Rematch against Utes on Tuesday

Game notes for Utah, Santa Clara

Round two of the Deseret First Duel could be an extension of extra innings as BYU and Utah baseball rematch on Tuesday in Salt Lake City at 6 p.m.

The Cougars, 14-12 overall and 3-6 in the West Coast Conference, won the first meeting against Utah in Provo, 7-6 in the 10th inning. And in their last meeting of 2017, the two teams went 13 innings with Utah winning, 7-6 in Provo.

Both teams are starting lefthanders at Smith’s Ballpark: junior Bo Burrup (1-1, 8.31) who also started the first game against Utah for the Cougars and redshirt freshman Riley Pierce (0-2, 9.00) for the Utes. The two teams are scheduled to play twice more, on April 24 in Provo and on May 8 in Salt Lake City.

The Utes, 6-20 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12, are fresh off a pair of upsets over No. 1 Oregon State last week.  BYU was up and down last week, out-hitting opponents in a pair of victories and narrowly losing a pair at Pepperdine as it stranded many runners on base.

Among BYU’s top hitters is junior Brock Hale, who raised his batting average from .194 to .343, batting .408 in 18 games for March. Hale’s slugging percentage for the month was .789 and he leads the Cougars with seven home runs.

Following the tilt at Utah, the Cougars return to Provo for WCC action in a three-game series against Santa Clara, starting Thursday at 6 p.m.