College softball roundup: Cougars beat UNLV; UVU, SLCC sweep doubleheaders

LAS VEGAS — Jessica Fitu highlighted a strong softball effort by BYU on Saturday, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs in a 14-8 victory over UNLV in Las Vegas.

Fitu put the Cougars on top in the third with a two-out single, scoring Andrea Ramirez to make the score 3-1. The RBI was Fitu's 42nd of the season. Fitu would later tally her fifth RBI of the day, moving her into third place in the Mountain West Conference behind teammates Ramirez and Angeline Quiocho.

Picking up her 28th win of the season, Paige Affleck found a way to minimize the damage in the bottom of the fourth by retiring two Rebels with the bases loaded and, in the process, recording her fifth strikeout of the game. She finished the game with eight Ks.

Freshman shortstop J.C. Clayton was the sparkplug in the fifth inning for the Cougars, starting a four-run inning with a leadoff walk. Clayton was 3-for-5 on the day, with a triple and three runs. Following an RBI single by Fitu, Amanda Kellum put the Cougars on top for good, hitting a three-run, bases-clearing double in the same frame to lengthen the lead to 7-2.

Reigning Mountain West Conference player of the week Kristin Delahoussaye tacked on an insurance run for Cougars in the sixth, belting a solo home run, her fifth of the season. Quiocho followed suite in the seventh by belting her 26th home run of the season. With the shot, Quiocho recorded her sixth home run and 18th RBI of the week.

The Cougars return to action Monday at 3 p.m. against Utah State in Logan.

SAN DIEGO STATE 1, UTAH 0: At San Diego, Utah senior right-hander Ashley Smuda gave up only one sixth-inning run in her 13th complete game of the season, but the Utes were defeated 1-0 by San Diego State on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference game at SDSU Softball Stadium.

In six impressive innings in the circle for the Utes, Smuda allowed just one run on only three hits while striking out four and walking one SDSU hitter. With the hard-luck loss, Smuda's record fell to 19-14 this season.

Utah (24-28, 4-10 MWC) outhit San Diego State, 4-3. The Utes got hits from four different players.

Utah fell to 7-3 this season in one-run games.

The Utes conclude the non-conference portion of their 2010 regular season with a doubleheader Tuesday at Utah Valley. First pitch from Orem will be at 2:30 p.m.