PROVO, Utah -- A Delaney Willard home run in extra innings gave the BYU softball team the 3-1 victory over Southern Utah in the front end of a doubleheader Wednesday at Gail Miller Field.

After senior Caschjen Atagi reached on a double in the eighth, Willard took a pitch, sending it over the right field wall for the walk-off home run.

Willard was 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run and one walk.

BYU pitcher Paige Affleck led the Cougars with 12 strikeouts, one short of a career high, allowing one earned run in the complete game win.

Affleck opened the game with three no-hit innings, striking out eight during the span to get the Cougars off to a strong start on the defensive end. However, the Cougar offense struggled, posting just one hit by Willard in the first three innings.

In the fourth inning, BYU finally found its way to base. With runners on first and second, Willard belted a pitch into left field where the Thunderbird fielder committed an error on the catch, advancing Willard to second base and sending Fitu home.

SUU returned the favor by opening the fifth inning with a run of their own. The Thunderbirds strong hitting and drawn walks could have been more costly for the Cougars after SUU loaded the bases, but an illegal SUU substitution ended their turn at bat prematurely.

Southern Utah at BYU (Game 1)
Apr 06, 2011 at Provo, Utah (Gail Miller Field)
Southern Utah 1 (16-19)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Heather Richardson c.....  3  0  0  0   1  3  6  1   0
Aly Daniels ss...........  2  0  1  0   2  1  2  2   0
Haylee Hoch rf...........  3  0  1  1   1  2  2  0   1
Darleen Fernandez 3b.....  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   1
Madison Resley dh........  2  0  0  0   2  0  0  0   3
 Stephanie DeJesus pr....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Cora Cordova 2b..........  4  0  1  0   0  2  6  1   0
Kara Bendt lf............  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   2
Nicole Huntsman 1b/pr....  2  0  0  0   1  1  6  0   1
 Courtney Fick pr........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Sami Jo Parry cf.........  3  0  0  0   0  2  0  0   0
Heather Black p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  3   0
Totals................... 26  1  3  1   7 12 22 11   8
BYU 3 (21-14)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b..  4  0  1  0   0  3  2  1   0
MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa lf..  4  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   1
CLAYTON, JC ss...........  4  0  1  0   0  1  2  2   1
 MILLETT,Lacey pr........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
FITU,Jessica c...........  2  1  0  0   1  0 14  1   0
ATAGI,Caschjen dh........  2  1  1  0   2  0  0  0   0
WILLARD, Delaney rf......  3  1  2  2   1  0  1  0   0
HICKS, Krista 3b.........  2  0  0  0   0  1  0  2   3
 DUCKWORTH,Carly ph......  1  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
GRAHAM, Stacie 1b........  3  0  0  0   0  0  3  0   3
DUGAS,Jessica cf.........  3  0  2  0   0  0  1  0   0
AFFLECK,Paige p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 28  3  7  2   4  6 24  6   8
Score by Innings                   R  H  E
------------------------------------------
Southern Utah....... 000 010 00 -  1  3  1
BYU................. 000 100 02 -  3  7  0
------------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 0 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - BENDT(2). DP - SUU 1. LOB - SUU 8; BYU 8. 2B - ATAGI(5). HR -
WILLARD(7). SH - FITU(2). SB - FITU(5); ATAGI(5). CS - DANIELS(4).
Southern Utah          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Heather Black.......  7.1  7  3  2  4  6 28 33
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
AFFLECK,Paige.......  8.0  3  1  1  7 12 26 33
Win - AFFLECK (13-9).  Loss - BLACK (12-8).  Save - None.
Umpires - HP: Brett Higgins  1B: Clair McBride  3B: Jason Bluemel
Start: 5:02 pm   Time: 2:06   Attendance: 519
Southern Utah starters: 3/c RICHARDSON; 22/ss DANIELS; 15/rf HOCH; 9/3b
FERNANDEZ; 0/dh RESLEY; 1/2b CORDOVA; 10/lf BENDT; 13/1b HUNTSMAN; 6/cf PARRY;
7/p BLACK;
BYU starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/lf MESSERSCHMID; 16/ss CLAYTON; 10/c FITU;
9/dh ATAGI; 28/rf WILLARD; 22/3b HICKS; 21/1b GRAHAM; 19/cf DUGAS; 12/p
AFFLECK;
Southern Utah 1st - RICHARDSON struck out swinging. DANIELS struck out
swinging. HOCH walked. FERNANDEZ popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors,
1 LOB.
BYU 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE struck out swinging. MESSERSCHMID out at first 3b
to 2b. CLAYTON struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 2nd - RESLEY walked. CORDOVA struck out swinging. BENDT
reached on a fielder's choice; RESLEY out at second 2b to ss. HUNTSMAN struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 2nd - FITU grounded out to 2b. ATAGI flied out to rf. WILLARD
singled to left field. HICKS struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Southern Utah 3rd - PARRY struck out swinging. RICHARDSON struck out
swinging. DANIELS walked. DANIELS out at second c to ss, caught stealing. 0
runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - GRAHAM grounded out to p. DUGAS out at first 3b to 2b.
DELAHOUSSAYE struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Southern Utah 4th - HOCH struck out looking. FERNANDEZ struck out
swinging. RESLEY walked. DEJESUS pinch ran for RESLEY. CORDOVA singled through
the right side; DEJESUS advanced to second. BENDT flied out to lf. 0 runs, 1
hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
BYU 4th - MESSERSCHMID grounded out to 3b. CLAYTON grounded out to p.
FITU walked. FITU stole second. ATAGI walked. WILLARD reached on an error by
lf; ATAGI advanced to third; FITU scored, unearned. HICKS popped up to 2b. 1
run, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.
Southern Utah 5th - HUNTSMAN walked. FICK pinch ran for HUNTSMAN. PARRY
grounded out to ss; FICK advanced to second. RICHARDSON walked. DANIELS singled
to right field; RICHARDSON advanced to second; FICK advanced to third. HOCH
singled to right field, RBI; DANIELS advanced to second; RICHARDSON advanced to
third; FICK scored. FERNANDEZ reached on a fielder's choice; HOCH advanced to
second; DANIELS advanced to third; RICHARDSON out at home ss to c. RESLEY to dh
for DEJESUS. RESLEY grounded out to c unassisted. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
BYU 5th - HUNTSMAN pinch ran for FICK. HUNTSMAN to 1b. GRAHAM grounded
out to p. DUGAS singled to pitcher. DELAHOUSSAYE singled to shortstop; DUGAS
advanced to second. MESSERSCHMID lined into double play ss unassisted; DUGAS
out on the play. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 6th - CORDOVA struck out swinging. BENDT flied out to cf.
HUNTSMAN popped up to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 6th - CLAYTON singled up the middle. MILLETT pinch ran for CLAYTON.
FITU out at first c to 2b, SAC, bunt; MILLETT advanced to third. ATAGI walked.
ATAGI stole second. WILLARD walked. DUCKWORTH pinch hit for HICKS. DUCKWORTH
struck out looking. GRAHAM grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
Southern Utah 7th - CLAYTON to ss for MILLETT. HICKS to 3b for
DUCKWORTH. PARRY struck out swinging. RICHARDSON struck out swinging. DANIELS
walked. HOCH struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 7th - DUGAS singled through the right side. DELAHOUSSAYE struck out
looking. MESSERSCHMID reached on a fielder's choice; DUGAS out at second ss to
2b. CLAYTON reached on a fielder's choice; MESSERSCHMID out at second ss to 2b.
0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Southern Utah 8th - FERNANDEZ grounded out to 3b. RESLEY popped up to
rf. CORDOVA grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 8th - FITU flied out to rf. ATAGI doubled to left field. WILLARD
homered to right field, 2 RBI; ATAGI scored. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.

CLICK HERE to follow the BYU softball team on Facebook.

BYU softball will host its only doubleheader of the year against Southern Utah on Wednesday before traveling to play at Utah in its first conference games of the season on Friday and Saturday.

COUGAR QUICK HITS

— BYU needs one more win over Utah to claim the overall Deseret First Duel trophy.

— BYU senior catcher Jessica Fitu enters the weekend broke the BYU and Mountain West Conference record for most RBI in a career, passing current BYU assistant coach and former Cougar player Ianeta Le’i with her 212th RBI against Seattle on Saturday. Fitu’s sac fly scored JC Clayton in the first inning.

— Junior Delaney Willard had her first game with multiple home runs, knocking out two against Seattle. Junior Caschjen Atagi and freshman Madisen Robb also hit home runs against the Redhawks.

— BYU has a 111-23 (.828) all-time record against in-state opponents. The Cougars defeated Weber State and Utah State already earlier this season. After playing SUU and Utah this week, BYU will face Utah Valley next week with additional contests against Utah Valley, SUU and Utah set for May.

— BYU currently leads the MWC in runs, hits, walks, stolen bases, opposing batting average, hits allowed and extra-base hits allowed.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

Southern Utah has not had much luck against BYU as the Cougars hold a 34-3 record in the series. The T-Birds last defeated BYU in 2006 and have since dropped 20 straight to the Cougars, including 20-0 and 9-0 losses last season. But SUU is currently on a seven-game win streak, its longest of the season.

Cora Cordova has a team-high .333 batting average, but Jenavieve Purcell leads the team with 33 hits while Darleen Fernandez has a team-high eight home runs and 59 total bases. Heather Black is the ace for SUU, currently sitting at a 12-7 record with a 3.16 ERA.

Utah and BYU have competed every year the Cougars have had a softball program with BYU holding a 28-16 margin in the series. BYU has won the last five games and has not lost at Utah since 2008. Utah has won four-straight games and seven of their last eight.

The Utes are led by Tia Palauni, a .418 hitter with five doubles and five home runs. Whitney Holm leads the team with 47 total bases, including six homers, and is hitting .248. Naomi Amu has the lowest ERA at 2.61 with five wins, but Generra Nielson has a record of 14-10 and a 3.10 ERA. Nielson tossed her first career no-hitter in an 8-0 win over Idaho State last Friday.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK GOES TO HOUSE

Senior Kristin Delahoussaye earned the MWC Player of the Week after helping the Cougars go 4-0 last week. House's biggest game came against Utah State when the senior racked up 11 total bases (two home runs and a triple) on Mar. 29, tying for the fifth-most total bases in a game by a Cougar in program history and equaling the most in a game for BYU since Angie Quiocho had 12 off three home runs against UNLV on May 7, 2010.

NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE

Senior catch Jessica Fitu became the first BYU player in history to record five hits in a game, going 5-for-5 against Cal State Northridge earlier this season. Fitu hit a grand slam and had four singles on her way to finishing with six RBI and one run.

ALL-TIME CONFERENCE WINS LEADER

Already the record holder in all BYU career pitching categories, senior Paige Affleck became the winningest pitcher in Mountain West Conference history on Mar. 19, winning the 74th game of her career over No. 9 California in the Hawaii Spring Fling Tournament championship game.

TAKING MORE

BYU has 12 players with at least one stolen base so far this year, led by freshman Lacey Millett’s nine steals. Seven players have four or more. The Cougars have 44 stolen bases overall, already ninth-most in a season by a BYU team, and had a season-high four stolen bases against Florida State and Iona.

GOTTA SCORE

BYU is 14-0 when scoring at least six runs and 17-0 when leading after five innings. In addition, 11 of BYU’s 14 losses have come by three runs or less.