Cougar baseball faces Kansas in weekend series

BYU baseball welcomes Kansas to Miller Park, March 28-30, for the Cougars' second Big 12 home series of the season.

23-24BSB vs Houston 3-15 100423-24BSB vs Houston 3-15 1004

UPDATE (MARCH 28): Due to inclement weather expected in the Provo area on Saturday, games two and three of the conference series will be played on Friday as part of a double header beginning at 12:30 p.m. MT at Miller Park. 

 

PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball welcomes Kansas to Miller Park, March 28-30, for the Cougars' second Big 12 home series of the season. 

Kansas (12-10, 4-5) at BYU (11-11, 4-5) | Miller Park | Provo, UT
Game Dates & Times (MDT) Watch  Listen  Live Stats
Thursday, March 28 at 1 p.m. BYU Cougars YouTube BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App Follow Here
Friday, March 29 at 12:30 p.m. Big 12 Now on ESPN+ BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App Follow Here
Friday, March 29 at 4:00 p.m. Big 12 Now on ESPN+ BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App Follow Here

With matching 4-5 records in Big 12 play, BYU and Kansas enter the weekend series in a five-team logjam at seventh place in the conference standings. 

Both teams will look to snap losing skids in the first game on Thursday. BYU has dropped three-straight with a loss to Utah Valley on Monday night following losses in each of its last two games at Texas Tech March 22-23. The Jayhawks have lost their last two Big 12 series, falling most recently to UCF at home (13-3, 2-6, 1-4) after dropping two of three at Cincinnati (14-4, 0-1, 1-10) March 15-17. Kansas opened Big 12 play with a series win over then-No. 3 ranked TCU (3-1, 8-4, 4-13) March 8-10. 

Preseason All-Big 12 infielder Kodey Shojinaga leads the Jayhawks offense with a batting average of .323 with 16 runs, eight doubles, three home runs and 18 RBI. Infielder Collier Cranford leads Kansas with 20 RBI and bats .318 with 16 runs, six doubles, two triples and three homers. Catcher Jake English is tied with BYU third baseman Easton Jones for fourth in the Big 12 with six home runs on the season. 

The Kansas pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 in team ERA (4.06), and is headlined by Reese Dutton and Dominic Voegele. Dutton, who will start game one on Thursday, holds an ERA of 2.57 and is tied for the league lead with five wins (5-1). Voegele’s batting avereage allowed of .186 is third in the Big 12. 

BYU and Kansas meet this weekend as the Big 12’s two best pitching marks in fewest home runs allowed. The Jayhawks have given up a league-low 12 bombs with BYU in second at 14. 

The Cougars stand atop the Big 12 in team triples on the year with nine through 22 games. Left fielder Luke Anderson leads BYU in batting (.349), run (17), hits (29) and is tied for the team lead in doubles (5) with second baseman Crew Robinson. 

Cougar closer Stone Cushing maintains a tie for first in the Big 12 with five saves while reliever Mason Olson is second in the conference with 12 appearances.

KNOW THE FOE

KANSAS (12-10, 4-5): The conference foes will look to break a 6-6 series tie in the 13th all-time meeting between the schools on Thursday. BYU is 2-1 in its only home meetings versus Kansas, a series win (6-3, 4-15, 3-0) on March 20-21 and 23, 2013. The Cougars swept the Jayhawks (11-0, 8-2, 7-6) in their last meeting March 3-5, 2016 in Lawrence. 

BYU and Kansas met for the first time on March 22, 1968 at the Riverside Baseball Invitational in Riverside, California. The game ended in a 4-3 Jayhawk victory.

Kansas is led by second-year head coach Dan Fitzgerald. The Jayhawks went 25-32 (8-16) and finished eighth in the Big 12 under Fitzgerald in 2023. Fitzgerald has faced BYU once previously in a win over the Cougars on March 10, 2014 while an assistant coach at Dallas Baptist. 

Kansas was predicted to finish eighth in the Big 12 Preseason Poll.