PROVO, Utah — Fresh off a 9-1 victory at Utah Tech on Tuesday evening, BYU softball welcomes Houston for a three-game set at Gail Miller Field this week.
*BYU and Houston’s Thursday evening matchup originally scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT has been moved up to noon in an effort to avoid inclement weather forecasted in the area.
**Friday will now become a doubleheader between the two teams, with no game three on Saturday. Game two will begin at 2 p.m. MDT, with game three set to start roughly 30 minutes following the completion of game one.
| BYU vs. Houston | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Live Stream | Live Stats |
| Thursday, March 28 | Noon MDT | Facebook Live Stream | Stat Broadcast |
| Friday, March 29 | 2 p.m. MDT | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
| Friday, March 29 | 4:30 p.m. MDT | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
The Cougars (18-12, 2-7 Big 12) jumped on the Trailblazers early in St. George, plating two in the second on a dropped third strike and Utah Tech throwing error before scoring six in a third inning that was halted twice due to rain delays.
Lily Owens and Hailey Morrow each homered in the game, with Owens’ a solo shot slapped down the left field line and Morrow’s a three-run jack past the left center fence.
BYU tallied ten hits in the contest, its 13th game this season with double-digit hits. The Cougars are undefeated when recording 10 or more hits in a game this season.
Surrendering just five hits and one run to the Trailblazers, the BYU pitching staff of Gianna Mares, Chloe Temples and Alyssa Aguilar combined for six strikeouts, with Mares earning the win, her fifth of the season.
Resuming Big 12 play, the Cougars are still looking for their first conference series win. BYU took the series finale from Texas Tech three weeks ago and knocked off then-No. 4/6 Oklahoma State last week behind two grand slams.
The defeat of a ranked Cowgirls squad marked the Cougars’ first victory over a top-10 opponent since 2014. It was also the team’s sixth multi-home run game in 2024, featuring the fifth and sixth grand slams on the season.
As a team, BYU remains in the top-20 nationally in batting average (No. 17, .328), on-base percentage (No. 17, .418) and scoring, averaging 6.53 runs per game to rank 18th.
Maddie Bejarano paces the Cougars on an individual scale, continues to be the country’s leader in sacrifice bunts per game, with 0.43. Huntyr Ava is No. 13 in sacrifice flies (4) and RBI per game (1.20), while Ailana Agbayani’s 1.17 runs per game are good for 14th. Bejarano is also No. 15 in on-base percentage, at .547.
Heading into this weekend’s matchup, BYU sits in a three-way tie for seventh place in the league with Houston and UCF, its conference opponents the next two weeks.
Houston (20-12, 2-7 Big 12)
- The Cougars come to Provo after their midweek win over Prairie View A&M and a series loss to Kansas at home.
- Outside of Big 12 opponents, the only common opponent between BYU and Houston is Rutgers. The red Cougars split a pair with the Scarlet Knights in Houston, while the Cougars of Provo run-ruled Rutgers in Palm Springs.
- Houston leads the all-time series between the two teams, 6-1. The only previous meeting in Provo was a three-game series back in 2013. BYU’s lone win came in 2004 at Houston.
Following its battle of the Cougars, BYU will welcome Utah Tech for a Tuesday evening matchup at Gail Miller Field before hitting the road for a three-game set at UCF.