BYU softball beats UVU but both benefit from chance to play | News, Sports, Jobs

Courtesy BYU Photo

A BYU player crosses home plate during the 2-0 Cougar win over UVU at Gail Miller Field in Provo on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

The scoreboard always indicates which team is better on a given day.

The lights on the board at Gail Miller Field in Provo on Wednesday evening showed that the BYU softball team was a couple of runs better than the visitors from Utah Valley as the Cougars got the 2-0 win.

But both BYU head coach Gordon Eakin and Wolverine head coach Cody Thomson felt that their teams benefited from the midweek contest.

It’s not hard to understand Eakin being very pleased with the pitching of Chloe Temples, since she tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts.

“Chloe pitched an incredible game for us,” Eakin said. “She gave us a chance to win even though we only scored two runs.”

The Cougars didn’t get a lot of offense but did just enough, with designated player Huntyr Eva leading the way as she was 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI.

But what Eakin was most glad to see was that his team was actually on the field getting some game action again.

“On the last day of finals and having not played for 11 days, a win is a win and we’ll take it,” Eakin said. “We made some mistakes, mistakes we don’t usually make a lot. But when brains are frazzled with finals, sometimes you have to be a little bit patient with that.”

He noted that after having multiple weather-related cancellations, getting to face the Wolverines was “critical.”

“Having 11 days off when you are in conference play is a killer,” Eakin said. “Sometimes you have four or five off during finals but we had three games canceled since our last series. This was important to knock the rust off.”

While UVU hadn’t had as many days off as BYU had, Thomson viewed this game as being big for his team because it was an opportunity to face a really good opponent.

“These games against BYU and Utah provide a postseason feel,” Thomson said. “These are the types of teams we are going to play in the postseason, which is what we are preparing for. We are preparing to go win our conference tournament in Texas and this is great preparation.”

He acknowledged, however, that with a big WAC conference series with Dixie State coming up, the approach does have to be a little bit different.

“It’s a really tough balance because conference games are huge,” Thomson said. “Some of our pitching changes tonight were pretty much pre-scripted. We would get to a certain number of pitches and then switch pitchers, but they did a really good job. But strategically it is a little bit different.”

The Wolverines did get a milestone from center fielder Madison Carr, who used a bunt single in the top of the first inning to get on base. It was the 28th straight game where Carr has gotten on base, which is a new UVU record.

It’s extra special for Thomson, since Carr is his nice.

“I’ve coached her my whole life,” Thomson said. “I knew coming into the year that her batting average wasn’t great the last couple years but I knew that it was going to be different. It was just little tweaks. She didn’t drag bunt a lot last year. When we got that going, it’s got her on base a lot. It’s been kind of a cool opportunity to be able to coach her again and get back to the roots of what makes her really good which is her speed.”

Both Eakin and Thomson feel optimistic about how their teams are playing at this point in the season.

“We have seen the growth of this team,” Eakin said. “We’re playing pretty fundamentally sound softball right now but this game turns on a dime. You never know what tomorrow brings. But right now we’re playing the way we need to be playing this time of year and if that continues, then we will be pretty hard to beat.”

Thomson said he sees the Wolverines rounding into form as well.

“I feel like we’re hitting a good stride,” Thomson said. “We won four in a row and beat Grand Canyon, which is a great, great team. We had our first sweep of the year against Cal Baptist and I feel like we’re going in the right direction. We’re hitting really well. We feel like we’re pitching really well and the defense is coming right along.”

BYU (26-10) plays at San Diego on Friday at 6:30 pm MT, while UVU (16-18) welcomes Dixie State to Orem for a doubleheader on Thursday, with the first game starting at 2 pm

Courtesy BYU Photo

A BYU batter hits the ball during the 2-0 Cougar win over UVU at Gail Miller Field in Provo on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

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