BYU to face LMU Wednesday in WCC Baseball Tournament

STOCKTON, Calif. – No. 4 seed BYU baseball will face No. 5 seed LMU on Wednesday, May 25, at 7 p.m. PT to open West Coast Conference Tournament action at Banner Island Ballpark. 

The game will be broadcast live on the WCC Network. The BYU Radio Network will also broadcast the game on 107.9 FM, BYU Radio App, BYUCougars.com and the BYU Cougars app.

The 2022 WCC Tournament features an expanded six-team field, with two single-elimination games on May 25, followed by a double-elimination bracket, May 26-28. No. 3 seed San Diego (32-18, 17-10) will face No. 6 San Francisco (28-28, 14-13) in the earlier single-elimination game on Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT. 

The winner of the WCC Tournament clinches an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. For the complete WCC Tournament schedule, click here.

ON THE HILL. Sophomore right-hander Jack Sterner will get the start against LMU on Wednesday. He enters the game with a 3.26 ERA and a 4-3 record as the Cougars’ game-one starter throughout the 2022 season. Sterner led BYU in games started (13), innings pitched (69) and strikeouts (61). The sophomore right hander from Laguna Niguel, California, was named second-team All-West Coast Conference on Tuesday. 

COUGAR RECAP. BYU finished the regular season with a 33-20 record, 16-11 in conference. The Cougars are looking for their second WCC Tournament title after winning the tournament and advancing to the NCAAs in 2017.

LION REVIEW. LMU enters the WCC Tournaments with a 19-32-1 overall record and was 14-13 in conference play, tied with San Francisco for fifth place. The Lions earned the No. 5 seed thanks to a 2-1 series victory over the Dons. 

BYU-LMU SERIES HISTORY. Wednesday’s contest will be the 39th meeting between BYU and LMU. The Cougars lead the overall series 20-18 and are 19-14 in conference play versus the Lions, with a 1-2 record in the WCC Tournament. 

2022 SEASON SERIES. BYU took two of three games versus LMU in the final week of the 2022 regular season at Miller Park in Provo. The Cougars won game one on Thursday 4-3 and game two the following night 9-3, before dropping the final game 17-7 on Saturday.

BYU WCC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Year    Rnk  Rec   Games
2019    4th    0-2    LMU (L, 1-4); Gonzaga (L, 1-3)
2017    1st    4-1    LMU (L, 2-3); SMC (W, 8-4); LMU (W, 5-4), Gonzaga (W, 10-3), Gonzaga (W, 16-3)
2016    4th    0-2    Gonzaga (L, 3-5); Pacific (L, 2-7)
2015    4th    0-2    Pepperdine (L, 7-8); San Diego (L, 4-5)
2013    3rd    1-2    San Diego (L, 8-9, 10 innings); Gonzaga (W, 8-1); San Diego (L, 4-7)

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLES. BYU baseball has played in 27 conference tournaments that have featured four teams or more, winning six—1983, 1985, 1988 in the WAC; 2001, 2002 in the MWC; and 2017 in the WCC. The Cougars have also won eight best-of-three conference championship series in WAC divisional play (1949, 1952, 1958, 1961, 1968, 1971, 1979, 1981).