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BYU catcher Lindy Milkowski celebrates hitting a home run against Fresno State in a women's college softball game at Gail Miller Field on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU players greet Hailey Morrow (20) after she hit a home run in the first inning against Fresno State in a women's college softball game at Gail Miller Field on Monday, April 14, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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There was a time when seeing the BYU softball team’s name as an NCAA Tournament entrant was the norm.

From 2005 to 2021 (excluding the COVID-cancelled 2020 season), the Cougars earned invites every season, dominating the Mountain West and West Coast Conferences.

BYU began playing in softball powerhouse Big 12 Conference in 2024, a big challenge that Gordon Eakin and his players were eager to take on.

The Cougars are still seeking their first NCAA invite as a member of that prestigious conference as the Big 12 Tournament begins on Wednesday at OGE Energy Field at Devon Park in Oklahoma City. BYU (31-16 overall, 13-11 Big 12) is the No. 6 seed and will take on No. 11 Houston (22-24, 4-18) at 6:30 p.m. MT, hoping to advance to play No. 3 seed Iowa State on Thursday.

The Cougars are a top 50 offensive club (No. 40 in batting average at .317) and 13th in the country in home runs (75). Earlier this season, BYU earned a sweep of Houston on the road winning 9-0 (in six innings), 4-2 and 8-4.

Heartland College Sports predicts that eight teams are in the mix to make the NCAA Tournament from the Big 12, with regular season champion Texas Tech, Arizona, Oklahoma State and UCF locks to make the field. HCS indicates Arizona State should also receive a bid due to its RPI of 37. Baylor and Iowa State are on the bubble and BYU has “work to do,” despite the third-best winning percentage in the Big 12.

“They rank ahead of both Baylor and Iowa State in RPI,” Heartland College Sports writes. “So how are they on the wrong side of the bubble? They’ve played, by far, the easiest schedule in the Big 12, with the 93rd-ranked strength of schedule. If the Cougars were 40-4, there would be little question about their standing. But their loss to Baylor (on April 26) might’ve put them just outside the tournament field.”

The Cougars dropped two of three to Texas Tech in Provo over the weekend to conclude the regular season.

Heading into the Big 12 Tournament, BYU is No. 46 in the RPI (sixth in the Big 12) and No. 64 in overall strength of schedule. The Cougars are 5-10 in Quad 1 games, 8-4 in Quad 2, 6-0 in Quad 3 and 12-2 in Quad 4.

A total of 64 teams make the NCAA Tournament field, 32 automatic bids from winning conference championships and 32 at-large teams selected by the Division I Softball Committee.

Senior catches Lindy Milkowski believes her team is ready for any challenge as the tournament begins.

“I feel like our team is a bunch of fighters, and we are so resilient,” Milkowski said. “We’ve come back from a lot, and I think we are kind of the unexpected team, We’re new to the Big 12. This is only our second year but I think we’ve come together and we play a brand of softball that we can all be proud of. I want to see us play together on offense, defense and our pitching staff. We need to make all three cylinders fire at once. We want to make our mark and to prove that BYU can be the team we know that we can be.”

The Cougars finished 31-23 overall and 11-16 in conference play during it inaugural season in the Big 12 in 2024. As the No. 6 seed, BYU upset No. 3 Oklahoma State 7-2 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament then lost to No. 4 Oklahoma 13-2 in the semifinals.

In 2023, BYU (35-17, 11-4 WCC) were invited to the National Invitational Softball Championships in Fort Collins, Colo., advancing to the finals before falling to Iowa 9-7.

In 2022 the Cougars finished 42-10 overall and 13-2 in the WCC but were not awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA’s.

2025 Big 12 Softball Tournament

Oklahoma City, Okla.

First Round

Wednesday, May 7

No. 8 Baylor vs. No. 9 Kansas, 1:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 7 UCF vs. No. 10 Utah, 4 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 Houston, 6:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Quarterfinals

Thursday, May 8

No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 Arizona State, 10 a.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 1 Texas Tech vs. Baylor-Kansas winner, 12:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 2 Arizona vs. UCF-Utah winner, 4 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

No. 3 Iowa State vs. BYU/Houston winner, 6:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Semifinals

Friday, May 9

2 p.m. MT (ESPN+), 4:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)

Championship Final

Saturday, May 10

10 a.m. (ESPN)