PROVO, Utah — BYU softball heads to Oklahoma City to compete at its second Phillips 66 Big 12 Softball Championship this week.
The Cougars (31-16, 13-11 Big 12) finished sixth in the Big 12, a spot shy of earning a first round bye. BYU earned a bye last season and went 1-1 in its first appearance at the tournament, beating Oklahoma State in a quarterfinal contest before falling to Oklahoma in the semifinal.
BYU will face No. 11-seed Houston, who it swept on the road earlier this year, in a first round matchup on Wednesday. The winner of the day one nightcap will meet No. 3-seed Iowa State in a quarterfinal on Thursday night.
| First Round — No. 6-seed BYU vs. No. 11-seed Houston | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Time | Stream | Live Stats |
| Wednesday, May 7 | 7:30 p.m. CDT | ESPN+ | Stat Broadcast |
The Cougars dropped their senior weekend series to No. 11 and Big 12 regular season champion Texas Tech, 2-1. The Red Raiders took game one, 9-4, before a Lindy Milkowski lifted BYU to a 2-1 game two victory. Another pitcher's dual in game three saw TTU take the series finale by the same score, with an Ilove'a Brittingham home run the Cougars lone score in the 2-1 loss.
Brittingham, who homered twice in the series, finished with a .333 batting average on the weekend and was joined by Maddie Udall-Woolley (.500), Tristen Turlington (.333) and Miranda Mansfield (.250) as the four BYU batters to hit .250 or better. The Cougars picked up 11 hits and six walks against Texas Tech, but struck out 18 times.
Jada Villegas led the BYU pitching staff with a win on two appearances and five innings pitched. The southpaw gave up just one hit and two walks on the week, striking out three. Kate Dahle also tossed five frames, posting a 1.40 ERA with six strikeouts in her game two start.
At the conclusion of the regular season, the Cougars rank eighth nationally in home runs per game (1.64) and 11th in total home runs (77), leading the Big 12 in both statistical categories.
In league play, Milkowski and Brittingham finished 1-2, hammering 12 and 11 home runs against conference opponents, respectively. The duo also finished second (.851) and third (.823) in slugging percentage, with Brittingham's 34 RBI and three sacrifice flies leading the league.
Milkowski caught 17 runners stealing during the regular season, including nine in Big 12 play, both of which paced the conference. Kaysen Korth's five saves led the league and ranks No. 10 in the country.
Returning to Oklahoma City, BYU looks for a strong performance at the Big 12 Championship, beginning with its first round contest on Wednesday night.
Houston (22-24, 4-18 Big 12)
- BYU swept Houston on the road this season by scores of 9-0 (6), 4-2 and 8-4.
- The Cougars of Provo are 5-1 vs. Houston as members of the Big 12. BYU head coach Gordon Eakin is 6-6 against Houston in his tenure but 0-1 at a neutral site.
- Houston leads the all-time series, 7-6, but BYU has won the last four meetings between the two teams.
On Deck
Should the Cougars beat Houston on Wednesday night, they would advance to playe No. 3-seed Iowa State on Thursday, May 8 at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
BYU's all-time series record against the Cyclones and each of the other nine teams in the Big 12 Championship is as follows:
No. 3-seed Iowa State
- All-time: 10-2 (W2) | Under Eakin: 10-2 (Neutral: 2-1)
- The Cougars beat the Cyclones, 2-1 in Ames this season (3-5, 9-5, 13-0 in 5) and are 5-1 vs. ISU since joining the Big 12
No. 2-seed Arizona
- All-time: 2-11 (W1) | Under Eakin: 2-9 (Neutral: 0-2)
- The Wildcats took this year's series, 2-1 (8-0 in 5), 15-6, 4-9)
No. 7-seed UCF
- All-time: 1-5 (W1) | Under Eakin: 1-5
- The Knights won this season's series, 2-1 (9-1 in 5, 4-3, 1-9 in 6) and are 5-1 against BYU since the two teams joined the Big 12
No. 10-seed Utah
- All-time: 38-23 (W3) | Under Eakin: 33-16 (Neutral: 2-2)
- The Cougars swept the Utes this year in dramatic fashion (14-13 in 8, 10-8, 14-5 in 6), walking off Utah in all three contests
No. 1-seed Texas Tech
- All-time: 3-5 (L1) | Under Eakin: 3-5 (Neutral: 1-1)
- The Red Raiders took this season's series, 2-1 (9-4, 1-2, 2-1) and are 4-2 against the Cougars since BYU joined the Big 12
No. 4-seed Oklahoma State
- All-time: 8-8 (W1) | Under Eakin: 7-7 (Neutral: 3-4)
- The Cowgirls were one of two teams that the Cougars did not face during this year's regular season
- BYU went 2-2 vs. OSU last year (2-3, 11-8, 2-10 in 6, 7-2)
No. 5-seed Arizona State
- All-time: 3-16 (L1) | Under Eakin: 3-15 (Neutral: 0-1)
- The Sun Devils took this year's series, 2-1 (1-0, 5-6, 5-4 in 8)
No. 8-seed Baylor
- All-time: 6-6 (L1) | Under Eakin: 6-6 (Neutral: 2-1)
- The Bears took this season's series, 2-1 (2-0, 3-4, 8-5) and are 5-1 against the Cougars since BYU joined the Big 12
No. 9-seed Kansas
- All-time: 5-5 (W3) | Under Eakin: 5-5 (Neutral: 2-3)
- The Jayhawks were also one of two teams that the Cougars did not face during this year's regular season
- BYU swept Kansas last year (8-6, 12-2 in 5, 3-0)