BYU opens home slate with inaugural Big 12 series
BYU softball will open up its inaugural Big 12 Conference slate at home this week, welcoming Texas Tech to Gail Miller Field.
PROVO, Utah — BYU softball will open up its inaugural Big 12 Conference slate at home this week, welcoming Texas Tech to Gail Miller Field in the program's first conference series as new members of the league.
The Cougars and the Red Raiders will face off in a three-game set Thursday-Saturday, March 7-9. Both Thursday and Friday's 5 p.m. MT first pitches have been moved up to 3 p.m. in effort to avoid inclement weather and freezing temperatures in the area.
| BYU vs. Texas Tech | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Live Stream | Live Stats |
| Thursday, March 7 | 3 p.m. MST | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
| Friday, March 8 | 5 p.m. MST | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
| Saturday, March 9 | Noon MST | Big 12 Now on ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
BYU went 2-1 at Sacramento State and UC Davis' Capital Classic last week, falling to the host Hornets before beating the Aggies, 5-3, and Gauchos, 8-3. The Cougars saw just one game canceled due to the Northern California rain: in-state foe Utah State.
Center fielder Violet Zavodnik led the way offensivley with a .500 batting average, hitting two home runs with four RBI, four runs and a 1.200 slugging percentage. Lily Owens (.444), Maddie Bejarano (.429) and Ailana Agbayani (.400) joined Zavodnik with .400 or better batting averages on the week.
In the circle, Alyssa Aguilar and Gianna Mares each picked up wins, with Kate Dahle's 2.47 ERA a team-low for the weekend on 5.2 innings pitched with a team-high nine strikeouts. BYU's pitching staff held its opponents to a .229 batting average across its three games.
On the season, Bejarano continues to pace the Cougars with a .512 batting average, one of seven BYU hitters posting averages of .300 or better: Owens (.479), Zavodnik (.460), Agbayani (.431), Huntyr Ava (.351), Maddie Udall (.308) and Keila Kamoku (.302). The Cougars are hitting .355 as a team, while holding opponents to a .243 average.
Dahle tops the team with a 1.77 ERA in 2024, while Chloe Temples' 2.87 ERA has come on a team-high 46.1 innings pitched and 54 strikeouts. The duo have combined to post a 9-3 record this season.
BYU ranks No. 6 nationally in scoring, averaging eight runs per game. The Cougars are also ninth in on-base percentage (.447), 11th in batting average (.355), 27th in slugging percentage (.526) and 28th in walks drawn (69).
Again led by Bejarano, who leads the country in sacrifice bunts per game (0.67), BYU has six hitters who rank in the top-20 of statistical categories. Agbayani and Owens are No. 5 and No. 10 in runs per game, with 1.39 and 1.31, respectively.
Ava is 11th with three sacrifice flies, and Bejarano is 12th with a .512 batting average. Ava also ranks No. 16 in RBI per game (1.39) and No. 17 in total RBI, with 25, while Zavodnik is No. 18 in slugging percentage (.940). Kamoku also ranks 18th, with 0.31 sacrifice bunts per game.
Hosting their first home game since May 6, 2023, the Cougars return to Gail Miller Field this week to open up their first season of Big 12 play after spending a month on the road to begin the 2024 campaign.
Texas Tech (17-4, 0-0 Big 12)
- The Red Raiders come to Provo on a three-game win streak, having won four of their last five games via the run rule. They are led by second-year head coach Craig Snider, who is 48-26 (.649) during his time in Lubbock.
- Texas Tech leads the all-time series between the two teams, 2-1. BYU won the last matchup as part of Cal State Fullerton's Judi Garman Classic in 2020, 7-5. Cougar head coach Gordon Eakin is 1-1 against the Red Raiders during his tenure.
Following it's home and Big 12-opening series against Texas Tech, BYU will host an early-week game against Utah Valley on Mar. 11 before heading to Austin for its first conference road trip at Texas.