PROVO -- Almost half of the season is done as the BYU softball team takes advantage of the longest break of the year.
This break allows the Cougars a chance to rest, evaluate their past performance on the road, and gear up for one last road tournament before the home opener versus Utah State on March 31.
“The 12-day break will give us a change to rest up, heal nagging injuries and work on lessons we’ve learned in our first 23 games,” said BYU head coach Gordon Eakin. “The break in our schedule will also provide a great opportunity for the team to catch up on some much needed studying.”
The time off could not have come at a better time for BYU as more than half the team is battling an illness. Flu-like symptoms hit the Cougars sometime between Friday night, March 12, and Saturday afternoon before the team’s second game against then No. 10 Arizona State at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
With a 16-7 record, the Cougars have played all 23 games on the road. The team will play a total of 41 of its 54 regular-season games on the road.
All losses except one have come versus nationally ranked teams including No. 1 Washington and 2 Arizona. Other ranked opponents include then No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 10 Arizona St. and Oklahoma St. who is currently ranked No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Poll.
The Cougars have defeated several ranked teams as well this year as they beat then No. 19 Texas A&M twice, and also Oregon.
“If you want to be the best you need to play with the best and that is what our schedule has allowed us to do,” Eakin said.
BYU has faced a ranked team at least once each tournament for the past four weeks. That trend continues next week as the Cougars will take on No. 12 Stanford in the Stanford Invitational, March 26-28, at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium. BYU will also face UC Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and the University of Pacific.