PROVO, Utah — BYU softball makes its annual trip to Palm Springs to participate in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic this week.
The Cougars, playing in Palm Springs for the 16th time in 24 seasons as a program, will take on Bethune-Cookman, UC Riverside, Long Beach State, Cal Poly and Rutgers at the tournament, with all five games set to be streamed on FloSoftball.
BYU will play two games at Big League Dream’s Fenway Park, one at Yankee Stadium, one at Des Moines Field and one at Pawtucket Field. Tickets and more information can be found at the Mary Nutter website.
| 2024 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Opponent | Live Stream | Live Stats |
| Thursday, Feb. 22 | 12 p.m. PST | Bethune-Cookman | FloSoftball | Stat Broadcast |
| Thursday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. PST | UC Riverside | FloSoftball | Stat Broadcast |
| Friday, Feb. 23 | 3:30 p.m. PST | Long Beach State | FloSoftball | Stat Broadcast |
| Saturday, Feb. 24 | 5 p.m. PST | Cal Poly | FloSoftball | Stat Broadcast |
| Saturday, Feb. 24 | 8 p.m. PST | Rutgers | FloSoftball | Stat Broadcast |
BYU went 3-2 at Arizona State’s Littlewood Classic last week, falling to the host Sun Devils, 10-6, and in a tight 2-1 contest to Virginia Tech before beating Illinois State, Memphis and Cal State Fullerton with a walk-off in extra innings.
First baseman Huntyr Ava hit a two-out RBI-double in the bottom of the seventh against the Titans, tying the game to keep the Cougars alive. In the eighth, designated player Maddie Udall took a 1-0 pitch into right field, scoring Lily Owens, who began the extra frame at second base, for the win.
Udall and outfielder Maddie Bejarano each hit .500 for the week, while second baseman Keila Kamoku batted .375. Shortstop Ailana Agbayani and outfielder Violet Zavodnik each hit .357, with Ava tallying a team-high 11 RBI on a .333 average.
Through the first two weeks, Bejarano leads BYU with a .500 batting average on the season. Owens is hitting .409, Zavodnik .400 and both Ava and Agbayani are at .364. Zavodnik leads the team with three home runs, while five other Cougars have one homer.
Pitchers Chloe Temples and Kate Dahle each have three wins on the year. Temples has a team-low 2.15 ERA, while Dahle (2.19) and Kaysen Korth (2.92) are just behind.
Temples also leads the team with 32 strikeouts. Dahle has fanned 20, Korth 11 and Gianna Mares five. With 29.1 innings pitched, Temples has spent the majority of time in the circle for BYU. Dahle and Korth have pitched 16 and 12 innings, respectively.
Beginning the 2024 campaign with an 8-2 record, it is the best start for the Cougars since the 2022 season, when BYU went 8-1 through the first two weeks, winning a game at Mary Nutter to start 9-1 before falling to a ranked Tennessee team.
BYU returns to a familiar place in Palm Springs this week. The Cougars went 1-3 at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City last year, and will look for a better finish at the Collegiate Classic this season with a continued strong start.
Bethune-Cookman (1-8, 0-0 SWAC)
- BYU leads the all-time series, 4-0. All four matchups in series history have been neutral site meetings at Mary Nutter.
- Cougar head coach Gordon Eakin is 4-0 against the Wildcats during his tenure.
UC Riverside (3-4, 0-0 Big West)
- BYU leads the all-time series, 4-0. All four matchups have come at a neutral site, but just the last meeting between the two teams in 2020 came in Palm Springs.
- Eakin is 4-0 against the Highlanders while at the helm with the Cougars.
Long Beach State (0-9, 0-0 Big West)
- LBSU leads the all-time series, 6-5. 10 of the 11 matchups have occurred at neutral sites, but only the last two meetings in 2022 and 2023 have been at Mary Nutter. The Cougars won last year’s matchup, 6-5.
- Eakin has a 5-6 record against the Beach, going 4-6 at neutral sites.
Cal Poly (7-2, 0-0 Big West)
- BYU leads the all-time series, 8-4. 11 of the 12 matchups have been played at neutral sites, but just the 2010 meeting was played in Palm Springs.
- Eakin is 8-4 against the Mustangs, with a 7-4 record at neutral sites.
Rutgers (6-4, 0-0 Big Ten)
- Saturday’s matchup will mark the first matchup between BYU and Rutgers in series history.
- The Cougars and Scarlet Knights have met just five other times in other collegiate sporting events, once apiece in men’s and women’s basketball and three time in women’s volleyball.
Following BYU’s time in Palm Springs, it will head to Northern California for its final non-conference tournament road trip before Big 12 play, taking part in the Capital Classic next week, joint hosted by Sacramento State and UC Davis.