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BYU's Mason Olson throws a pitch against Houston in a Big 12 baseball game on March 15, 2024.

Aaron Cornia, BYU Photo

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BYU pitcher Mason Olson prepares to throw during a Big 12 baseball game at West Virginia on March 8, 2024.

Jacob Farrar, Special to BYU

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BYU's Mason Olson throws a pitch against Gonzaga in a college baseball game on March 1, 2024.

Donovan Kelly, BYU Photo

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Last week, BYU pitching coach Abe Alvarez called down to the bullpen to make a change in a game the Cougars trailed 7-1.

The call was for someone other than senior left-hander Mason Olson, who threw his glove down in disgust.

“That’s just the type of kid he is,” Alvarez said. “He wants the ball and he doesn’t like to lose.”

It’s why Olson is perfect for in his new role coming out of the bullpen for middle relief.

Olson has been fantastic in 2024, leading BYU in earned run average (1.59) and strikeouts (29) in 22.2 innings of work. He leads the Big 12 in fewest runs allowed (5), fewest earned runs allowed (4) and is third in ERA in one of the best college baseball leagues in the country.

Olson was a starting pitcher at Spanish Fork High School and in his two seasons at College of Southern Idaho, where he started 24 games for the Golden Eagles. He took the hill 11 times for BYU last season, leading the team in innings pitched (81.1) and strikeouts (72) while posting a 5-3 mark with a 5.53 ERA.

BYU was hit with some key injuries to its starting pitching in 2023 and Olson stepped in nicely. But Alvarez is glad to have his 5-foot-10 senior lefty back as his middle reliever.

“He would have been there last year except for the injuries,” Alvarez said. “He wants the ball anytime and wants to do everything he can for his team. He’s a fastball-slider pitcher, and we’ve been trying to fix his change up against certain right-handed hitters. He can throw the slider on any count for a strike. Mason puts everything on the line to get outs. As a pitching coach, you want your players to be a competitor. On days his stuff maybe isn’t as good, Mason can still find a way to get out of an inning.”

Olson said BYU showed some interest in him coming out of high school but wanted him to get faster, so he chose to play at College of Southern Idaho.

“I didn’t throw hard enough,” Olson said. “I was about 81 (miles per hour) back then. Now I’m in the 90-92 range. I started lifting weights more my freshman year and even though I’m still kind of skinny, I did put on some weight. I worked with long toss and with my mechanics.”

Being a middle reliever is something Olson loves because of the pressure and how it frees him to be himself.

“I was pretty exited about being a middle reliever,” he said. “I can get in to almost every game, which I really like. The coaches have done a good job of putting me in situations with high leverage — close games. If I mess up, it’s on me. And I’m pretty animated on the mound, talking to myself.”

What does Olson say when he’s on the mound?

“I don’t know if I say anything you can write down,” Olson said. “But I can really let loose as a reliever and act how I want to keep my energy up. I can really get after myself. I’m trying to get the hitters to go weak contact and I do that with good location. I’m not going to blow the ball by everybody. I’m trying to hit the corners and change hitter’s eye levels, stuff like that. I watch a lot of motivational stuff like ‘Rocky’. It doesn’t matter who I’m facing, I’ve just got to get the guy out.”

Olson’s main job is usually to help set up closer Stone Cushing, who has four saves and 14 strikeouts in just nine innings of work. Cushing is another southern Utah County kid who played at Salem Hills and actually followed Olson to College of Southern Idaho.

“Everyone says Stone cleans up my messes,” Olson said. “He’s from Salem Hills and I didn’t like him then, but I love him now.”

Alvarez joined the BYU program in 2023 and it was a tough year on the mound for the Cougars. In their final season in the West Coast Conference, BYU’s staff posted a 7.88 ERA. Heading into the Big 12 in 2024, the coaches and players knew they had to be better.

“The biggest thing was making sure we had guys in the back end of our bullpen,” Alvarez said. “Last year we had trouble finishing games, putting up zeros at the end of a game with a lead. So my goal this year was to have guys I trusted in the back end or to get us out of jams.”

Alverez said his bullpen now knows what’s expected of them, how he calls games and how to trust in themselves. He gives his group the option of shaking off his calls, but “they’d better be right.”

The hard work has paid off: BYU has a team ERA of 4.82 coming into Monday night’s game against Utah Valley. Besides Olson and Cushing, Alvarez credits the efforts of Jake Porter, Hayden Coon, Candon Dahle, Boston Mabeus and Carter Foss.

“We’ve done really well, besides some hiccups mentally,” Alverez said. “I do my best to give them the best idea of how to attack hitters in every lineup. The trust they have in themselves is really important. I haven’t really talked to them much about playing in the Big 12. It’s just baseball and that’s the beauty of it. I doesn’t matter who’s on the other side. You just have to get someone out.”

Olson added: “It’s been great because we know each team we play is a lot better than the teams in the WCC. We’ve played with a chip on our shoulder and we feel like we’re better so we know we can pitch against them. It’s kind of cool going to play at new places in the Big 12 but once the lights go on, once the game starts, it doesn’t feel too much different.”

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