PROVO, Utah — BYU softball takes its four-game win streak to Oklahoma City this week for the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship and will play No. 3-seed Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning.
| 2024 Big 12 Softball Championship Quarterfinal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game | Date | Time | Live Stream | Live Stats |
| No. 6-seed BYU vs. No. 3-seed Oklahoma State | Thursday, May 9 | 11 a.m. CDT | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
The entirety of the tournament will be held at the newly renamed OGE Field at Devon Park, previously known at USA Sotball Hall of Fame Stadium at OGE Energy Field. Follow along with the Big 12's Championship Central page and view the full bracket on the league's website.
Fresh off a series sweep at Kansas, the Cougars’ recorded their third series win of the season with three victories over the Jayhawks, their second series sweep and first Big 12 road sweep in their inaugural season as members of the conference.
Saturday’s series finale, a 3-0 victory thanks to a pair of home runs from Hailey Morrow and Maddie Udall, secured a 30-win season for BYU, its 23rd in 24 years of the program, excluding the COVID-canceled 2020 season. Head coach Gordon Eakin has surpassed the 30 win mark in each of his 22 years at the helm outside of 2020.
Adding to their history, the Cougars’ series sweep in Lawrence locked up the No. 6-seed and a first round bye in this year’s Big 12 Championship, a spot up from the No. 7 it was picked to finish in the 2024 preseason poll.
Morrow led the way offensively during in Kansas, batting .444 on the series with a home run, three RBI and five runs scored. Maddie Bejarano, who has spent nearly the entire season in the two spot, moved into the nine spot and hit .429, going 3-for-7 with a homer and four runs scored.
Huntyr Ava joined the pair in the 400’s, tallying six RBI and one home run. Udall rounded out the BYU batters who homered against the Jayhawks, batting .333 in the series with four RBI.
Chloe Temples paced the Cougars in the circle, picking up two of the team’s three wins in the series after pitching 10 2/3 innings, posting a 0.00 ERA in the Sunflower State with nine strikeouts.
After going 30-22 (11-16 Big 12) in the regular season, BYU prepares for its first conference tournament in 12 years, having last competed in a postseason league tournament as a member of the Mountain West Conference in 2012.
No. 3-seed Oklahoma State (44-9, 21-6 Big 12)
- The Cowgirls won their series at Oklahoma over the weekend, beating the Sooners on back-to-back nights, 6-3 and 6-2.
- After winning the series in Provo this season, OSU leads the all-time series, 8-7. BYU took game two off of Oklahoma State, 11-8, fueled by grand slams from both Hailey Morrow and Huntyr Ava.
- Cougar head coach Gordon Eakin is 6-7 against the Cowgirls during his career.
On Deck
Should the Cougars beat the Cowgirls on Thursday night, they would advance to the first of two Friday night semifinal matchups and would face either No. 2-seed Oklahoma or the winner of Wednesday’s game one: No. 7-seed Kansas and No. 10-seed Houston.
Cougars vs. The Competition
BYU’s all-time series record with each of the other eight teams in the Big 12 Championship is as follows:
No. 2-seed Oklahoma
- All-time: 1-10 (L1)
- Under Eakin: 1-9
- The Cougars took a 9-4 game two contest off the Sooners on April 12, 2024, OU’s first home Big 12 loss since 2017.
No. 7-seed Kansas
- All-time: 5-5 (W3)
- Under Eakin: 5-5
- The Cougars swept the Jayhawks by a combined score of 23-8 last week, hitting two home runs in each of the last two games of the three-game set.
No. 10-seed Houston
- All-time: 3-7 (W1)
- Under Eakin: 3-6
- The Cougars of Provo earned a series win deep into a Friday night doubleheader, with Huntyr Ava delivering a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning
No. 1-seed Texas
- All-time: 2-10 (L8)
- Under Eakin: 2-10
- The Cougars were swept by the Longhorns in Austin during week two of league play. BYU hung around and took a 3-2 lead in game two of the series, but eventually fell, 7-3.
No. 4-seed Baylor
- All-time: 5-4 (L3)
- Under Eakin: 5-4
- The Cougars were swept by the Bears at home two weeks ago, including a 14-4 loss in five innings on senior night.
No. 5-seed UCF
- All-time: 0-3 (L3)
- Under Eakin: 0-3
- The Cougars were swept by the Knights in Orlando the first week of April. BYU dropped games one and three by just one run, but lost game two, 9-4.
No. 8-seed Texas Tech
- All-time: 2-4 (W1)
- Under Eakin: 2-3
- The Cougars dropped their first-ever Big 12 series to the Red Raiders in Provo, with a Maddie Udall grand slam in the sixth inning of game three helping to salvage the series.
No. 9-seed Iowa State
- All-time: 8-1 (W6)
- Under Eakin: 8-1
- The Cougars swept the Cyclones three weeks ago, their first ever Big 12 series sweep. All three contests were close, with game two going into the ninth inning before Maddie Bejarano walked it off with a solo home run.