Shortstop Ryder Robinson hit two home runs to propel BYU to an 11-6 win over Kansas State in game one of a three-game Big 12 series on Thursday night at Miller Park.

The Cougars got off to a fast start with Robinson blasting a two-run shot to right field in the bottom of the second inning. A three-run first and four-run fourth helped BYU to a game-high 7-0 lead before K-State fought back to an 8-6 game with four runs in the top of the sixth.

BYU put the game away late with a run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. The Cougars scored 11 runs on 11 hits with one error while K-State scored six runs on seven hits. Thursday marked BYU’s 14th double-figure scoring game of the season and fourth time doing so in back-to-back outings.

Hayden Coon made his first Division I start on Thursday and recorded a career-high nine strikeouts over four innings. As a staff, BYU tallied a season-high-tying 15 strikeouts on the night. Ashton Johnson earned the win for the Cougars to move to 2-0 on the season.

“This was a huge win,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “Hayden stepped up and did an unbelievable job. Offensively we just kept putting pressure on them by scoring runs in all but two innings. I was proud of how we performed today.”

Robinson finished 3 for 6 and drove in four runs. Tate Gambill was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple, Parker Goff went 2 for 3 with a homer and three RBI and Brock Watkins also drove in two runs with pair of singles.

Hunter sets record in 800 meters

Meghan Hunter broke a 36-year old facility record in the 800-meter Friday afternoon at the Clarence F. Robison Outdoor Track & Field.

Senior Meghan Hunter delivered a record-breaking performance in the 800-meter, clocking a time of 2:00.67 to shatter the facility record by more than two seconds. The previous mark of 2:02.93, set by Tennessee’s Delisa Walton in 1989, had stood for 36 years. Competing in front of a hometown crowd in Provo, Utah, Hunter also eclipsed her outdoor personal best and climbed to No. 3 all-time in BYU track and field history.

“This was a phenomenal and special farewell 800m for Meghan on our home track,” said Associate Director of Track & Field Diljeet Taylor. “I am extremely proud of her grit, resilience and faith. There are great things to come.”

Riley Chamberlain, the reigning Big 12 indoor mile champion and two-time NCAA DMR champion, made an impressive return to the 800m with her first race at the distance in nearly a year. The junior from Loomis, California ran a massive personal best of 2:01.01, taking second place and moving to No. 4 all-time in BYU history.

Freshman Tessa Buswell finished third with a personal-best time of 2:02.23. The San Diego native shaved over a second off her previous best and now ranks No. 8 all-time at BYU in the event.

Rebekah Erikson broke her own school record in the pole vault on Day 1 of the Robison Invitational, clearing 4.32m/14-2 on her third attempt to break her previous school record of 4.31m/14-1.75 set at the 2024 Big 12 outdoor championships and win Wednesday’s competition by 19.5 inches.

“I definitely did not expect to have a good day today,” said Erikson. “My warm ups weren’t great and the wind wasn’t ideal. I have also had a frustrating few weeks of practice. I was proud of myself for getting gritty in less than perfect conditions, not setting limits on my potential and for reminding myself that I really do love pole vault.”

Cutting logs sub four-minute mile at Robison Invitational

Carter Cutting set a personal record with his 3:59.39 to win the mile on Day 3 of the Robison Invitational on Friday.

BYU placed three runners in the top five of the mile. Cutting led the way, crossing in 3:59.39 to set a personal best and become the fifth runner in Utah history to run a sub-4-minute outdoor mile. The sophomore joins an elite list of Cougars that includes Doug Padilla, Casey Clinger, Lucas Bons and Aidan Troutner. Bons finished runner-up in 4:00.24, while teammate Troutner took fourth with a time of 4:02.60.

In the 800m, Sebastian Fernandez finished in 1:48:18 to win the division. In his outdoor 800m debut, freshman Brayden Packard crossed in 1:50.69 to claim fourth.

Jaden Roskelley became just the third Cougar in program history to score at least 8,000 points in the decathlon on Thursday afternoon.

The sophomore opened day two of the competition with 922 points in the 110-meter hurdles running 14.41. He tied a personal best in the discus with a toss of 45.66m/149-9.75 worth 780 points. The native of Arlington, Wash. continued his strong performance with personal bests in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.19m/13-9.25 (673 pts.) and javelin with a throw of 57.93m/190-1 (707 pts.). He closed the competition with 557 points the 1,500-meters to bring his total to 8,000 points becoming the third NCAA Division decathlete to score 8,000 or more points this season.

Ben Barton finished second with the second-best performance of his career, 7,759 points. That is also the eighth-highest score in NCAA Division I this year.

The Cougars saved the best for last as Eli Hazlett, Ty Oustrich, Jace Jensen and Josh Taylor ran the fourth-fastest mile relay in program history, 3:03.53. Logan Hubler anchored BYU’s other 4×400-meter relay finishing third in 3:06.33. Hazlett also finished second in the 200-meters with a personal best time of 21.01.

The 4×100-meter relay also picked up a victory running a seasonal best 39.92.

Softball drops opener to No. 11 Texas Tech

BYU softball fell in its series opener with No. 11 Texas Tech, 9-4 on Thursday evening at Gail Miller Field.

The Cougars (30-15, 12-10 Big 12) were held scoreless through three innings until a solo homer by Ilove’a Brittingham handed BYU its first run of the game. The Cougars would add their three other runs late in the seventh inning.

Texas Tech’s pitcher NiJaree Canady, the No. 1 rated pitcher in the country by Softball America for the month of May, earned eight strikeouts over the Cougars.

Tristen Turlington added two RBI with a single for BYU.