SEATTLE -- BYU pitcher Paige Affleck allowed one hit in the final six innings against No. 21 Auburn and Caschjen Atagi scored both Cougar runs as BYU defeated the Tigers 2-1 on Thursday in the NCAA Regional.

Affleck finished with nine strikeouts and allowed just one walk in stifling Auburn and winning her 25th game of the year.

"I thought Paige was pretty dominant in the game," said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. "She had all of her pitches today and handled a very good Auburn team from the mound which is key for us to win any kind of game at this level."

Atagi, who joined the team late last night after attending a family wedding, hit 2-for-2 with two runs and a walk.

Atagi's double and ensuing steal of third base in the top of the second set up BYU's first run of the game after the Cougars fell behind 1-0 after one inning. Atagi tied the game on a single to left field by Jessica Dugas.

After giving up a run on three hits and a wild pitch in the bottom of the first, Affleck settled in for the remainder of the contest to shut down the Tiger bats. The Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year allowed only two runners to reach base between the second and seventh innings to maintain BYU's one-run lead.

"It’s always exciting to win in regionals, especially against quality teams," Eakin said. "Auburn is a great team and they have been playing very well lately, but our kids stepped up and withstood a little first inning charge by

them. We then played a very solid game from then on."

BYU scored what would be the game-winning run in the top of the fourth. A lead-off single by Atagi turned into two additional bases when the Auburn center fielder misplayed the hit, allowing Atagi to reach third.

BYU right fielder Delaney Willard brought Atagi home during the next Cougar at bat, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Atagi to score.

"We definitely want to go out with a bang, we know that," Affleck said of the Cougars. "Just as far as the senior squad goes, we just don’t want to have games or moments where we look back and could have done something different. We want to try and play our best every single pitch, every single at bat, and every game."

With the win, BYU goes to the winner's bracket and will play No. 14 Washington at 3 p.m. PT on Friday.

BYU vs. #23 Auburn

May 19, 2011 at Seattle (Husky Softball)

BYU 2 (39-17)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

DELAHOUSSAYE, Kristi 2b.. 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2

MESSERSCHMIDT, Tiffa dh.. 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

CLAYTON, JC ss........... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1

FITU,Jessica c........... 3 0 0 0 0 1 8 1 1

ATAGI,Caschjen 3b........ 2 2 2 0 1 0 1 2 0

MILLETT,Lacey pr........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

WILLARD, Delaney rf...... 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

HUDSON,Alexandra rf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

DUCKWORTH,Carly lf....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

GRAHAM, Stacie 1b........ 2 0 0 0 1 1 7 0 0

DUGAS,Jessica cf......... 3 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 0

AFFLECK,Paige p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

Totals................... 25 2 5 2 2 7 21 9 5

Auburn 1 (39-18)

Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

M. Estell rf............. 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0

Cartwright 2b............ 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0

L. Guzman ss............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1

K. White 3b.............. 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0

K. Smiley 1b............. 3 0 1 0 0 1 9 0 0

A. Harrison dh........... 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

M. Murphy dh............ 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Eisterhold c............. 3 0 0 0 0 1 7 1 1

K. Colton lf............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

C. Stangl cf............. 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

J. Loree p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A. Bunner p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

Totals................... 24 1 4 0 1 9 21 8 3

Score by Innings R H E

-----------------------------------------

BYU................. 010 100 0 - 2 5 0

Auburn.............. 100 000 0 - 1 4 1

-----------------------------------------

E - C. Stangl. LOB - BYU 5; Auburn 3. 2B - ATAGI; M. Estell; L. Guzman. SF - WILLARD. SB - ATAGI.

BYU IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

AFFLECK,Paige....... 7.0 4 1 1 1 9 24 25

Auburn IP H R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

J. Loree............ 1.2 3 1 1 1 3 8 9

A. Bunner........... 5.1 2 1 0 1 4 17 19

Win - AFFLECK (25-11). Loss - A. Bunner (16-7). Save - None.

WP - AFFLECK; A. Bunner. PB - FITU.

Umpires - HP: Ron Burkhart 1B: John Bennett 3B: Smokey Edds

Start: 3:32 pm Time: 1:47 Attendance:

Weather: 75 and sunny

BYU starters: 4/2b DELAHOUSSAYE; 20/dh MESSERSCHMID; 16/ss CLAYTON; 10/c FITU; 9/3b ATAGI; 28/rf WILLARD; 3/lf DUCKWORTH; 21/1b GRAHAM; 19/cf DUGAS; 12/p AFFLECK

Auburn starters: 3/rf M. Estell; 24/2b Cartwright; 5/ss L. Guzman; 1/3b K. White; 14/1b K. Smiley; 10/dh A. Harrison; 16/c Eisterhold; 44/lf K. Colton; 34/cf C. Stangl; 8/p J. Loree;

BYU 1st - DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to lf. MESSERSCHMID struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. CLAYTON singled to first base. FITU struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB. 

Auburn 1st - M. Estell doubled to left center. M. Estell advanced to third on a passed ball. Cartwright struck out looking. M. Estell scored on a wild pitch. L. Guzman doubled to center field. K. White fouled out to 1b. K. Smiley singled to shortstop; L. Guzman out at third ss to 2b to 3b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

BYU 2nd - ATAGI doubled to center field. WILLARD struck out looking. ATAGI stole third. DUCKWORTH popped up to c. GRAHAM walked. DUGAS singled to left field, RBI; GRAHAM advanced to second; ATAGI scored. A. Bunner to p for J. Loree. DELAHOUSSAYE grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Auburn 2nd - A. Harrison struck out swinging. Eisterhold grounded out to 3b. K. Colton struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

BYU 3rd - MESSERSCHMID grounded out to 3b. CLAYTON popped up to 2b. FITU

grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Auburn 3rd - C. Stangl struck out swinging. M. Estell grounded out to

2b. Cartwright popped up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

BYU 4th - ATAGI singled, advanced to second on an error by cf, advanced

to third. WILLARD flied out to rf, SAC, RBI; ATAGI scored, unearned. DUCKWORTH

grounded out to ss. GRAHAM grounded out to p. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 0

LOB.

Auburn 4th - L. Guzman flied out to cf. K. White flied out to cf. K.

Smiley grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

BYU 5th - DUGAS popped up to ss. DELAHOUSSAYE grounded out to 1b

unassisted. MESSERSCHMID singled, bunt. CLAYTON struck out looking. 0 runs,

1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Auburn 5th - A. Harrison struck out swinging. Eisterhold grounded out to

2b. K. Colton out at first p to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

BYU 6th - FITU grounded out to 3b. ATAGI walked. MILLETT pinch ran for

ATAGI. WILLARD struck out looking. MILLETT advanced to second on a wild pitch.

DUCKWORTH struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Auburn 6th - ATAGI to 3b for MILLETT. HUDSON to rf for WILLARD. C. Stangl walked. M. Estell flied out to cf. Cartwright struck out swinging. L. Guzman grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

BYU 7th - GRAHAM struck out looking. DUGAS grounded out to p.

DELAHOUSSAYE flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Auburn 7th - K. White struck out swinging. K. Smiley struck out looking.

M. Murphy to dh for A. Harrison. M. Murphy pinch hit. M. Murphy singled to

third base. A. Harrison to dh for M. Murphy. Eisterhold struck out looking.

0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

PROVO, Utah -- The BYU softball team will play in its seventh-straight NCAA Regional beginning Thursday in Seattle against No. 21 Auburn at 3:30 p.m.

Click here to follow any game via live stats, live video or live radio.

Click here to visit the Seattle Regional Center.

NCAA Seattle Regional Schedule

Thursday

Game 1 - 3:30 p.m Auburn vs. BYU

Game 2 - 6 p.m. Portland State vs. Washington

Friday

Game 3 - 3 p.m. Winner of game 1 vs. winner of game 2

Game 4 - 5:30 p.m. Loser of game 1 vs. loser of game 2

Game 5 - 8 p.m. Winner of game 4 vs. loser of game 3

Saturday

Game 6 - 2:30 p.m. Winner of game 3 vs. winner of game 5

Game 7 - 2:30 p.m. Winner of game 6 vs. loser of game 6 (if necessary)

COUGAR QUICK HITS

— BYU has a 8-13 regular-season record against 2011 NCAA tournament teams. Before Mar. 5, the Cougars went 1-11 against such teams, but have since gone 7-2 against tourney teams.

— After starting the season with an 8-13 record, BYU has won 30 of its last 33, 26 of its last 28 and 14 of its last 15 games with a current three-game win streak, improving its record to 38-16 overall.

— In the last 28 games, BYU has averaged a 7.8 - 1.3 margin of victory with 13 shutouts and 10 games scoring in double-digits.

— BYU senior pitcher Paige Affleck was named MWC Pitcher of the Year and head coach Gordon Eakin was named MWC Coach of the Year for the third-straight season on Tuesday. Six Cougars were also named to the All-MWC team.

OPPONENTS SERIES NOTES

AUBURN - This is Auburn’s eighth berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2002. Auburn is 6-14 all-time in NCAA Regional play and has advanced to the regional championship game one time, with that coming in 2006. BYU and Auburn have never faced each other.

The 2011 senior class of Katie Colton, Kelley Smiley, Caitlin Stangl and Kyndall White helped give the program another first by advancing to a NCAA Regional for a record fourth consecutive season. This season the senior class has led the Tigers to the program’s longest winning streak (15 games) the program’s first series win over a top five team, the most wins over top 25 teams (seven) since 2005 and the program’s longest stay in the NFCA top 25 since 2006, current at 12 consecutive weeks.

Morgan Estell leads the team with a .378 batting average including team highs of 59 hits and 17 doubles. The Tigers split time between three pitchers and are led by Angel Bunner’s 1.58 ERA and 16-6 record. Jenee Loree is second on the team with a 2.61 ERA in 24 apperances while Lauren Schmalz leads thea team with 143 strikeouts.

WASHINGTON - The Huskies finished 9-12 in the Pac-10 this year, tied for sixth with UCLA. The team has advanced to the Women’s College World Series three times in the last four seasons and have been to the NCAA Super Regional five of the last six seasons.

BYU defeated Washington when the Huskies came to Provo last fall but were shut out last season when the two teams met in regular season play.

Senior infielder Jenn Salling leads the Huskies with 15 doubles and is second on the team with a .373 batting aver- age, .503 on-base percentage, .648 slugging percentage, 92 total bases and 43 RBIs while starting all 48 games for Washington.

PORLTAND STATE - Portland State comes in after winning the Pacific Coast Softball Conference title. The Vikings and Cougars faced off earlier this year in BYU’s second game of the season, losing by a single run in eight innings. Cougar catcher Jessica Fitu hit two home runs in the game while pitcher Paige Affleck no-hit Portland State through seven innings.

Jenna Krogh leads the team with a .405 batting average. Nicole Latham and Anna Bertrand split time in the circle with identical 16-8 records while Latham posted a 1.71 ERA to lead the team. As a team, the Vikings boast a .311 bat- ting average and a 2.03 ERA.

UNBEATABLE AT HOME

The Cougars have the third-longest home win streak in the country, having won 20-straight games, including a 13-0 record this season. BYU has won 10-straight at home against conference opponents and 34 straight against non-conference foes.

Texas A&M - 24

BYU - 20

Alabama - 20

Jacksonville - 16

GRAND RECORDS

Senior catcher Jessica Fitu hit the fifth grand slam of her career and second of the season at home vs. UNLV, moving her into third place in NCAA history for career grand slams. Fitu’s fourth grand slam earlier this year against Cal State Northridge set a new BYU career record.

In addition to her grand slam record, Fitu’s career RBI total is currently tied for 15th all-time in NCAA history while her hit by pitch total ties her for 8th in the NCAA record book.

SIX COUGARS EARN ALL-MWC, AFFLECK NAMED PITCHER OF THE YEAR

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- BYU senior Paige Affleck earned the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Year award and BYU head coach Gordon Eakin captured MWC Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season as selected by the league’s six head coaches.

Affleck, a New Harmony, Utah, product, is the second Cougar hurler (Christie Zinanti, 2009) to earn the MWC Pitcher of the Year award. This season, she went 9-2 in Conference play, including six complete games, with a league-low earned run average of 1.18. The right-hander also led the league in strikeouts with 62 and was second in opposing batting average (.222) and innings pitched (65.1).

Eakin collected his third MWC coaching honor (2009, 2010, 2011) after guiding BYU to its sixth regular-season league crown and seventh consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. In his 9th season as head coach, Eakin led the Cougars to an 11-2 Conference record (38-16 overall) this season, push- ing his all-time record at BYU to 369-158 (.700).

BYU led the conference with six players named All-MWC, including Affleck, senior third baseman Caschjen Atagi, senior second baseman Kristin Delahoussaye, freshman left fielder Carly Duckworth, junior center fielder Jessica Dugas and senior catcher Jessica Fitu.

Affleck, Delahoussaye and Fitu were named to the team for the third time in each of their respective careers while Atagi, Duckworth and Dugas earned their first-career selections.

UNLV senior Ashli Holland was named MWC Player of the Year, San Diego State’s Hayley Miles gar- nered MWC Freshman of the Year acclaim.