PHOENIX, Arizona — Following a 2-1 Big 12 series win over Arizona in Tucson on Saturday, BYU traveled north up Interstate 10 to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon in a non-conference game on Monday, April 27 at 1 p.m. MT at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.
BROADCAST PLANS. The game will be broadcast live on the MW Network and on the BYU Radio app, BYUradio.org, SiriusXM 143 and 107.9 FM in Utah County.
WEEK IN REVIEW. The Cougars are coming off a 2-2 week that included a Big 12 series win over Arizona at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson. The Wildcats took game one 6-0 on Thursday, but the Cougars responded by winning games two and three of the series 5-1 and 8-4. BYU improved to 22-20 on the year and 11-10 in the Big 12.
KNOW THE FOE. Grand Canyon enters Monday's contest with a 14-26 record and is 6-9 in Mountain West play, good for sixth place. The Antelopes had the weekend off having last played at home versus Kansas State on April 21. GCU lost to KSU in the midweek game 8-3.
SERIES HISTORY. Monday marks the 79th all-time meeting between BYU and GCU and the 42nd time the two have met in Phoenix. The Cougars have a record of 21-20 when playing at Brazell Field, including a 10-9 win in the last meeting on April 26, 2025.
BYU leads the all-time series 45-33 and has won eight of the last 12 meetings. The first 30 meetings came with GCU as an NAIA member (1976-89). The forty-seven games since have come with the Lopes playing Division I baseball, including 24 WAC games when BYU and GCU were conference foes (1995-98). The Cougars held the WAC series advantage 19-5.
BAT CATS. As a team, BYU enters the GCU game hitting .280 with 59 home runs and a slugging percentage of .475. Sophomore first baseman Ezra McNaughton, is hitting .347 and leads the Cougar offense in just about every statistical category. McNaughton from nearby Mesa, Arizona, is ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in hits (60), doubles (13), total bases (106) and home runs (11).
ON THE HILL. Right-handed reliever Nate Gray (7-5) currently leads the Big 12 in relief appearances (15) and is tied for the league lead in wins (7). In 45.0 innings, the junior from nearby Queen Creek, Arizona, has 42 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .267 average.
PITCHING MATCHUP. BYU will start righthander Tyler Ball on the mound Monday. The freshman has appeared in 12 games with two starts in 2026. Ball is 1-1 on the year with 18.0 innings pitched. He has struck out 18 and is holding opposing pitchers to a .284 batting average.
Grand Canyon will start righty Billy Gregory. The sophomore from Scottsdale has appeared in eight games with a 1-1 record and two saves. Over 13.1 innings Gregory has struck out 16, while opponents are hitting .327 against him.
UP NEXT. Following the GCU game, BYU heads home for a three-game conference series with rival Utah, April 30-May 2 at Miller Park. At 9-12 in Big 12 play, the Utes are tied for ninth with Kansas State and Baylor, two games behind BYU and Oklahoma State who are tied for sixth.
All three games of the BYU-UU series will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the BYU Radio app, BYUradio.org, SiriusXM 143 and 107.9 FM in Utah County.