No. 18 BYU hosts Utah, Portland this week

Securing the Deseret Duel Trophy and a spot in the West Coast Conference Tournament are two achievable goals for No. 18 BYU baseball this week.

On Tuesday at 6 p.m., the Cougars (29-14) host Utah (21-20) in a game televised live by KBYU-TV locally. If BYU wins that game it wins the Deseret Duel Trophy’s baseball portion for the ninth time in 10 years. Should Utah win, the Duel could be determined by run differential because BYU won 11-6 at Utah in March and last month’s game was canceled due to rain in Salt Lake City.

On Thursday at 6 p.m., BYU hosts Portland (9-34 overall and 5-16 in WCC) to begin a three-game series. The Cougars remain in first place with a 17-4 league record and have senior day on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Five seniors will be honored prior to Saturday’s game: Keaton Cenatiempo, Tanner Chauncey, Brady Corless, Bronson Larsen and Mason Marshall. Chauncey remains as the toughest to strike out in the nation for the second week in a row.

A single BYU wins against Portland would solidify one of four spots in the WCC Tournament later this month. The Cougars moved up in the national rankings from No. 22 to No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

Jordan Wood (4-0, 5.06) gets the start against Utah, Maverik Buffo (6-5, 4.67) starts the opening game against Portland, Corless (5-0, 5.05) is scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Pilots at 6 p.m. and Hayden Rogers (6-1, 3.39) will start in Saturday’s finale.

Following this week’s games, BYU hosts Utah Valley next Tuesday in the final game of the home season prior to closing the regular season at Gonzaga next weekend.