PROVO, Utah — BYU will host Utah in a three-game Big 12 Conference baseball series April 30-May 2 at Miller Park. The games on Thursday and Friday are scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT, with game three of the rivalry series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
BROADCAST PLANS. All three games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and on the BYU Radio app, BYUradio.org, SiriusXM 143 and 107.9 FM in Utah County.
WEEKEND RECAP. 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 is now 22-21 on the year and 11-10 in the Big 12, tied for sixth in the conference race with Oklahoma State.
KNOW THE FOE. Utah is currently 9-12 in conference play and tied for ninth in the Big 12 standings with Kansas State and Baylor. Overall, the Utes are 21-18 on the year. Utah is fresh off a 1-3 week at home that included a 16-9 win over Utah Valley, before dropping three straight to UCF (2-12, 4-12, 0-10) in a Big 12 series over the weekend.
BYU and Utah met earlier in the season on March 24 in a midweek non-conference game. Junior shortstop Ryder Robinson led the Cougars to a 6-5 win over the Utes with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate that included a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Cougar outfielders Keoni Painter and Tu’alau Wolfgramm made acrobatic catches in the bottom of the ninth for the final two outs to secure the victory.
SERIES HISTORY. BYU and Utah will meet for the 386th time on Thursday, dating back to 1948 when records were first kept. The Cougars hold the all-time series lead at 254-130-1, including a 130-54 record when playing in Provo. BYU and Utah split the series in 2025, with the Utes going 2-1 in their final season at Smith’s Ballpark and BYU wining the fourth game of the year at Miiler Park in Provo.
BAT CATS. As a team, BYU enters the GCU game hitting .280 with 60 home runs and a slugging percentage of .475. Sophomore first baseman Ezra McNaughton, is hitting .345 and leads the Cougar offense in just about every statistical category. McNaughton is ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in hits (61), doubles (13), total bases (110) and home runs (12). Senior Easton Jones enters the weekend series hitting .311 and is second on the team in hits (52), home runs (10) and RBI (34).
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 Queen Creek, Arizona, has 42 strikeouts and is holding opposing batters to a .267 average.
In addition to Gray, three other Cougars have at least two wins in 2026 included Garrison Sumner (3-2), Dan Brousseau (2-0) and Ashton Johnson (2-4), who has also tallied four saves and is tied for eighth in the Big 12. Eight other BYU hurlers have won a game in relief this season.
PITCHING MATCHUP. BYU will open the Big 12 three-game series on Thursday with senior lefty Wayland Crane on the mound. Crane is 1-3 on the year with 42.2 innings pitched and 38 strikeouts in 11 starts. Utah will counter with Colter McAnelly who is 2-5 on the year with 10 starts. The righthanded junior has 53 strikeouts over 51.2 innings pitched.