PROVO, Utah — After four games in Oklahoma and Texas, BYU returns to the Beehive State this week to play at Utah Tech in St. George on Tuesday at 4 p.m. MDT.
| BYU (15-14) at Utah Tech (15-16) | Bruce Hurst Field | St. George, UT | |||
| Date & Time (MDT) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Tuesday, April 8 at 4 p.m. | ESPN+ | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
Despite dropping three of four games, BYU’s offense continued to churn out runs last week with 30 tallied in four road contests at Oral Roberts and TCU.
Four Cougars enter Tuesday’s matchup with Utah Tech hitting over .300. Outfielder Bryker Hurdsman leads BYU in batting average (.378) and doubles (10) along with 30 runs scored and 16 RBI. Luke Anderson, who has played three positions for BYU in 2025, is the Cougars’ RBI leader with 36 on the season while hitting .339, with 23 runs, seven doubles and six home runs.
Outfielder Keoni Painter and second baseman Brock Watkins are hitting .327 and .314, respectively. Painter has 14 runs on the season with seven RBI while Watkins has 25 RBI, 20 runs, six doubles and seven homers.
SERIES HISTORY. BYU and Utah Tech will meet for the 20th time on Tuesday. The instate foes have met twice each season since the Trailblazers joined the Division I ranks in 2021. BYU and then Dixie State College also played 10 times between 1953 and 1966. The Cougars hold the series advantage 15-4 and look to win back-to-back in St. George after defeating the Trailblazers 11-6 at Bruce Hurst Field in 2024.
SOUTHERN UTAH ROOTS. BYU’s roster includes seven St. George or Santa Clara natives who are returning home to play on Tuesday. The seven southern Utah natives hail from four different high school programs where they combined for four state championships and 11 all-state honors.
Hurdsman began his collegiate career at Utah Tech in 2023 before transferring to BYU. The Desert Hills High School alum started 22 games for the Trailblazers, hitting .299 and recording 16 RBI as a freshman. Hurdsman and Payton Gubler were teammates on Desert Hills' 2019 state title team.
Cooper Vest, Ridge Erickson and Cayson Bell each hail from Dixie High School. Vest, the 2020 Utah Gatorade Player of the Year, led the Flyers to two state championships. Anderson earned the state’s 2022 Gatorade Player of the Year and Deseret News Mr. Baseball honors while helping Snow Canyon High School to a state title. BYU pitcher Nolan Ficklin prepped at Pine View High School prior to beginning his collegiate career at the College of Southern Nevada in 2023.
KNOW THE FOE. Utah Tech completed its fourth NCAA Division I season in 2024 with a 14-42 overall record and finished ninth in the Western Athletic Conference at 10-20. The Trailblazers were also picked to finish ninth in the 2025 WAC Baseball Preseason Poll.
Chris Pfatenhauer is in his 13th season as the head baseball coach at Utah Tech. The Trailblazers (15-16) are ninth in the WAC standings at 1-5. Since a 10-3 win over BYU at Miller Park on March 17, Utah Tech beat Utah (12-8) and dropped league series to Cal Baptist (3-2, 7-8, 2-10) and Utah Valley (3-12, 3-6, 0-15).