Softball heads to Puerto Vallarta to open 2020 Season

PROVO, Utah – BYU softball will travel to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge and face four different teams to begin the 2020 season.

BYU at Puerto Vallarta Game Notes

The Cougars will play George Washington and Nevada on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. CT, respectively. Then on Friday, Feb. 7, BYU will face Oregon at 6 p.m. CT before closing out the tournament against No. 3 Oklahoma in a Saturday night contest at 8:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 8. The Sooners are coming off an appearance in the Women’s College World Series, losing to UCLA in the final game. 

All four games will be played at Nancy Almaraz Stadium in Puerto Vallarta with live streaming on FloSoftball with a subscription. 

20 Years of BYU Softball. The start of the 2020 season marks the 20th anniversary of the start of BYU softball. February 4, 2000, the Cougars defeated Sacramento State 3-2 in San Jose to start the program off with a win. In the 20 years, BYU has captured 14 conference titles and made 16 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Head coach Gordon Eakin has been part of the BYU softball program since its inception and took over the head coaching duties in 2002.

Ranked Opponents. Throughout the 2020 season, BYU will face four top 25 preseason teams including No. 3 Oklahoma at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. 

Back to Mexico. This will be the Cougars fourth trip to the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. Last season, BYU faced two ranked teams and took down No. 18 Baylor in its second game of the tournament. In 2017, the Cougars came home with a 2-2 record also beating No. 13 Washington. At the inaugural tournament in 2015, BYU won all four games. 

Return to the WCC. This will be BYU’s seventh season as a member of the West Coast Conference after joining in the 2014 season. Since its first season, BYU has claimed the WCC Championship the last six-straight years. Last season, BYU earned three of the top season awards including Player of the Year (Lexi Tarrow), Pitcher of the Year (Arissa Paulson) and Defensive Player of the Year (Erin Miklus) as well as having seven players be named to the All-WCC teams. 

BYU Record Book. Left fielder Rylee Jensen-McFarland returns for her senior season at BYU already ranked in multiple categories in the BYU record books. Jensen-McFarland ranks top 10 at BYU in career batting average (.350), runs (143) and on-base percentage (.444). Only a junior, starting pitcher Arissa Paulson ranks top ten at BYU in career wins (33), complete games (31), shutouts (7) and strikeouts (280).

Opponent Outlook

George Washington | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 10 a.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 0-0
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
Under Eakin: ---
Longest win Streak: ---
Last win: ---
Longest Losing Streak: ---
Last loss: ---

Nevada | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 12:30 a.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 5-3
Home: 0-0
Away: 3-0
Neutral: 2-3
Under Eakin: 5-3
Longest win Streak: 3 
Last win: 8-0, 2/17/19
Longest Losing Streak: 3
Last loss: 20-10, 2/15/19

Oregon | Friday, Feb. 7 | 6 p.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 4-10
Home: 1-0
Away: 0-8
Neutral: 3-2
Under Eakin: 3-10
Longest win Streak: 1, four times 
Last win: 6-5, 3/25/14
Longest Losing Streak: 4
Last loss: 1-0, 3/30/17

No. 3 Oklahoma | Saturday,  Feb. 8 | 8:30 p.m. CST | FloSoftball 

Overall: 0-7
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-3
Neutral: 0-4
Under Eakin: 0-6
Longest win Streak: --- 
Last win: ---
Longest Losing Streak: 7
Last loss: 5-0, 2/22/19