PROVO, Utah — After sweeping Santa Clara 3-0 at home in WCC play over the weekend, BYU baseball hits the road for a four-game, non-conference series at Nebraska, April 14-16.
The series with the traditional Big 10 powerhouse includes single games on Thursday (6:35 p.m. CT) and Saturday (11:05 a.m.) as well as a double header on Friday (2 and 5:30 p.m.). All four contests will be played at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.
BROADCAST PLANS. The games will be broadcast live on the Big 10+ digital network as well as the BYU Radio Network—BYUcougars.com, BYU Cougars App and 107.9 FM in the local Utah market.
SERIES HISTORY. Thursday’s contest will be the ninth meeting between BYU and Nebraska. The previous eight games between the two schools were played at neutral sites, with the Cornhuskers holding a 5-3 series record.
The first baseball game between BYU and Nebraska was played on March 26, 1980, at the Riverside Invitational in California and ended in a 19-6 Cougar win. The most recent game, a 9-1 Nebraska win, was held on Feb. 21, 2015 in Peoria, Arizona at the Peoria Sports Complex.
NEBRASKA REVIEW. Nebraska enters the BYU series with a 12-18 overall record and is 4-5 in Big 10 play. The Cornhuskers are 3-7 over their last 10 games, including a 3-0 sweep at Ohio State, followed by four losses to Omaha and Rutgers last week.
COUGAR RECAP. BYU is 17-12 on the year and 6-6 in WCC action. The Cougars are 5-5 in their last 10 games, including a sweep of WCC foe Santa Clara in Provo last weekend.
BYU ON THE HILL. Taking the mound for game one is right-handed sophomore Jack Sterner, who has a 3-1 record in eight starts. He leads BYU in ERA (2.25), innings pitched (44) and strikeouts (42). In his last outing, Sterner went 5.1 innings, surrendered just one earned run, while striking out seven batters in a victory over Santa Clara.
The rest of the starting rotation includes game two starter Ryan Brady, a sophomore from Park City, Utah, and game four starter Janzen Keisel, a freshman from Gunnison, Utah. The game three starter will be determined prior to the second game of the double header on Friday. Both Brady and Keisel will be making their eighth appearance in 2022. Keisel is 2-2 and has thrown 32.1 innings with a 4.73 ERA. Brady is 2-2 in four starts with an ERA of 4.22 over 32 innings.
The Cougar pitching staff also includes WCC Pitcher of the Week in Bryce Robison. The sophomore from Las Vegas, appeared in two games for the Cougars last week. He faced seven batters over two scoreless innings at Dixie State on Tuesday, then came out of the bullpen to pitch five complete innings for a win over Santa Clara in game two of the series last Friday. Robison faced 19 Broncos, allowing just four hits while striking out seven in the victory.
Through 29 games in 2022, the BYU pitching staff has an ERA of 3.38 and has recorded 270 strikeouts, an average of 9.3 per game.
AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Mitch McIntyre, Brock Watkins and Ozzie Pratt.
Watkins leads the team in total bases (53), runs (21), hits (34) and slugging percentage (.505). McIntyre is the team leader in on base percentage (.445) and stolen bases (6) and is second in hits (33), runs (19) and RBI (19).
Pratt was named WCC Player of the Week on Monday for his performance in the weekend sweep of Santa Clara and the midweek game at Dixie State. Pratt, a freshman from Oxford, Mississippi, collected 10 hits in 16 at bats for an average of .625. The Cougar second baseman had at least two hits in all four games and led the Cougars in nearly every offensive category, including batting average, on base percentage (.667) and slugging (.813).
NEW SKIPPER. On Monday, BYU baseball head coach Mike Littlewood resigned from his position for personal reasons. Associate head coach Trent Pratt has assume the role of interim head coach of the Cougars for the remainder of the 2022 season. Pratt joined the baseball staff as an assistant coach in 2012 and was promoted to associate head coach in 2017. The balance of the baseball staff continues in their current roles.