PROVO, Utah — After playing eight games in nine days throughout California to open the 2025 season, BYU will once again hit the road this weekend for a three-game series with former conference foe Gonzaga, Feb. 27-March 1, in Spokane, Washington. Game one of the series is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 27 at Steve Hurtz Field with the first pitch set for 3 p.m. PT.
| BYU at Gonzaga | Coach Steve Hurtz Field | Spokane, Washington | |||
| Date & Time (MST) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Thursday, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. | ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Friday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. | ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. | ESPN+ | BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
BROADCAST PLANS. The Gonzaga–BYU baseball series will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and will also be available on the BYU Radio app all three days, with Thursday and Friday simulcast in the Utah County market on 107.9 FM. Veteran play-by-play announcer Dave McCann will have the call with Tuckett Slade as the analyst.
CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE. The Cougars opened the 2025 baseball season going 4-4 in eight games played over nine days from Feb. 14-22 in Fresno, Los Angeles and Northridge. The Cougars picked up a 2-2 split in the four-game series (17, 4-13, 7-1, 6-4) with defending Mountain West champion Fresno State, Feb. 14-17. The Bulldogs, who won the 2024 MW tournament and advance to the NCAAs, were picked to defend their title in 2025.
The Cougars then dropped a midweek game on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at UCLA, 4-14, at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. BYU then took the weekend series over CSUN 2-1, with wins on Thursday and Friday (19-3, 7-3), before falling in Saturday’s game (4-9).
FULLY VEST’D. BYU first baseman Cooper Vest was named Big 12 Co-Player of the Week for his performance against UCLA and CSUN. Vest, who has started 97 straight games for the Cougars over the past three seasons, shared the weekly award with Nu’u Contrades of Arizona State. Over four games, Vest hit .438 with a slugging percentage of 1.188.
The senior from St. George, Utah, had three home runs, three doubles, drove in five runs and scored seven times in 16 at bats. Vest had a home run in each game of the three-game series at CSUN, leading BYU to its first series win of the 2025 season. Through the first eight games of 2025, Vest leads the Big 12 in home runs (4) and total bases (25) as well as fielding percentage (1.000) and double plays (7). He is hitting .303 and leads BYU in home runs (4), doubles (3), runs (9), total bases (25) and slugging percentage (.758).
OFFENSIVE LEADERS. Junior, right fielder Bryker Hurdsman is also off to a hot start, leading the Cougars in batting average (.393), hits (11), runs (9) and solen bases (3). He also has five walks, two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Leftfielder Luke Anderson, who is tied for the team lead with 11 hits, is also the team leader in RBI (11) and is second in home runs (3).
ON THE HILL. BYU’s three weekend starters are 3-1 on the year and have combined for 27.1 innings of work in six early-season starts. Game one starter Payton Gubler is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA. He leads the BYU staff in innings pitched (11) and strike outs (7). Game-two starter Jaden Harris is 1-0 with three strikeouts over eight innings. Game three starter Garrison Sumner is also 1-0 on the year with four Ks over 8.1 innings. He is holding opposing batters to an average of .138.
OUT OF THE PEN. The Cougars top four relievers have combined for 19 innings and have surrendered just seven earned runs. Hayden Coon appeared in two games, pitching five innings while giving up just one hit and no runs with one save. He is holding opposing batters to an .067 average. Left-handed Justis Reiser has also pitched five innings in relief and has not surrendered a hit. He is tied with Gubler for a team-leading seven strikeouts. Brayden Marx has pitched 4.1 innings, striking out five and holding opposing batters to .200, while Luke Sterner has gone 4.2 innings with four strikeouts. BYU preseason All-American closer Stone Cushing picked up his first save of the year in a 6-4 win over Fresno State. Cushing now has 11 career saves and is tied for fourth all-time at BYU with Jordan Muir (2006-09).
KNOW THE FOE. Thursday marks the 68th all-time meeting between the Cougars and Zags with Gonzaga leading the series 36-31. BYU narrowed the series gap a season ago with its first ever three-game sweep of the Zags in Provo (3-2, 11-2, 6-4). The two clubs last met in Spokane as West Coast Conference members in a series Gonzaga won (1-5, 6-5, 2-8) March 30-April 1, 2023. BYU’s first ever meeting with the Zags came in a 12-3 defeat on June 4, 1971 in the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga enters week three at 2-4 following series losses at UC Davis (6-1, 1-3, 1-5) and Baylor (0-4, 2-5, 8-7). Zags head coach Mark Machtolf is in his 22nd season at the helm in Spokane. His team finished 2024 at 21-32 (14-10) and fourth in the WCC in 2024. Gonzaga entered 2025 picked to finish tied for third in the league with Saint Mary’s.
Infielder Hudson Shupe leads the Zags’ offense, hitting .522 with four runs on 12 hits and three RBI. Gonzaga’s two wins on the season are credited to pitchers Erik Hoffberg and Payton Graham. Hoffberg has an ERA of 4.26 with five strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched while Graham has fanned seven in five innings while holding opponents to a .143 batting average.