PROVO, Utah — Following a decisive 11-3 win on Monday at UC Riverside, BYU baseball continues its seven-game swing through California with four games, Feb. 25-28, at Blair Field — home of Long Beach State baseball. The Cougars will face the Dirtbags on Wednesday, Feb. 25 (6:05 p.m. PT) and Saturday, Feb. 28 (1:05 p.m. PT). In addition, BYU will play two neutral-site games at Blair Field with Washington State on Thursday and Friday. First pitch for both WSU games is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. PT.
SERIES BROADCAST PLANS. All four game at Long Beach will be broadcast live on BYUradio.org and the BYU Radio app with the two games versus WSU being simulcast on 107.9 FM in Utah County. Matt Baiamonte will have the radio play-by-play call live from Bohl Diamond.
Wednesday’s game at Long Beach will also be broadcast on ESPN+.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS. BYU returned 22 players from its 2025 roster, including seven of its eight starting position players and nine pitchers with game experience. In addition, the Cougars added five pitchers in the offseason with collegiate innings.
BYU returns an offensive lineup that accounted for 71-percent of the team’s plate appearance in 2025. The Cougars averaged 7.4 runs per game last season and finished top six in the Big 12 in runs (408), triples (16) and doubles (119). Defensively, the Cougars feature a core group that recorded a school-record fielding percentage of .978 and finished the season top 25 nationally and top three in the Big 12 in double plays (49) and fielding percentage.
RECAPING WEEK TWO. Last weekend, BYU played two games at the Tony Gwynn Legacy, dropping the Friday evening contest to host San Diego State, 3-0, before rebounding on Saturday with a 9-7 win over UC San Diego at Triton Ballpark.
First baseman Ezra McNaughton had hits in both games, going 3 for 9 (.333) with two RBI and two runs scored. Centerfielder Crew McChesney also collected two RBI and a triple, while shortstop Ryder Robinson had two hits, including a home run, while slugging .714 over two games.
In game two at UCSD, BYU lefty starter Wayland Crane went four innings, surrendering just one hit and two runs while striking out four before giving way to right-hand reliever Nate Gray who tossed four innings of shutout ball with four strike outs for the win. Luke Sterner came on in the ninth to record the final two outs for his first save of the year.
KNOW THE FOE. The information below includes details about Long Beach State and Washington State as they entered week three of the college baseball season.
Long Beach State (2-5)
- LBS went 1-2 in its season-opening series with San Jose State, then dropped a game to San Diego. This past weekend the Dirtbags went 1-2 in the Kleberg Bank College Classic, losing to Pitt and Cal State Bakersfield, while beating Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.
- Long Beaach leads the all-time series with BYU, 8-6.
- BYU won the first meeting on March 30, 1956 (5-2), while the Dirtbags won the last contest on March 6, 2004.
- Long Beach is 2-1 in neutral-site games and 6-5 versus the Cougars at home. LB has never played BYU in Provo either.
Washington State (3-4)
- WSU opened the 2026 season with a three-game series at Alabama, winning the first game and dropping the next two. Over the weekend they split a four-game series, 2-2, with Cal Poly.
- WSU leads the all-time series with BYU, 22-16.
- WSU won the first of the series on April 5, 1971 as well as the last game played on April 3, 2023.
ON DECK. Following five games in California this week, BYU returns to Provo to open the 2026 home season in a three-game series with Cal Baptist at Miller Park, March 5-7. The Cougars will then host Utah Tech in a midweek game on March 10, before opening Big 12 play by hosting Cincinnati in Provo, March 12-14.