PROVO, Utah – BYU resumes West Coast Conference play this week hosting Loyola Marymount in a three game series at Gail Miller Field.
Due to a strong chance of rain on Saturday, the teams will meet in a doubleheader Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m. MDT with one game scheduled for noon on Saturday.
BYU (22-21, 4-2 WCC)
BYU went undefeated last week winning two against Southern Utah on April 15 before beating Weber State 7-3 on Friday. The Cougars are now over .500 for the first time since they were 4-3 after a win against Portland State on Feb. 14.
Freshman catcher Sydney Broderick continued her hot hitting finishing the week with a .727 average in three games. She also finished with two home runs, six RBI, four runs and a stolen base. She leads the WCC in hits, total bases and is second to teammate Katie Manuma in RBI.
A week after giving up no earned runs, freshman RHP McKenna Bull gave up only one earned run, four hits and struck out 12 in 8.1 innings pitched. She was credited with a win over Southern Utah before getting saves in the other two games.
Loyola Marymount (20-22, 1-8 WCC)
Although Loyola Marymount was selected to finish second in the West Coast Conference Preseason Poll, injuries have derailed its path to the conference championship. Sophomore ace Sydney Gouveia aggravated a back injury against Saint Mary’s in the conference opener and the Lions have struggled to replace her in the circle.
Senior Meghan Harman leads the team with .358 and a conference-high 10 home runs and 27 RBI. Junior Sterling Shuster adds a .309 average with three home runs and 20 RBI. Both Harman and Shuster homered when the teams met last season.
After the loss of Gouveia, freshman LHP Rachael Farrington has seen the bulk of the pitching load holding a 6-9 record and a 4.25 ERA over a team-high 107.0 innings pitched. Sophomore Stephanie Crist has also seen some work and has a 4.24 ERA over 67.2 innings pitched.