Affleck Pitches Gem to Defeat Auburn

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

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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

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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

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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.