BYU Baseball will host the University of San Francisco Dons this weekend in a three game series critical to conference tournament standing.
“Our goal starting the season was to make the West Coast Conference tournament,” head coach Mike Littlewood said. “If we don’t make the conference tournament, that positive feeling we have right now is going to turn negative real quick.”
The Cougars (24-18, 10-8 WCC) currently hold the fourth and final spot in the tournament and have a one-game lead over Pepperdine and San Diego with six conference games to play. The Dons (30-19, 14-7 WCC) come into the series riding a six game winning streak and have won eight of their last nine.
Desmond Paulson (6-1, 2.50) will start the first game for the Cougars, followed by Jeff Barker (4-3, 3.48) in game two and Adam Miller (3-7, 5.12) in the series finale.
The Cougar offense is led by Jaycob Brugman with nine home runs on the season and Jacob Hanneman, who is in the midst of a nine game hitting streak. Adam Law leads the team with a .346 batting average.
Zach Turner leads the Dons with a .346 batting average and seven home runs. Brad Zimmer is hitting .307 and also has seven home runs on the season.
BYU will retire the jerseys of hall of fame coaches Gary Pullins (no. 1) and Glen Tuckett (no. 20) in a ceremony prior to Saturday’s game. Pullins managed the Cougars for 22 years, leading the team to seven WAC titles and a No. 1 ranking during the 1981 regular season. Tuckett won 445 games over 18 seasons with BYU and led the Cougars to two appearances in the College World Series. Both coaches have been inducted into the Collegiate Baseball Hall of Fame.
Thursday’s game will begin at 6 p.m., Friday’s game at 6 p.m. and Saturday’s at 1 p.m. All times are MST. The games will be broadcast on KOVO Radio 960 AM. b
