PROVO, Utah — After a home-opening series sweep of Gonzaga, BYU baseball returns to the road for a March 5 midweek game at UNLV, followed by its first Big 12 Conference series at West Virginia, March 7-9.
| BYU (5-5) at UNLV (9-2) | Earl E. Wilson Stadium | Las Vegas, NV | |||
| Game Date & Time (PST) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Tuesday, March 5 2:05 p.m. | Mountain West Network | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| BYU (5-5) at West Virginia (7-6) | Monongalia County Ballpark | Morgantown, WV | |||
| Game Dates & Time (EST) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Thursday, March 7 3 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Friday, March 8 3 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Saturday, March 9 1 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
BYU in Week Three
Nearly error-free defense and efficient offense powered BYU to its first-ever series sweep of Gonzaga on Feb. 29-March 1 at Miller Park. After 16 errors in the first seven games, the Cougars tightened things up defensively with just two in the Zags series. BYU’s bats came alive scoring 20 runs on 26 hits, while the pitching and defense allowed just eight Gonzaga runs on 20 hits.
Mason Olson, Stone Cushing and Bryce Robison had strong outings on the mound against Gonzaga.
Olson continues his lock-down pitching out of the bullpen and enters week four leading the Big 12 with a 0.00 ERA. The lefthanded senior from Spanish Fork, Utah is second in the conference in appearances (6) and is holding opposing batters to a .170 average, good for sixth. BYU newcomer Stone Cushing is tied for third in the Big 12 with two saves on the season. Cushing hasn’t allowed a hit or run, with eight strikeouts in five innings pitched.
Game one starter, Ben Hansen is tied for third in the Big 12 in wins (2) and innings pitched (16.0), and is fourth in opponent batting average (.153). Robison recorded his first win of the season in the Cougars’ 11-2 defeat of Gonzaga. The senior from Las Vegas is now tied with John DeSilva (1987-89) and Ed Zinter (1987-89) for eighth all-time at BYU with 23 career wins.
True freshman designated hitter Kuhio Aloy leads BYU in several offensive categories including batting average (.342), hits (13), RBI (8), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.658) and total bases (25). Sophomore third baseman Easton Jones leads the team in doubles (3) and is second in average (.324) and slugging (.588).
Know the Foe
UNLV (9-2): The Rebels and Cougars will face-off in their 150th meeting on Tuesday. BYU leads the all-time series 77-72 while UNLV has a 44-40 edge when facing the Cougars in Las Vegas. BYU lost 10-3 in its last matchup with UNLV in 2013 but won its final Mountain West series with the Rebels 2-1 in 2011.
Head coach Stan Stolte is 200-199 in his ninth season at UNLV. After winning the Mountain West’s regular season title in 2022, the Rebels fell to 21-30 (12-18) in 2023, including 3-10 in one-run or extra inning games. With the return of six starters in its batting order, UNLV is off to a 9-2 start in 2024 with a marquee win at No. 23 Stanford.
Outfielder Parker Schmidt is hitting .448 to lead the Rebels’ offense while pitcher Sam Simon holds a 2-0 record with 0.92 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 19.2 innings pitched.
WEST VIRGINIA (7-6, 0-0): Thursday marks not only BYU’s first-ever Big 12 Conference game but its first all-time meeting with the Mountaineers as well. West Virginia is led by 12th-year head coach Randy Mazey. The Mountaineer headman has nearly 950 career games under his belt as a head coach with prior tenures at East Carolina and Charleston Southern. Mazey faced BYU 23 times as an assistant at TCU from 2007-12.
West Virginia shared the 2023 Big 12 Regular Season Championship with Oklahoma State and Texas after going 40-20 (15-9), with an 18-6 home record. The Mountaineers achieved a No. 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and beat Indiana and Ball State before falling to No. 1-seed Kentucky in Game Five at the Lexington Regional.
West Virginia was picked to finish 2024 tied for sixth in the Big 12 with Oklahoma. Mountaineer infielder JJ Wetherholt was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and a First Team Preseason All-American by Perfect Game.
Fresh off a 2-2 series split with Western Kentucky, West Virginia is led by infielder Benjamin Lumsden’s .319 batting average, four doubles, three homers and 13 RBI. Pitcher Hambleton Oliver holds a team-best 2.08 ERA and 2-1 record with 13 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.
West Virginia enters the weekend ranked last in the Big 12 in batting average at .257. The Cougars, meanwhile, lead the league on the mound with opponents hitting just .204. The Mountaineers have also allowed a conference-high 20 stolen bases on 26 attempts.