SERIES SUCCESS. BYU (13-9, 3-3) is coming off a 2-1 series win over Cincinnati last week. BYU won the bookends of the series 7-5 and 4-2, with the Bearcats capturing game two 5-4. The Cougars have now won or tied five of the six series on the year, including Fresno State (2-2), CSUN (2-1), Gonzaga (3-0) and Stetson (3-1) and Cincinnati (2-1).
CONFERNECE LEADERS. As a team BYU is top five in the Big 12 in home runs (32), doubles (51) and slugging (.487). Defensively the Cougars are top five in assists (211) and runners caught stealing (9).
OFFENSIVE LEADERS. BYU first baseman Cooper Vest continues among the Big 12 leaders in total bases (1st, 69), home runs (T2nd, 9), slugging percentage (2nd, .758) and RBI (3rd, 20). The week two Big 12 Co-Player of the Week leads BYU in hits (30), runs (27), doubles (8), triples (2), home runs (9), RBI (30) and total bases (69).
Luke Anderson is second on the team in hits (28), RBI (22) and total bases (48), slugging (.661) and OBP (.465). Ryder Robinson leads the Cougars in runs (21) and walks (16), while Brock Watkins is second on the team in home runs (6) and total bases (48).
ON THE HILL. BYU’s weekend starters are 7-3 on the year and have combined for 87.1 innings in 18 starts. Game one starter Payton Gubler is 3-1 and is second in the Big 12 in innings pitched with 34.2 (5.87 innings per outing). The sophomore righty is holding opposing hitters to a .203 average, good for eighth in the Big 12. Gubler leads the BYU staff in innings pitched (34.1) and is second in strike outs (23).
Game-two starter Jaden Harris is 1-1 with 23.1 innings and 15 strikeouts over six starts. He is holding opposing hitters to an average of .273. Series finale starter Garrison Sumner is 3-1 and coming off a win at Cincinnati where he surrendered just one run in six innings while striking out a career high nine batters. On the year, Sumner leads BYU with 26 strikeouts and is holding opposing hitters to an average of .241.
OUT OF THE PEN. The Cougars top five relievers have combined for 39 appearances and 47.1 innings with a 4-3 record and two saves. Left hander Justis Reiser has nine appearances with 14.2 innings in relief and is holding opponents to a .173 average, while striking out 15 with one save and a 2-0 record. Right hander Brayden Marx has also logged nine appearances with 14.2 innings in relief and is holding opponents to a .241 average with 18 strikeouts. Lefty Nolan Ficklin is 2-1 on the year and has logged nine innings in 10 relief appearances. Right handers Cayson Bell and Luke Sterner have five appearances each with Bell striking out eight in 11.2 innings and Sterner 13 in 11.1.
CLOSE THE DOOR. BYU preseason first-team All-American closer Stone Cushing has two saves, a win and eight strikeouts in nine appearances in 2025. He currently has 12 career saves, good for fourth all-time at BYU. The righty is just three saves behind Mason Marshall (2012, 15-17) and Ryan Hancock (1991-93), who are tied for second with 15. Career saves leader Reid McLaughlin (2019-22) holds the BYU record with 22. Cushing's 12 career saves leads all active Big 12 pitchers and is 13th nationally.
SERIES HISTORY. BYU and West Virginia met for the first time in 2024 when the Cougars traveled to Morgantown for their first series as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Mountaineers took two of the three games (10-4, 1-4, 2-0) for a 2-1 lead in the young series. BYU earned its first ever Big 12 win with a 4-1 defeat of WVU in game two on March 8. Outfielder Keoni Painter was instrumental in the Cougars’ win in Morgantown, going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. BYU third baseman Easton Jones added three hits, an RBI and two runs in the 2024 series.
KNOW THE FOE. The Mountaineers are led by head coach Steve Sabins in his first season after succeeding the 12-year tenure of Randy Mazey. In Mazey’s final season at the helm in Morgantown, West Virginia finished fourth in the Big 12 with a 36-24 (19-11) record and joined Kansas State as one of two teams in the league to make an NCAA Super Regional. The Mountaineers won the 2024 Tucson Regional with wins over Dallas Baptist and Grand Canyon before falling short of Omaha with two losses versus North Carolina in the Chapel Hill Super.
Picked fourth in the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Poll, West Virginia shot out to a 13-0 start with early series wins over Jacksonville, Lipscomb, Queens and Kennesaw State. The Mountaineers lone non-conference setback came versus Kennesaw State, 13-9. West Virginia’s Big 12 season hit an early snag with fires in Oklahoma postponing two of the first three league games with Oklahoma State. After an 8-6 win over the Cowboys, the Mountaineers dropped two of three games versus No. 19 Arizona on March 21-23, before defeating Marshall on March 25.
Outfielder Skylar King (.411) and utility player Sam White (.400) lead a West Virginia offense ranked second in the Big 12 with a team batting average of .309. The Mountaineers’ aggression on the base path shows with a league-leading 66 stolen bases on 79 attempts. This weekend, the West Virginia baserunners will face a BYU defense that leads the Big 12 with nine runners caught stealing.
Starters Griffin Kirn and Carson Estridge have paced the Mountaineers to leading the Big 12 in ERA (3.06), opponent batting average (.202) and fewest runs allowed (88). Kirn is 3-0 on the season with an ERA of 3.41 and 34 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched. Estridge has won in two of six appearances with an ERA of 1.90.
