BYU softball team ousted from regional

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Despite almost knocking off NCAA Regional host and No. 11 Ohio State, the BYU softball team's season drew to a close with back-to-back losses at the Columbus Regional on Friday.

The Cougars ended the season with a 40-18 record after letting go of a 4-0 lead against Ohio State for a 5-4 eight-inning loss, and then falling 4-2 at the hands of Kentucky.

"It's a disappointing way to end the season," BYU head coach Gordon Eakin said. "Kentucky deserves credit, but we couldn't rebound from the loss against Ohio State."

The games marked the end of the BYU careers of both Stephanie Hopkins and Monica Gonzales. Hopkins got things going for the Cougars against Kentucky, driving in both of BYU's runs when she launched hard-hit ball just inside the left field foul pole for her eighth home run of the year and the first BYU hit of the game.

Paige Affleck, who received the loss in both of Friday's games, kept Kentucky scoreless through the first three innings, working her way out of a no-out, two-runners-on-base jam in the third before Brittany Cervantes drove the ball just past the left field fence for a solo homer. It was the second roundtripper Affleck allowed during the day's competition.

A mishandled ground ball gave the following batter a single, and she reached second on the error putting a runner in scoring position with no outs. The following batter singled to right field, and the runner scored, tying the game 2-2.

Kentucky took the lead in the fifth inning after Affleck gave up two walks and a single to centerfield brought in the lead runner.

Freshman Tiffany Messerschmidt singled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning. After a sacrifice bunt left first base open, Kentucky intentionally walked BYU leading-slugger and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Jessica Purcell.

The move proved to be effective, as both Ramirez and Coreen Lopez flied out to end the inning.

With one last chance to grab a few insurance runs, Wildcat Molly Johnson doubled on a fly ball to center field despite Angeline Quiocho's diving effort. Johnson stole third base on the following pitch and scored on a line drive back to the pitcher.

With the Cougars' final at-bat in the bottom half of the inning, the offense was unable to generate any firepower, closing the game at 4-2 and also concluding the 2009 season for BYU.