BYU softball team looking to advance

They are of one mind with one goal and one goal only right now. The BYU softball team wants to make it past regionals this year. They want to win their NCAA Regional at Ohio State and take it to the next level, the Super Regionals.

They'll get their chance to take the road to that goal as they take on the Kentucky Wildcats at 3 p.m. in the first ever meeting between those two schools. And they'll do it on the heels of garnering a host of Mountain West Conference awards and winning the MWC title with ease.

Head coach Gordon Eakin was named coach of the year for the first time in his tenure. Jessica Purcell was named player of the year, and Christie Zinanti snagged the pitcher of the year title.

Purcell led the league in five offensive categories, and she will be looking to post season play to add two RBIs to her impressive total to break BYU's single season RBI record as only a sophomore.

"We want to reach Super Regionals. That's been our goal all year, and we're trying to push ourselves to new limits," said Purcell, who noted that she feels that while the team is on a bit of a roll, she still thinks they haven't hit their peak and hopes they'll do that now that the playoffs have begun.

The players have really come together as a squad and field a solid defense in addition to hard-nosed pitching, lightning fast base running and a dangerous batting lineup from top to bottom. They're all hoping that the past two seasons of garnering second place honors at their Regional will give them the seasoning to propel themselves to the next level.

The Cougars' MWC title was their fourth, and they led three teams from the MWC into the tournament this season as both San Diego State and UNLV were also given bids. And Eakin believes that this team is one that has the chance to break through.

Eakin has preached the goal of reaching a Super Regional all season long, and though he knows how tough Ohio State and Kentucky can be, he also has a strong belief that his team was built for NCAA competition.

"We feel good about our team's ability to win, and we have been focused on reaching the Super Regional all year long," said Eakin.

Softball NCAA Regionals

BYU (39-16)vs. Kentucky (32-21)

3 p.m. at Columbus, Ohio

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