LMU to host BYU baseball in three-game series

LOS ANGELES — After shutting out rival Utah, 7-0, on Tuesday, BYU baseball will take on LMU in a three-game series on the road, March 16-18, to open the Cougars' final year of West Coast Conference play before joining the Big 12 in 2024.

The Thursday and Friday games are scheduled for 6 p.m. PT, with the Saturday game set for 1 p.m. PT. All three games in the series will be played at George Page Stadium in Los Angeles. 

BROADCASTS. The games will be broadcast live on the BYU Radio App and BYU Radio 107.9 FM in the northern Utah market, with Greg Wrubell on the call. The games will also air on the WCC Network. 

BYU-LMU SERIES HISTORY. Wednesday’s contest will be the 40th meeting between BYU and LMU. The Cougars lead the overall series 20-19 and are 19-15 in conference play versus the Lions. LMU won the last meeting, 5-1, between the two schools in the first round of the WCC baseball tournament on May 25, 2022. 

LMU REVIEW. The Lions enter the weekend series with a 7-8 overall record having played previous games with San Jose State (2-2), Long Beach State (1-0), Oklahoma State (1-2), UC Riverside (2-1), UC Irvine (1-0), Vanderbilt (1-2) and UCSB (0-1). LMU is 2-3 at home and 5-5 on the road.  

BYU REWIND. BYU enters the series at 5-10 on the season, having defeated Utah of the Pac-12 on Tuesday, 7-0, at Miller Park. BYU has played 11 of its 15 games in 2023 on the road, including LA Tech (2-2), Louisiana (0-4), Utah Tech (0-1) and Creighton (0-2). The Cougars are 3-1 at home having won a series with Omaha (2-1) to go with the win over Utah.  

COUGARS ON THE HILL. Junior right hander Jack Sterner (1-1, 6.85 ERA) is scheduled to start on Thursday for BYU, while junior righty Bryce Robison (1-1, 6.41 ERA) will start Friday. The Cougars starter on Saturday will be determined later. 

LIONS PROJECTED STARTERS. Junior left hander Diego Barrera (1-1, 1.48 ERA) will start on Thursday for LMU, with senior righty Zach Kirky (0-2, 5.23 ERA) slated to start on Friday. Junior right hander Owen Hackman (1-1, 6.23 ERA) will get the nod on Saturday.  

AT THE PLATE. Offensively the Cougars are led by Austin Deming, Ryan Sepede and Ozzie Pratt. Deming is a returning first-team All-WCC performer who leads the team in multiple offensive categories including average (.393), RBI (18), hits (22), HRs (7) and slugging (.893). Sepede leads the Cougars in on base percentage (.464) and is second in average (.383), hits (18) and RBI (9). Pratt leads BYU in at bats (61), doubles (8) and is second in hits (18) and triples (1).

The Lions are led by Jared Thomas who is hitting .326 and leads LMU in hits (15), RBI (13) and slugging (.543). Khadim Diaw leads LMU in home runs (3) and total bases (26) and is second in average (.271), runs (10) and RBI (11).

UP NEXT. Following the weekend series at LMU, the Cougars will return home to Miller Park to play four games next week with Utah Valley (March 28), and a weekend series with Gonzaga (March 30-31, April 1)