BYU Baseball 2025 Season Review

BYU baseball combined a strong offense with lock-down fielding and some timely pitching to earn its first Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship berth and tournament win in 2025.

Author Joseph Hovey
BYU Baseball 2025 Season ReviewBYU Baseball 2025 Season Review

PROVO, Utah — After a season that included various highs and lows, BYU baseball combined a strong offense with lock-down fielding and some timely pitching to earn its first Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship berth and tournament win in 2025. 

In its second year of Big 12 play, BYU won seven more games in 2025 than the previous season, improving to 28-27 and going 10-20 in conference play. In addition, third year head coach Trent Pratt led BYU to its first postseason berth since 2022 and first postseason win since 2017 with a 2-0 upset of 5-seed Arizona State in the first round of the conference tournament, before falling 4-1 to eventual Big 12 champion Arizona.

The Cougars’ shutout victory in the first round of the Big 12 Championship came against a Sun Devil team that finished the regular season leading the Big 12 in batting average, runs scored, hits, doubles and slugging. ASU’s scoreless day in Arlington was its first in over 60 games this season.

“Beating ASU at the Big 12 Championship was another step forward for our program,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “Similar to other wins throughout the regular season, it proved we can play with the best teams in the conference. Our guys are working hard this offseason with goals to compete for a Big 12 title and make the NCAA Tournament next season.”

Overall, the 2025 schedule pitted the Cougars against 11 eventual NCAA Regional teams, including three Super Regional squads in UCLA, Arizona and West Virginia. UCLA and Arizona both advanced to the College World Series as well.

BYU opened the season with an 11-game road swing that featured two wins at Mountain West champion Fresno State, a 10-home-run outing at CSUN and a 40-run three-game series sweep at Gonzaga. The Cougars’ 10 homers in their 19-3 win at CSUN on Feb. 20 marked just the sixth time in program history with double digit homers in a game and the most since a school-record 12 versus Air Force in 1998.

After taking three of four games over ASUN champion Stetson, BYU opened Big 12 play with home series versus UCF and WVU as well as a road series at Cincinnati. A Luke Anderson walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th gave the Cougars an 8-7 game-two win over the Knights. Anderson then went 5-of-5 with three RBI as the Cougars beat the No. 23 Mountaineers 14-5 in game one at Miller Park. BYU's win over eventual regular-season Big 12 champion WVU marked its largest margin of victory over a top-25 opponent since 2017.

The Cougars also took two of three from Cincinnati, went on to notch a marquee 12-5 win over Big 12 Champion Arizona, swept crosstown foe Utah Valley by a combined score of 24-10 and began a streak of seven-straight midweek wins.

BYU fought its way into a Big 12 Championship berth with key wins over Kansas State and Kansas, along with a ticket-punching 2-1 series win over Texas Tech in the final week of the regular season.

Under the direction of assistant coach Adam Law, the Cougar defense recorded a school-record fielding percentage of .978 and finished the season top 25 nationally in both double plays (49) and fielding percentage. BYU’s season totals of 119 doubles and 16 triples were good for top 40 nationally.

Pratt and first-year assistant Brycen Campbell helped the Cougars to improvements in nine offensive categories, including batting average (+.029), runs scored (+114), hits (+92), doubles (+30), RBI (+117), slugging percentage (+.025), walks (+28), strikeouts (-25) and on-base percentage (+.031).

With 14 games of 10 or more runs scored, the Cougars also doubled their 2024 double-digit scoring games total.

In the Big 12, the Cougars ranked second in double plays and third in fielding percentage. Offensively, BYU also finished the season top five in the conference in triples, doubles, runs (408), runs per game (7.4) and hit by pitch (87).

The 2025 Cougar batting lineup featured a trio of steadying seniors in Cooper Vest, Brock Watkins and Tate Gambill. First baseman Vest, junior catcher Parker Goff and sophomore shortstop Ryder Robinson each garnered Honorable Mention All-Big 12 status at season’s end.

Vest led BYU in home runs (16), RBI (58), total bases (126) and slugging percentage (.575) while setting program single season and career records in hit by pitch with 19 and 43, respectively. The St. George, Utah product started all 55 games at first base and finished the regular season leading the Big 12 in double plays fielded (44), total chances (471) and putouts (438).

Vest earned week two Big 12 Co-Player of the Week after hitting .438 and slugging 1.188 with three homers, three doubles, five RBI and seven runs scored in 16 at bats over four games at UCLA and CSUN. The senior lefty also recorded a walk-off RBI single in the Cougars’ 5-4 game-three win over Stetson on March 8.

Watkins tied for second on the team in home runs (11) and slugging (.531) while posting a career-best season in batting (.302), on-base percentage (.369) and RBI (39). Watkins battled through a midseason injury to start 48 of 55 games at second and third base. The infielder capped his Cougar career among the most veteran players in program history with all-time rankings of seventh in career starts (194), 11th in career games (201) and 14th in at bats (725).

After injury hampered his first two seasons at BYU, Gambill finished his collegiate career strong as he emerged midseason and ascended the batting order with starts in 26 of the Cougars last 29 games. The senior leftfielder led the team and finished top five in the Big 12 with four triples on the season while the team’s second leader in batting average (.336) and on-base percentage (.448).

Juniors Luke Anderson, Bryker Hurdsman and Goff, along with sophomores Robinson and Crew McChesney rounded out the 2025 BYU batting order and give the Cougars a cadre of veterans set to return in 2026.

Anderson started all 55 games for BYU and led the team in hits (65) while showing his versatility with 22 at starts at second base, 28 in leftfield, three in right and two at designated hitter. Hurdsman patrolled rightfield with starts in 51 of 55 games on his way to leading the Cougars in batting (.337) and doubles (18).

Goff started 44 of 55 games at catcher while making his presence felt both offensively and defensively as he finished the regular season ninth in the Big 12 in on-base percentage (.451) and third in runners caught stealing (10).

Robinson arrived at BYU in Fall 2024 after playing his freshman season at TCU. The sophomore from Cedar Hills, Utah started at shortstop for the Cougars in all 55 games and finished the regular season No. 2 in the league with 158 assists. Offensively, Robinson co-led BYU in runs scored (52) and finished as the team’s second leader in home runs (11) and total bases (114).

Robinson earned the Cougars’ second Big 12 Co-Player of the Week award after going 10-of-19 with five doubles and two homers in week-10 outings versus UVU and Arizona.

McChesney started 52 of 55 games, primarily in centerfield, and led the team in walks (36) and stolen bases (11). The sophomore outfielder made among the season’s most critical plays for the Cougars with an eight-inning diving snag in left center to deny Texas Tech the would-be tying run and ensure a postseason berth for BYU in a 6-5 win over the Red Raiders on May 16.

The BYU pitching staff was led by Ashton Johnson, Justis Reiser, Garrison Sumner, Payton Gubler and Rockwell Lybbert in 2025.

Johnson joined the Cougars in the Fall of 2024 after transferring from College of Southern Idaho and made the most of his opportunity with a 5-1 record and two saves over a team-high 24 appearances.

Reiser returned from injury in 2025 and went 3-0 with two saves in 21 appearances and five starts.

Johnson and Reiser combined to scatter just six hits over nine scoreless innings as 12-seed BYU upset 5-seed Arizona State in the first round of the Big 12 Championship on May 21. Both Reiser and Johnson recorded season-long outings as BYU recorded its first shutout since 2023 and held ASU scoreless for the first and only time in 2025.

In his first season after transferring from Salt Lake Community College, Sumner posted a 3-3 record with 11 starts in 14 appearances and led BYU in innings pitched (61.2) and strikeouts (60).

Gubler went 3-3 with nine starts in 12 appearances prior to a season-ending injury. The sophomore righty finished the season second on the team with 41 strikeouts in 55-and-two-thirds innings. 

After two years of missionary service in Argentina, Lybbert returned to the Cougars and made an in-season transition to pitcher with seven appearances, a 1-0 record and save over the seasons’ final month. Lybbert’s first career win came as he shut the door on rival Utah for a 9-8 victory at Miller Park on May 13. Johnson, Reiser, Sumner and Lybbert are set to return and become the core of BYU pitching in 2026.