LAS -- Sparked by a three-run homer by sophomore Jessica Purcell, a high-scoring second inning gave way to a deafening 8-0 BYU women’s softball win over Virginia.

The game opened play at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas Thursday night. With the win the Cougars increase to 5-2 on the season.

"I was really pleased with the way the team played in all facets of the game," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Both pitchers threw really well, our defense was solid, our offense executed and Jessica Purcell was dominant with her three-run homer,"

Purcell's home run marks her fourth on the season and tallied her 14th RBI in seven games. The catcher from La Puenta, Calif. led the team with 3 RBI, but freshman Tiffany Messerschmidt went 2-for-3 with an RBI single.

The red-hot BYU offense was partnered with strong pitching from junior Christie Zinanti and freshman Paige Affleck. The two combined for the two-hit shutout victory.

Zinanti receive the win after tossing two innings, giving up two hits and striking out three batters in three innings. Affleck closed the game throwing two hitless innings.

In the first inning Purcell reached first on a fielders choice while freshman Tiffany Messerschmidt was on third,. Athrowing error from the Virginia catcher allowed Messerschmidt to advance home, scoring the first run of the game.

In the second inning Messerschmidt and junior Andrea Ramirez tallied three RBI between the two, before Purcell blasted a long ball over the centerfield wall, scoring three runs.

With a 7-0 lead, sophomore Kristin Delahoussaye hit an RBI single to score freshman Krista Hicks from third to register the eighth run of the ball game.

The Cougars held on to their 8-0 lead through the top half of the fifth inning, before the eight-run rule was enacted to give BYU the win.

Play continues at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic, as the Cougars take on No. 6 Michigan at 9 a.m. followed by Louisville at 11 a.m. Friday.

Box Score
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                        Virginia vs Brigham Young Univ.
                   02-12-09 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Eller Media)
Virginia 0 (3-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Pittman c................  2  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   0
Cipolloni cf.............  2  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
Winger lf................  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Tacke 1b.................  1  0  0  0   1  0  4  0   0
Kendall ss...............  1  0  0  0   1  1  0  0   0
Koren dp.................  1  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
Snyder 3b................  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   1
McCaskey 2b..............  2  0  0  0   0  1  1  1   0
Steffan rf...............  2  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   0
Rife p...................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  2   0
 Coates p................  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 15  0  2  0   3  3 12  6   3
Brigham Young Univ. 8 (5-2)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  1  1  1  1   1  0  1  1   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dp..  3  2  2  1   0  1  0  0   0
RAMIREZ, Andrea 1b.......  3  1  1  2   0  0  9  0   2
PURCELL, Jessica c.......  3  1  1  3   0  1  3  1   0
DAVIS, Caschjen lf.......  2  0  0  0   1  0  0  0   1
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  2  1  1  0   0  0  0  0   1
 HOPKINS, Stephanie ph...  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
LOPEZ, Coreen 3b.........  2  1  0  0   0  0  1  3   0
HICKS, Krista ss.........  1  1  1  0   0  0  0  2   0
GONZALES, Monica cf......  2  0  1  0   0  0  1  0   0
ZINANTI, Christie p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 AFFLECK, Paige p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 20  8  8  7   2  3 15  8   4
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
Virginia............ 000 00 -  0  2  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 161 0X -  8  8  0
--------------------------------------
E - Pittman; Kendall. DP - BYU 1. LOB - Virginia 3; BYU 4. HR - PURCELL. HBP
- DELAHOUSSAYE. SH - HICKS. SB - DAVIS.
Virginia               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Rife................  2.0  5  7  1  2  0 11 15
Coates..............  2.0  3  1  1  0  3  9  9
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ZINANTI, Christie...  3.0  2  0  0  2  3  9 11
AFFLECK, Paige......  2.0  0  0  0  1  0  6  7
Win - ZINANTI (3-1).  Loss - Rife (0-2).  Save - None.
WP - Rife 2. HBP - by Rife (DELAHOUSSAYE).
Umpires - HP: Willie Newman  1B: Dale Reed  3B: Jack Krauser
Start: 5:00 pm   Time: 1:15   Attendance: 106
Game: UVA1
Play-by-Play
                            The Automated ScoreBook
                 Virginia vs Brigham Young Univ. - Play-by-Play
                   02-12-09 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Eller Media)
Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
Virginia............ 000 00 -  0  2  2
Brigham Young Univ.. 161 0X -  8  8  0
--------------------------------------
Virginia starters: 4/c Pittman; 13/cf Cipolloni; 17/lf Winger; 19/1b Tacke;
3/ss Kendall; 14/dp Koren; 9/3b Snyder; 11/2b McCaskey; 1/rf Steffan; 6/p Rife;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dp MESSERSCHMID; 31/1b
RAMIREZ; 10/c PURCELL; 9/lf DAVIS; 11/rf WILLARD; 7/3b LOPEZ; 22/ss HICKS;
24/cf GONZALES; 14/p ZINANTI;
Virginia 1st - Pittman struck out looking. Cipolloni grounded out to p.
Winger grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE walked. MESSERSCHMID singled to
shortstop; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second. RAMIREZ grounded out to p;
MESSERSCHMID advanced to second; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to third. PURCELL
reached on a fielder's choice to third base; MESSERSCHMID advanced to third;
DELAHOUSSAYE out at home 3b to c. PURCELL advanced to second; MESSERSCHMID
scored on a throwing error by c, unearned. DAVIS grounded out to 3b. 1 run,
1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Virginia 2nd - Tacke walked. Kendall struck out swinging. Koren walked;
Tacke advanced to second. Snyder grounded into double play 3b to 1b; Tacke out
on the play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - WILLARD singled up the middle. WILLARD
advanced to second on a wild pitch. LOPEZ reached on a fielding error by ss.
HICKS out at first 3b to 2b, SAC, bunt; LOPEZ advanced to second; WILLARD
advanced to third. GONZALES grounded out to 2b. DELAHOUSSAYE hit by pitch.
MESSERSCHMID singled up the middle, RBI; DELAHOUSSAYE advanced to second; LOPEZ
advanced to third; WILLARD scored, unearned. RAMIREZ singled to right field, 2
RBI; MESSERSCHMID advanced to third; DELAHOUSSAYE scored, unearned; LOPEZ
scored, unearned. PURCELL homered to center field, 3 RBI; RAMIREZ scored,
unearned; MESSERSCHMID scored, unearned. DAVIS walked. DAVIS stole second.
DAVIS advanced to third on a wild pitch. WILLARD grounded out to p. 6 runs,
4 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Virginia 3rd - McCaskey struck out looking. Steffan singled through the
right side. Pittman singled to third base, bunt; Steffan advanced to second.
Steffan out at second c to 2b, picked off. Cipolloni grounded out to 1b
unassisted. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - Coates to p for Rife. LOPEZ flied out to cf.
HICKS singled to shortstop. GONZALES singled to third base; HICKS advanced to
second. DELAHOUSSAYE singled up the middle, advanced to second on the throw,
RBI; GONZALES advanced to third; HICKS scored. MESSERSCHMID struck out
swinging. RAMIREZ flied out to rf. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Virginia 4th - AFFLECK to p for ZINANTI. Winger grounded out to 2b.
Tacke grounded out to 3b. Kendall walked. Koren flied out to cf. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - PURCELL struck out swinging. DAVIS flied out
to rf. HOPKINS pinch hit for WILLARD. HOPKINS struck out looking. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Virginia 5th - HOPKINS to rf. Snyder grounded out to 3b. McCaskey
grounded out to 1b unassisted. Steffan grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.

PROVO -- The 4-2 BYU women’s softball team heads to Las Vegas on Thursday for a set of five games at the Louisville Slugger Classic.

The Cougars will face Virginia on Thursday at 5 p.m. The meeting will be the first between the two team since February of 2008 when the Cougars defeated the Cavaliers 5-1 in Knoxville, Tenn. Virginia is 3-1 on the season after splitting a two-game series with East Carolina and sweeping Middle Tennessee to begin the season.

On Friday BYU will face No. 6 Michigan at 9 a.m. The game marks the third time the Cougars have faced a ranked opponent this season. The Cougars fell against No. 7 Washington and No. 11 Tennessee at the Red Desert Classic. Michigan is 4-1 on the season, dropping a game to No. 24 Massachusetts in a 1-0 loss.

After the 9 a.m. game, BYU will take on Louisville in the second half of the doubleheader. Louisville enters the Classic with a perfect 5-0 record. They defeated No. 18 North Carolina in a 1-0 shutout victory.

The Cougars will conclude their road trip with a Saturday morning twinbill. BYU will take on Southern Miss at 9 a.m. before finishing the Louisville Slugger Classic against UC Davis at 11:15 a.m.

Southern Miss is 2-2 on the season, splitting a two-game series against Arkansas, defeating Central Arkansas and falling to Stamford. UC Davis is 3-1 after losing to Illinois.