PROVO, Utah — Fresh off its road series win over perennial baseball powerhouse Texas, BYU looks to maintain momentum with a road matchup at rival Utah on April 9 followed by a weekend home series versus Baylor April 11-13.
| BYU (13-15) at Utah (21-9) | Smith's Ballpark | Salt Lake City, UT | |||
| Game Dates & Times (MDT) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Tuesday, April 9 at 6 p.m. | Pac-12 Network | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Baylor (13-18, 5-7) at BYU (13-15, 6-9) | Miller Park | Provo, UT | |||
| Game Dates & Times (MDT) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Thursday, April 11 at 6 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Friday, April 12 at 6 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
WEEK EIGHT REVIEW
BYU bounced back from losses to Utah Valley and Kansas with two wins in three games (7-5, 3-4, 7-5) at Texas April 4-6. The Cougars delivered the Longhorns their first Big 12 home series loss since they dropped three to Oklahoma on April 21-22, 2023.
Catcher Collin Reuter came up big for BYU time and time again in Austin. In the Cougars’ two wins over Texas, Reuter combined for six hits on 10 at bats, including four home runs, four runs scored, and five RBI.
Reuter led all batters nationally on Saturday with three homers in one game. The sophomore from Olive Branch, Mississippi is one of 33 players nationally with three or more home runs in a game and is one of just three players in the Big 12 to accomplish the feat in 2024.
Stone Cushing continued his strong showings out of the bullpen helping BYU put away Texas down the stretch in both wins. Cushing pitched the ninth inning of both games holding the Longhorns without a run while posting two strikeouts and giving up just two hits on the way to his sixth and seventh saves of the season.
Cushing currently ranks among the top closers in the nation. The junior from Salem, Utah is tied for the Big 12 lead and is fifth nationally in total saves with seven.
BYU enters the season’s ninth week with the opportunity to climb in the Big 12 standings. The weekend series pits the 11th-ranked Cougars (13-15, 6-9) against 10th-place Baylor (13-18, 5-7).
| NCAA Division I Baseball Total Saves Leaders (April 8, 2024) | |||
| Rank | Name | Team | Saves |
| 1. | Ethan Bates | Louisiana Tech | 10 |
| 2. | Micah Ashman | Utah | 9 |
| 3. | Charlie Beilenson | No. 7 Duke | 8 |
| Mason Burns | Western Kentucky | 8 | |
| 5. | Stone Cushing | BYU | 7 |
| Chase Centala | UCF | 7 | |
| Bryant Olson | Mercer | 7 | |
| Brayden Sanders | Memphis | 7 | |
KNOW THE FOE
UTAH (21-9): BYU and Utah will meet for the 379th time on Tuesday. The Cougars lead the all-time series 249-128-1, including 115-66-1 on the road. BYU got the better of the Utes two out of three times last season with the last meeting ending in a 13-7 Cougar win at Smith’s Ballpark on May 9, 2023.
Utah finished 2023 with a record of 22-32-1 and 12-10 at home. With third-year head coach Gary Henderson at the helm, the Utes were picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 in 2024.
Utah’s 21-9 start to the 2024 season includes a 7-5 Pac-12 record (fifth) and 7-4 at home. The Utes have won five of their last seven, with a home series split versus Cal State Northridge (14-10, 4-18) on April 5 and 7, two wins over Utah Valley (10-1, 13-8) on April 1-2 and two of three over Stanford (3-2, 7-5, 6-13) on March 28-30.
Outfielder Kai Roberts leads the Utes in batting (.374) and RBI (32). Utah infielder Core Jackson holds a team-leading 32 runs on .341 batting with 21 RBI. Roberts (20) and Jackson (14) alsoo rank first and second, respectively, in the Pac-12’s stolen base standings.
The matchup between the Cougars and Utes on Tuesday could see a duel between the Big 12 and the Pac-12’s top closers. Utah pitcher Micah Ashman joins BYU’s Cushing among the nation’s top-five in saves with nine on the season.
BAYLOR (13-18, 5-7): Thursday marks just the third all-time meeting between BYU and Baylor and the first-ever matchup between the two teams in Provo. BYU left Waco with a 7-5 win in its last meeting with Baylor on March 2, 2010. The Bears got the better of BYU in a 7-6 win in the first meeting on Feb. 23, 2009.
Second-year Baylor head coach Mitch Thompson holds a 405-191-1 career head coaching record. Thompson joined the Bears following a prolific junior college coaching career in which he led McLennan Community College (Waco, TX) to three NJCAA World Series appearances, including a 2021 national title.
Baylor finished last in the Big 12 in 2023 with a 20-35 (6-18) record, including 3-16 on the road. The Bears are 13-18 (5-7) and 1-6 on the road through 31 games in 2024. Baylor has won five of its last seven games with two of three over Incarnate Word (13-7, 15-3, 1-14) on April 5-7, a 13-5 win over Houston Christian and a series win versus Cincinnati (3-8, 8-6, 9-2) on March 28-30.
Outfielder Enzo Apodaca leads the Bears in average (.345), runs (25) and RBI (26). Pitchers Mason Marriott and Collin McKinney lead the Baylor pitching staff with a combined 84 strikeouts. McKinney is tied for sixth in the Big 12 with an opponent batting average of .200.