After a tough 6-4 loss on Friday night, the BYU baseball team hoped to get the series victory by defeating rival Utah at Smith’s Ballpark in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

But it wasn’t to be.

The Cougars and and Utes went back-and-forth through five innings before Utah scored four runs in the sixth and held on for the 9-6 win.

“This was tough,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “We just couldn’t get the big hit. It was frustrating. We had our chances and it just didn’t come today. Credit Utah. They put balls in play.”

BYU (17-16, 5-10 Big 12) scored six runs on nine hits, while stranding 13 runners. Utah (15-17, 4-11) scored nine runs on 16 hits, while stranding 12.

BYU took an early 1-0 in the top of the first as Luke Anderson took the first pitch he saw and sent it 452 feet over the left field wall for a solo home run.

Utah answered with three runs in the bottom of the first on one hit and an error with two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly. The Cougars put another run on the board in the top of the second, cutting the Ute lead to 3-2. Parker Goff and Tate Gambill reached on a walk and hit by pitch, respectively. Goff then scored from second on an RBI single to right courtesy Crew McChesney.

BYU tied the game 3-3 with a run on two hits in the top of the third. Bryker Hurdsman reached on a walk before taking second on a Goff single and scoring on another single from Gambill. In the bottom of the third, Utah retook the lead, 4-3, with an RBI single scoring a runner who had reached on a two-out double. The Utes used a flurry of singles in the home half of the fourth to plate another run and take a 5-3 lead.

Two of BYU’s first three batters reached in the top of the fifth with Vest reachin on a hit by pitch and Hurdsman a four-pitch walk. The Cougars scored both free-base runners with Goff doubling into left to bring home Vest and an RBI groundout from Gambill plating Hurdsman for the 5-5 tie.

Utah jumped in front 9-5 with four runs on five hits, including a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

Despite two scoreless innings by BYU reliever Ashton Johnson and loading the bases in the top of the eighth, the Cougars were unable to complete a comeback, falling 9-6 after a late RBI single from Ezra McNaughton in the ninth.

After eight straight road games, BYU returns home to host Utah Valley in the annual crosstown clash on April 22 at 6:00 p.m. MDT. Watch the Cougars face the Wolverines on ESPN+ or listen to live play-by-play on BYU Radio.

Brittingham leads BYU softball past UCF

Four home runs powered BYU softball to a 9-1 win over UCF on Saturday afternoon at Gail Miller Field in Provo.

The Cougars (25-12, 8-7 Big 12) held UCF to one run in the first inning and stayed advantageous throughout the remainder of the game.

Out-hitting the Knights 10-5 in the contest, BYU received homers from Ilove’a Brittingham, Bre Townsend, and a run-rule walk-off jack by Keila Kamoku.

Saturday’s contest marked the fifth time this season that Brittingham has struck multiple home runs.

In the bottom of the third inning, Brittingham hit a solo home run to right center field to break a 1-1 tie and give BYU the lead. The Cougars built on the momentum when Townsend followed with a two-run homer to left field, bringing in Lauren Flanders and extending their lead over UCF to 4-1.

Brittingham hit her second home run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, driving in Morrow to push BYU’s lead to 6-1.

Kamoku powered the Cougars with a two-run bomb past the centerfield wall in the bottom of the sixth, sealing a 9-1 run-rule victory.

BYU will return to Gail Miller Field for a midweek game against Fresno State on Monday, Apr. 12 at noon MDT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Cougar men’s volleyball loses twice at No. 2 UCLA

The BYU men’s volleyball team wasn’t able to rebound after dropping a tough five-set loss at UCLA on Friday, falling 3-1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17) in the second match at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Despite hitting .458 in the second set alone, the Cougars (17-9, 5-5 MPSF) suffered their lowest hitting percentage in MPSF play and finished with a .134 team clip.

Keoni Thiim contributed three aces and nine kills to lead the Cougars. Senior middle blocker Teon Taylor led BYU with three blocks.

The Bruins outhit the Cougars with 58 kills on a .479 clip, their highest hitting percentage of the season, holding BYU to 32 kills.

The Cougars will host Pepperdine for their final matches of the regular season in the Smith Fieldhouse from April 18-19, with both games streaming live on BYUtv and byutv.org.

BYU will honor seniors Luke Benson, Noa Haine, Keoni Thiim, Miks Ramanis and Teon Taylor for senior night on April 19 following the conclusion of the match.

BYU sprinters set tone for track and field

The BYU men’s sprints group crafted a new facility and meet record in the 4×400-meter relay at the Utah Spring Classic in Salt Lake City this weekend, along with multiple career-best performances.

“We got some good speed work in for some of the guys today,” said sprints coach Kyle Grossarth. “I was impressed with Josh [Taylor] and Eli [Hazlett] stepping down and running well in the 100-meter. It was also a nice win for Jace [Jensen] in the 400-meter hurdles.”

The 4×400-meter relay saw two crews from BYU in the event, with one group taking the fastest time of the day in 3:09.43. The crew composed of Trey Jackson, Jonah Heimuli, Jensen and Trevor Gough wrote a new facility and meet record with the result.

The 100-meter saw all three Cougars in the event run 10.70 or faster. Dallin Draper led the charge with a 10.47 outing. Taylor and Hazlett each secured personal bests of 10.66 and 10.70, respectively.

The 400-meter hurdles saw Jensen take the event win in 53.10. The 200-meter followed where Taylor ran 21.03 for a second-place finish and a new personal best.

On the women’s side, Emily Ellis-Dalley ran BYU’s No. 9 all-time mark in the 200-meters Saturday afternoon at McCarthey Family Track & Field Complex.

The junior from Highland, Utah, broke the 24-second barrier for the first time of her career, running 23.76. Ellis-Dalley placed second in the event and also ran a personal best of 11.97 in the 100m.

“I’ve been looking forward to this moment for a very long time,” said Ellis-Dalley. “Even though it’s been a tough week at practice, I knew that I could run a personal best. My strengths lie in running a great turn and the 200m is perfect for that. I just had a lot of confidence carrying me through today, and I’m excited for this momentum to pick up for championship season.”

BYU track and field will compete at four meets in Southern California next week starting with the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 16.

Cougar women’s tennis closes regular season by beating Houston

No. 67 BYU celebrated Senior Day and the end of the regular season at the outdoor tennis courts in Provo with two wins from graduating seniors Bobo Huang and Madison Smith, aiding the team’s 4-2 victory against Houston.

Huang ended the regular season with 18 singles wins, recording a career high in singles victories for a single season. Smith also surpassed her previous career high in singles victories with eight total.

The team will travel to Waco, TX next week to play in the Big 12 Championship.