by Mike Miller
BYU has another national champion. One basketball team is dancing, while the other is hoping for a deep NIT run. Baseball and softball are on fire. Your weekly rundown of BYU sports is right here:
Baseball
While only having a 2-2 record on the week, the baseball team is probably thrilled with their results. They played a three-game series against No. 6 Oklahoma State at the home of the Texas Rangers, winning their first game 8-6 before dropping the next two. Getting even one game off a top-10 team is an accomplishment and doing so in an MLB park is extra special. The Cougars then followed-up that series with one game against Utah, which they took 10-3.
Next Up: Conference play began this week with a road series at Portland. The Thursday-Saturday games was available on BYU Radio, starting at 7:00 p.m, 3:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. MST. The Cougars went 1-2 in this series after winning the first game followed by a pair of losses to the Pilots.
Men’s Basketball
After not getting a March Madness bid, the men enter the NIT as a No. 2 seed.
Next Up: On Wednesday, March 16, BYU hosted Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. MST. The game was streamed on ESPN+. They also beat the Northern Iowa Panthers last night. They await the winner of SMU and Washington State. They will get another home game if the Wazzu Cougars pull off the upset. The winner of that game would go to New York to play in Madison Square Garden for the NIT Semifinals.
Women’s Basketball
Time to put your dancing shoes on! The Cougars were the No. 6 seed in the Wichita Regional.
Next Up: On Saturday BYU played 11-seed Villanova in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The game started at 11:00 a.m. MST on ESPN News. If they had won, they would have played the Michigan Wolverines on their home court on Monday. However, they lost in a close 61-57 upset. They will enter the offseason with this disappointing loss when may thought they would potentially make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Football
The official 2022 schedule is out! Home games feature Baylor, Wyoming, Utah State, Arkansas, East Carolina, and Utah Tech. Road games will be against USF, Oregon, Liberty, Boise State, and Stanford, with a game in Las Vegas against Notre Dame.
Gymnastics
For the third week in a row, the Cougars came out on top of their meet. This time, it was Arizona who fell victim to BYU’s well-rounded team. Their best score was on floor, with a team score of 49.325. Sadie Miner-Van Tassell added another All-Around win on the season, scoring a 39.525.
Next Up: The MRGC Championships are this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. MDT. Boise State hosted the meet, which was streamed on the Mountain West Digital Network. BYU placed fourth overall while the Utah State Aggies won the championship.
Softball
The softball teams loves to score a lot of runs. So many, in fact, that they mercy-ruled two of their opponents last week. BYU started with a 5-0 loss to No. 23 Arizona State before smashing Rutgers 11-2. They then dropped a narrow 2-0 game to Grand Canyon before outgunning Ball State 14-5. BYU dropped 14 runs again en route to obliterating Maine 14-0 in their home opener.
Next Up: The Cougars have seven home games in two weeks, with every single game available through BYUtv. Idaho State visited on Thursday before a double-header with SUU on Saturday. The Cougars won all three of those matchups. Next week, Oregon is in Provo for one game on Monday. The week caps off with three games against Iowa State.
Track and Field
Courtney Wayment is a national champion! A year after winning the 3000-meter race, she showed her versatility with a win in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Indoor track and field championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Wayment lead a strong BYU showing, as she also took fifth in the 3000.
Zach McWhorter cleared 5.70 meters to finish second in pole vault, and he was joined by Caleb Witsken’s 10th-place. Claire Seymour also added a second-place finish in the 800-meter race. Halley Folsom Walker finished in fifth place in the pentathlon. Her 4201 score was also a personal-best. Cierra Tidwell-Allphin took eighth in high jump. In the distance medley relay, a team consisting of Carmen Alder, Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes, Kate Hunter, and Meghan Hunter was ninth.
Men’s Volleyball
The losing streak is finally broken. After dropping nine in a row, the Cougars are back in the win column with two wins over Concordia University, Irvine. To make the victories even sweeter, the first was a sweep and the second was 3-1.
Next Up: BYU will look to keep their momentum up when they visit Pepperdine. Both games start at 7:00 p.m MST on Friday and Saturday next week.
Featured image courtesy BYU Photo