left field. RAMIREZ
popped up to 1b. PLATT struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Iowa 2nd - West singled to catcher. West stole second. Digmann struck
out looking. West stole third. Riemersma flied out to cf, SF, RBI; West scored.
Ackerson singled to center field. Heidgerken popped up to ss. 1 run, 2 hits,
0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 3rd - NIX-CLARK struck out swinging. WHITELEY popped up to 3b.
NORTON struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Iowa 3rd - Nichols homered to left field, RBI. Leichsenring singled to
first base. Downs fouled out to c, bunt. McGlaughlin singled through the left
side; Leichsenring advanced to second. West grounded out to 3b; McGlaughlin
advanced to second; Leichsenring advanced to third. Digmann reached on a
fielding error by ss; McGlaughlin advanced to third; Leichsenring scored,
unearned. Spratt pinch ran for McGlaughlin. Digmann stole second; Spratt stole
home, unearned. Riemersma popped up to ss. 3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1
LOB.
BYU 4th - McGlaughlin to 2b for Spratt. QUIOCHO popped up to ss. SNOW
popped up to ss. URINCHO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Iowa 4th - Ackerson singled to center field. Adreon pinch ran for
Ackerson. Heidgerken popped into double play c to 2b, bunt; Adreon out on the
play. Nichols walked. Leichsenring grounded out to p. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 5th - Ackerson to 1b for Adreon. HOCH struck out swinging. RAMIREZ
hit by pitch. PLATT popped up to 2b. NIX-CLARK struck out swinging. 0 runs,
0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Iowa 5th - JENKINS to c for NIX-CLARK. NORTON to 3b. QUIOCHO to dh.
ANDERSON to cf for SNOW. RAMIREZ to ss. Downs singled to center field. Daumen
pinch ran for Downs. McGlaughlin out at first 1b to 2b, SAC, bunt; Daumen
advanced to second. West singled to catcher; Daumen advanced to third. West
advanced to second on the throw, advanced to third; Daumen out at home c to 2b
to c, caught stealing. Digmann grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 2
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - Downs to 3b for Daumen. WHITELEY singled to left center.
NORTON struck out swinging. QUIOCHO walked; WHITELEY advanced to second.
ANDERSON struck out swinging. URINCHO struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Iowa 6th - WHITELEY to cf. ANDERSON to lf. ZINANTI to p for URINCHO.
Riemersma walked. Ackerson fouled out to 1b, bunt. Brown pinch hit for
Heidgerken. Brown walked; Riemersma advanced to second. Heidgerken to cf for
Brown. Nichols popped up to ss. Leichsenring struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 7th - HOCH singled to second base. RAMIREZ struck out looking. PLATT
struck out swinging. JENKINS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.

PROVO -- The BYU softball team (12-8) heads back to the West Coast to play in the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Calif., March 15-17.

The Cougars have gone just 7-8 after beginning the season with a 5-0 record. BYU had won three games in a row before being blown out by Penn State, 17-4, to end last weekend's Bulldog Classic in Fresno, Calif.

"We've told the team that we just need to get over [the Penn State game]," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "That's not our real team. We've talked it through, and we're not going to hang our hat on that because that's not the team we are."

Despite the inconsistent play, BYU is putting up great numbers on the season. The Cougars lead the Mountain West Conference in batting average (.307), slugging percentage (.531) and on base percentage (.386).

"We've started to play the type of ball we're capable of playing in longer periods, and that's what we're focusing on," Eakin said. "Our pitching needs to be more consistent, but when you're playing five games a weekend and you have some nagging injuries, it can be a challenge."

Eakin went on to say that it's critical that everybody executes and makes the plays that help the team win. One of those contributors has been freshman sensation Angeline Quiocho, who has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. Quiocho is off to a stellar start to her BYU career, hitting .298 for 17 hits, including six doubles, one triple and four home runs. The third baseman also leads the team with seven stolen bases.

BYU meets Iowa on Thursday at 1 p.m. (PST) and Minnesota at 6 p.m. Friday's double-header pits the Cougars against host Sacramento State at 12:30 p.m. and Cal Poly at 3 p.m. BYU caps the Classic on Saturday with games against Mercer at 3 p.m. and Santa Clara at 5:30 p.m.