After a solid week against its league leader and two Pac-12 teams, BYU baseball is on the road to play at the University of the Pacific starting Thursday.
The Cougars (14-12 overall and 4-2 in West Coast Conference) have a three-game series at Pacific (12-15, 2-7).
“Pacific is playing well right now, and they are particularly tough at home,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We have been playing solid baseball of late and will need to keep that up in order to have success in Stockton.”
BYU’s pitching rotation remains the same as it has in recent weeks with Maverik Buffo (3-3, 5.95), Brady Corless (3-0, 4.03) and Hayden Rogers (2-1, 2.23). The three games are at 3 p.m., 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. PDT, respectively on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. All three games will be broadcast live by Brent Norton on ESPN 960 AM radio and streamed on the internet through BYU Radio and on Sirius XM 143.
The Cougars will be without their top hitter in Brock Hale who is batting .398, but injured his knee last Saturday and is out for an indefinite period of time.
The next leading hitter out of the regular lineup is fellow outfielder Keaton Kringlen with a .358 average. Kringlen was recently named national Player of the Week by three organizations (Collegiate Baseball, National Baseball Writers Association and College Sports Madness) along with being Rawlings WCC Player of the Week for his spectacular performances against Utah and Saint Mary’s College.
Catcher Bronson Larsen has been replacing Hale in the outfield as Kringlen shifts from left to right field. Larsen and Kringlen lead the team with five home runs apiece.
Following BYU’s action in California, it returns to play at Utah Valley University this Tuesday, then hosts Pepperdine.