SERIES PREVIEW. BYU is currently 15-11 on the year and 4-5 in Big 12 play. The Cougars are coming off a wild win at ORU that included eight BYU hits for 10 RBI in the 12-10 victory.
Over the weekend, No. 23 West Virginia and BYU combined for a Big 12 season-high series total of 80 combined runs with the Cougars taking the first of three games (14-5, 6-20, 16-19) on Thursday. BYU’s 36 runs over three games versus the Mountaineers came on 37 hits and included a triple, 12 doubles and 24 singles. The offense was led by outfielders Bryker Hurdsman and Luke Anderson as well as catcher Parker Goff. Each of the three posted an on-base percentage north of .600 for the series.
The Cougars enter the TCU series having won or tied five of the seven 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 four in the Big 12 in doubles (3rd, 66) and slugging percentage (5th, .483). Defensively the Cougars are second in the conference in throwing out runners (10) and seventh in fielding percentage (.976).
OFFENSIVE LEADERS. BYU first baseman Cooper Vest continues to lead the Cougars in several offensive categories and is among the top 10 in the Big 12 in home runs (T3rd, 9) and total bases (T6th, 70). The week two Big 12 Player of the Week also top five in the Big 12 defensively in double plays (T3rd, 19), chances (T2nd, 239) and putouts (2nd, 222). Vest is hitting .295 and leads BYU in five offensive categories including runs (30), triples (2), home runs (9), total bases (70) and hit by pitch (11).
BYU outfielder Hurdsman has the third best batting average in the Big 12 (.429) and is leading BYU in average, doubles (10), stolen bases (7) and slugging (.679). He is also second in on-base percentage (.505). Anderson is also top three in several offensive categories for the Cougars including batting average (.352), hits (37), RBI (30) and total bases (59). Anderson has also played three different positions for the Cougars in 2025 manning left field, right field and second base while posting a .980 fielding percentage with 43 put outs, seven assists and one double play.
ON THE HILL. BYU’s weekend starters are 7-4 on the year and have combined for 99 innings in 21 starts. Game one starter Payton Gubler is 3-1 and is third in the Big 12 in innings pitched with 39 (5.57 innings per outing). The sophomore righty is holding opposing hitters to a .210 average, good for fifth in the Big 12. Gubler leads the BYU staff in innings pitched (39) and is tied with game-three starter Garrison Sumner in strikeouts (28).
Game-two starter Jaden Harris is 1-2 with 28 innings and 18 strikeouts over seven starts. He is holding opposing hitters to an average of .291. Series finale starter Garrison Sumner is 3-1 with his 28 Ks coming in 32 innings. Sumner is also limiting batters to an average of .279.
OUT OF THE PEN. The Cougars top five relievers have combined for 49 appearances and 70 innings with a 5-4 record and two saves. Left hander Justis Reiser has 11 appearances with 16.2 innings in relief and is holding opponents to a .187 average, while striking out 16 with one save and a 3-0 record. Right hander Brayden Marx has also logged 12 appearances with 18.1 innings in relief and is holding opponents to a .268 average with 21 strikeouts. Lefty Nolan Ficklin is 2-1 on the year and has logged 10.1 innings in 12 relief appearances. Right handers Cayson Bell and Luke Sterner have six and eight appearances, respecitvely, with Bell striking out 10 in 13.2 innings and Sterner 14 in 13.1.
CLOSE THE DOOR. BYU preseason first-team All-American closer Stone Cushing has two saves, a win and eight strikeouts in 10.2 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.
Ashton Johnson, a transfer from College of Southern Idaho, earned his first Division I save in BYU’s 12-10 win over Oral Roberts on Tuesday. Johnson leads the Cougars in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 14:1 in 11 innings pitched through nine appearances.
SERIES HISTORY. Thursday marks the 39th all-time meeting between the Cougars and Horned Frogs with TCU leading the series 32-6. The former Mountain West Conference foes last met in a 10-0 TCU win at the 2014 Kleberg Bank College Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas. BYU’s last win over the Horned Frogs came in its last game in Forth Worth – a 5-4 decision on March 19, 2010 in Mountain West play.
KNOW THE FOE. TCU is in its fourth season under head coach Kirk Saarloos (135-73) and entered 2025 picked to finish third in the Big 12, after a ninth-place finish (31-19, 14-16) in 2024.
The Horned Frogs are winners of seven of their last nine games and enter week six of the Big 12 standings with a 5-4 record following series wins at Texas Tech (13-2, 6-7, 9-5) and Houston (2-3, 12-0, 16-5). TCU opened Big 12 play with a series loss at now No. 24 Arizona State (3-2, 9-26, 11-12).
The Horned Frogs are 3-6 versus teams currently ranked in the D1Baseball.com Top 25 with wins over the Sun Devils, No. 13 Southern Miss and No. 15 Dallas Baptist. TCU has also dropped neutral site games to No. 2 Arkansas and No. 22 Kansas State.
Outfielder Sawyer Strosnider leads the Horned Frog bats with an average of .379, 32 RBI and four triples. Right-handed starter Tommy LaPour ranks in the top five in the Big 12 with an ERA of 3.11. LaPour holds a 3-2 record with 37.2 innings pitched and 29 strikeouts through seven starts. Reliever Braeden Sloan was named a D1Baseball.com Midseason Second Team All-American on April 2. Sloan has three saves and an ERA of 1.32 with 38 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.
Collectively, TCU’s pitching staff ranks third in the Big 12 with a team ERA of .418 and second in the league in both batters struck out (273) and saves (eight). The Horned Frog infield leads the Big 12 with 29 double plays fielded behind Anthony Silva’s 102 assists. BYU’s Ryder Robinson ranks just behind Silva in the conference with 83 helpers on the season. Silva and the Cougars’ Cooper Vest are tied in the Big 12’s top three with 19 double plays fielded.
