BYU heads across town to visit UVU on Wednesday

PROVO, Utah — BYU softball will head to Orem to take on Utah Valley at Wolverine Field on Wednesday night in the second and final matchup between the two teams this season. 

LAST TIME OUT
BYU (22-13, 4-2 WCC) dropped a 1-0 defensive battle to then-No. 5 Stanford on Monday afternoon. The Cougars held the Cardinal to five hits, but tallied just three of their own and left five on base. Shortstop Ailana Agbayani went 2-3 with a stolen base. Designated player Maddie Udall recorded BYU's third hit, a single through the right side. 

LET 'EM FLY
Hitting six home runs last week, the Cougars have homered in seven of their last nine games and in 19 of their 35 games this season, totaling 29 long bombs on the year. Seven different players have gone yard, with Ava's eight leading the team and Morrow's seven just behind.

FIRST INNING FIRE
The opening frame continues to be the Cougars' most productive inning, with 43 runs scored to begin games in 2023. BYU's next three best innings are the second through the fourth innings, scoring 35, 29 and 25 runs in those frames, respectively. The Cougars are 13-2 when scoring in the opening inning in 2023, and 18-3 when scoring first.

CROSS TOWN FOE
BYU and Utah Valley have met 51 times since 2004, with the Cougars leading the all-time series, 46-5. BYU is 19-4 against the Wolverines in Orem, but UVU won the last matchup at Wolverine Field, an 8-1 game on April 27, 2021. The Cougars won the first meeting between the two teams last week, a 9-0 run-rule victory on April 11. 

THE WOLVERINES
Utah Valley (14-23, 7-8 WAC) beat Idaho State in Orem and took one of three at Cal Baptist since last playing BYU. The Wolverines were scheduled to play at Utah State on Tuesday afternoon, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather in Logan. Cody Thomson is in year two as the UVU head coach and has a 38-50 (.432) record in that time.

ON DECK
The Cougars will host five home games next week, welcoming Utah State and Utah Tech to Provo on Tuesday and Wednesday night before playing a three-game series in WCC play with San Diego on Friday and Saturday.