No. 24 BYU to Challenge Utah

PROVO, Utah - No. 24 BYU baseball and Utah will play in the first of three Deseret First Duel games this season on Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City. The game will be shown live on the Pac-12 Network and can be heard on BYU Radio and ESPN960.

The Cougars are looking to snap a three-game Ute win streak in the series. BYU is 21-5 this year and winners of their last eight, currently the fifth-longest streak in the nation. Utah comes in at 7-12 and losers of their last nine games.

BYU vs. Utah Game Notes

Collegiate Baseball ranked BYU No. 24 on Monday, the first ranking for the Cougars since April 18, 2016. BYU also received 23 votes in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

Senior right fielder Brock Hale was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and the Rawlings West Coast Conference Player of the Week for his performance against Oregon and in the Saint Mary’s series. Hale batted .500 with a slugging percentage of 1.312, going 8-for-16 with a double and four home runs, adding nine RBIs, six runs and two walks.

BYU is the only team in the nation to be ranked in the top 15 in ERA (14th) and the top 40 in batting average (38th). The Cougar pitching staff ranks among the best in the nation, also coming in with 16th nationally with a WHIP of 1.17 and allowing just 7.37 hits per nine innings, good for 25th in the nation.

The Cougar bats have caught fire of late, leading BYU to the 38th best batting average in the NCAA at .292. BYU’s team on-base percentage is .394, good for 36th in the country.