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Eugene, Ore. • Another stellar season of BYU softball ended with a decisive loss in the NCAA Tournament when 25th-ranked North Dakota State thumped the Cougars 7-0 Friday night at the Eugene Regional.

The shutout defeat was BYU's second in three games in Eugene. The Cougars have won seven consecutive titles in three leagues and advanced to regionals 11 consecutive years, but BYU has lost its final game by five or more runs the past three years.

The fourth-seeded Cougars, who edged No. 3 seed Fresno State 8-7 earlier Friday, finished 40-14. BYU went 0-5 against Top 25 teams.

Second seed North Dakota State (45-10) and No. 1 seed Oregon (48-6) play for the regional championship Saturday at Howe Field.

North Dakota State, the Summit League champion, outhit BYU 13-3. Krista Menke (34-5), who has thrown complete games in all three of the Bison's regional games, struck out nine and walked one.

"She deserves a lot of credit," BYU coach Gordon Eakin said. "That whole team does. North Dakota State is a fine team, and she's an excellent pitcher."

The Bison scored in each inning but the seventh. Rain fell during much of the game, helping limit the crowd of an estimated 150.

McKenna Bull (34-9), tied for the Division I lead in wins coming into the day, pitched all but one inning in BYU's three regional games. Bull earned her first save of the season when she returned to the Fresno State game after sitting out the fifth inning, when the Bulldogs (40-16) scored three runs off Madison Merrell to take a 6-5 lead.

The Cougars, who blew a 5-1 lead, made a winner out of freshman Arianna Paulson (2-3) by scoring three runs in the top of the sixth. Mercedes O'Connor's sixth homer, a two-run shot to left, was the key blow that offset Fresno State's rally.

"It was a screwball inside," O'Connor said. "I was looking for it. I was [angry] at what was going on, and I just wanted to hit the ball as hard as I could." —

Storylines

R The Cougars, champions of the West Coast Conference, finished season losing four of their last six games

• Right fielder Lacey Hofstedt, BYU's ony senior starter, ties her own school record with her 25th stolen base of the season.