Utes, Dons come to town

After a week off for finals, BYU’s baseball team returns to action in a big way this week when it hosts Utah on Tuesday and a three-game series with San Francisco.

“This week off for finals gives our guys a chance to heal some minor injuries and mentally prepare for the final month of conference play and our push for the conference tournament,” BYU coach Mike Littlewood said. “We have a chance on Tuesday to even up the series against Utah, and it's no secret how big that game is to all of us.”

The Cougars, 17-19 overall and 8-7 in the West Coast Conference, host Utah (13-22) on Tuesday at 6 p.m., in a game televised live by BYUtv. Starting on the mound for BYU will be Brady Corless (1-4, 5.59) as the Cougars hope to rebound from last month’s 9-3 loss to the Utes in a rain-shortened six-inning game in Salt Lake City.

Tuesday’s contest is pivotal in the three-game Deseret Duel series which BYU baseball has won six of seven times since its inception.

On Thursday and Friday the Cougars return to league play against league-leading USF (22-19, 14-4) with Kolton Mahoney (3-4, 4.53) and Brandon Kinser (4-2, 3.55) scheduled to be their starting pitchers in games starting at 6 p.m. BYUtv will also televise both of those games live. Saturday’s contest has been changed from 1 p.m. to now start at noon between the Cougars and Dons will be streamed live on theW.tv.

“Every game from here on out is a big game for us and none are bigger than the weekend series with San Francisco,” Littlewood said. “USF has played very well in conference and if we want to make the conference tournament we need to win the series against them.”

Brennon Lund leads BYU with a current 16-game hitting streak. Teammates Eric Urry has a 10-game streak, Bronson Larsen has a nine-game streak and Tanner Chauncey has an eight-game streak.

Following the USF series, BYU plays the next week at Utah Valley University and University of the Pacific.