PROVO, Utah — BYU baseball is back on the road for a three-game series with the Texas Longhorns at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas April 4-6.
| BYU (11-14, 4-8) at Texas (17-11, 6-3) | UFCU Disch-Falk Field | Austin, TX | |||
| Game Dates & Times (CDT) | Watch | Listen | Live Stats |
| Thursday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. | Longhorn Network | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. | Longhorn Network | BYU Radio 107.9/BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
| Saturday, April 6 at 2:30 p.m. | Longhorn Network | BYU Radio App | Follow Here |
WEEK SEVEN REVIEW
The Cougars head to Texas following losses to Utah Valley and Kansas last week. Despite falling short in four games versus the Wolverines and Jayhawks, outfielder Bryker Hurdsman was a bright spot for BYU.
The sophomore from St. George, Utah led the Cougars with .444 batting average that included a double, home run, 3 RBI and five runs scored. Hurdsman also showed his athleticism in the outfield with a handful of sliding grabs on his way to six putouts on the week. BYU’s defense is currently sixth in the Big 12 with a team fielding percentage of .971. This week the Cougars face the league’s fifth-ranked fielding team in Texas’ .974.
BYU pitchers Stone Cushing, Mason Olson and Ben Hansen maintain top-10 marks in the Big 12 as well. Cushing leads the league in games finished (12) and is tied with Kansas State’s Jackson Wentworth for second with five saves. Olson’s 12 appearances are good for fourth in the Big 12 while Hansen ranks ninth with 35.2 innings pitched.
BYU’s offense arrives in Austin with outfielder Luke Anderson leading the team in batting (.320), runs (17) and doubles (six). Third baseman Easton Jones continues to top the team in home runs (7), while designated hitter Kuhio Aloy leads the Cougars with 21 RBI on the season.
The Cougars are tied for 12th in the Big 12 standings with a tiebreaker over Houston (15-12, 4-8) due to the Cougars series win over UH on March 14-16. Texas (17-11, 6-3) enters the week tied for second with Kansas State. UCF is the only Big 12 team ranked in the D1Baseball.com Top-25 poll, with both Oklahoma and Kansas State falling out on April 1.
KNOW THE FOE
TEXAS: Thursday marks the eighth all-time meeting between the Cougars and Longhorns. Texas currently leads the all-time series 6-1 and is 5-1 in Austin. BYU took the last game between the two teams in a 5-4 decision in Austin on February 27, 2021.
Three of the series’ seven meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament. BYU fell to Texas 2-6 and 4-11 in the 1979 and 1981 Austin Regionals, respectively. Texas also notched a 7-0 win versus BYU in the Cougars’ first-ever College World Series appearance in 1968.
Longhorn head coach David Pierce is in his eighth season in Austin and has a 278-149 record with three College World Series appearances. Texas won a share of the 2023 Big 12 Regular Season Title with a 42-22 (15-9) record, including 28-8 at home. The Longhorns finished ranked No. 14 nationally following a postseason that included winning the Coral Gables Regional over host Miami and advancing as far as the Stanford Super Regional in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll tabbed Texas to finish second behind TCU in 2024. The Longhorns have won each of their conference series so far this season and six-straight Big 12 series dating back to May 1, 2023.
Three Texas batters have 25 or more RBIs on the season with utility player Peyton Powell’s 30, outfielder Max Belyeu’s 28 and 26 from infielder Jalin Flores. Texas’ Jared Thomas leads the Big 12 in hits (47) and total bases (78) while ranking second with a batting average of .409. Longhorn pitcher Max Grubbs ranks third in the league with 1.87 ERA and a 4-0 record in 10 appearances.