Home opener against Hartford on Thursday

Home field advantage could favor BYU baseball this week in its four-game series starting Thursday against Hartford.

After playing away against a ranked team and facing two other highly touted opponents on neutral fields at Arizona and Las Vegas , the Cougars (2-10) welcome the home opener at Larry H. Miller Field.

“As a team we are excited to be finally playing at home in front of friendly crowd, and in an atmosphere where we are comfortable,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said.

Hartford (3-3), like BYU, had its games moved because of weather from Virginia. No. 1 Virginia defeated the Hawks in South Carolina.

The Cougars will keep the same pitching rotation with Kolton Mahoney (0-1, 4.41) starting on Thursday at 3 p.m., Jeff Barker (1-1, 3.18) leading off in Friday’s doubleheader at 2 p.m., followed by Brandon Kinser (0-1, 1.53) and on Saturday with Maverik Buffo (0-1, 5.91) at 11 a.m.

All of the games will be streamed live on theW.tv, and the first two games of the series will be broadcast live over Radio 960 AM with veteran announcer Brent Norton. Robbie Bullough will call the action in the last two games of the Hartford series.

Freshman Colton Shaver continues to lead BYU with an eight-game hitting streak.

“We really like where we are as a team right now,” Littlewood said. “Despite our record, we haven't lost confidence in the type of team we are or in our potential. We understand the strength of schedule we've played. In five or six of those losses we were a hit away from winning.”

Following the home stand against Hartford, the Cougars begin league play next week against Pepperdine in Provo after a non-conference game at Utah Valley.