PROVO, Utah — BYU softball heads to San Diego to kick off its 2025 campaign at UC San Diego's La Jolla Invitational this week.
The Cougars will face the Tritons and Winthrop twice, also playing a single game against Portland State. BYU's two games at UCSD will be streamed on ESPN+. Admission through the tournament will be free.
| La Jolla Invitational | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Date | Time | Stream | Live Stats |
| UC San Diego | Thursday, Feb. 6 | 6 p.m. PST | ESPN+ | Sidearm Stats |
| Winthrop | Friday, Feb. 7 | 1:30 p.m. PST | N/A | Sidearm Stats |
| UC San Diego | Friday, Feb. 7 | 7 p.m. PST | ESPN+ | Sidearm Stats |
| Winthrop | Saturday, Feb. 8 | 11 a.m. PST | N/A | Sidearm Stats |
| Portland State | Saturday, Feb. 8 | 1:30 p.m. PST | N/A | Sidearm Stats |
UC San Diego (16-35, 9-17 Big West)
- The Tritons closed the 2024 season on a six-game losing streak, dropping back-to-back series against CSUN and Cal Poly.
- Head coach Nikki Palmer is in her first season at UCSD. She has a career record of 226-319 (.415) with stints at UC Riverside and Utah Valley. BYU was 2-0 against Palmer's Highlander's, with both wins (2020, 24) coming at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Cougars were also 7-1 against the Wolverines with Palmer at the helm.
- BYU leads the all-time series, 1-0. The Cougars beat the Tritons at UCSD on March 4, 2022, 4-1.
Winthrop (26-29, 9-9 Big South)
- The Spartans fell to USC Upstate in the Big South Conference Championship game after going 3-1 through the tournament last season.
- Now in her second stint at Winthrop, head coach Kendall Fuller is 68-103 (.398) with the Spartans and 133-171 (.438) in her coaching career.
- This is the first meeting in softball between the two teams.
Portland State (23-24, 8-6 Big Sky)
- The Vikings went 4-1 in the Big Sky Championship tournament before falling to No. 1-seed Northern Colorado in a 10-inning title game last season.
- In year nine with PSU, head coach Meadow McWhorter is 137-213 (.391).
- BYU leads the all-time series, 10-3. The Cougars have won the last five matchups, including two 2023 neutral site wins in Tempe, Arizona and St. George, Utah.
Picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 after going 31-23 (11-16 Big 12) to place sixth a season ago, the Cougars return five of their top hitters from the 2024 batting lineup in Lily Owens, Maddie Udall, Keila Kamoku, Aleia Agbayani and Hailey Morrow, as well as pitchers Kate Dahle and Gianna Mares to go along with 2023 All-WCC First Teamer Kaysen Korth, who pitched just 13 innings last year.
In total, BYU returns 15 total players from its 2024 roster. The Cougars also added three transfers, highlighted by Eastern Illinois/Iowa catcher Lindy Milkowski, and five freshmen: Danica Acosta, Ilove'a Brittingham, Amiya Hernandez, Ariyah Morgan, Bre Townsend and Jada Villegas.
Owens represented BYU as the lone Cougar on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. The utility player started 48 of 51 games last season at four different positions, with nine games as the DP. She was named to the NFCA All-Midwest Region First Team in 2024.
Morrow is the other BYU returnee who received an award a year ago. The infielder/catcher was named Big 12 Player of the Week once last season after hitting .583 and sluging 1.583 against Idaho State and Iowa State.
As a team, the Cougars finished the 2024 season ranked No. 7 nationally in scoring (6.70 runs per game), No. 10 in on-base percentage (.409), No. 16 in batting average (.319) and No. 19 in slugging percentage (.514).
On an individual level, Dahle was 17th (second in the Big 12) in hit batters at just two all season. She led the Big 12 and was 44th in the country in saves, totaling four.
After its five-game slate in San Diego, BYU will head to Mexico for another five games at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 12.