BYU Olympic Sports Recap: Baseball enjoying hot start

BYU Olympic Sports have enjoyed a late winter schedule, and many teams are coming into mid-March on streaks.

Baseball

The Bat Cats have won nine of their last ten games, including five straight wins. In the streak, the Cougars beat local rivals Utah Valley 5-1 at Miller Park, followed by a three game sweep of Milwaukee.

The Cougars face Niagara on Tuesday before their conference opening series against Gonzaga this weekend. The Cougars are hoping to bounce back from last year’s poor conference season, when they finished bottom of the WCC standings.

Softball

Softball has yet to play a game at Miller Park, and won’t play their first home game until April 12. They currently stand at 10-11 on the season, and head to Tennessee to play in the Tennessee invite against Tennessee and Texas.

Tennis

Men’s Tennis has worked their way up to number 22 in the latest rankings, and have won nine straight. The Cougars currently sit at 12-2 on the season, and have swept six of their last nine. The Cougars host Pacific and St Mary’s this Friday and Saturday in Provo.

Women’s Tennis is currently 6-4 and undefeated at home. They will host Portland on Friday and Utah on Saturday this week, in a Deseret First Duel match-up.

Track and Field

BYU Indoor Track and Field finished up their season in impressive fashion, with the men placing 13th at the National Championships and the women placing 14th.

The women DMR team placed second nationally with a time of 10:54:14, breaking a school record they set earlier this year. The men had three distance runners in the top 10 in the 5000m, with Clayton Young leading the Cougars with a time of 13:45.35, finishing third. Connor McMillan followed him with a time of 13:46.88, finishing fourth. Young would place sixth in the 3000m, posting a time of 7:55.86, while Conner Mantz finished seventh with a time of 7:56.72.

Volleyball

Men’s Volleyball has had its ups and downs this season, currently standing at 9-6 on the season. The Cougars moved up to ninth in the rankings, after splitting a weekend series with third-ranked UC Irvine. They play UCLA and Pepperdine at home this Thursday and Saturday.

The women’s volleyball team had four players participate in the Team USA Open Tryout in Colorado Springs from March 1-3. Those four players, Mary Lake, Heather Gneiting, Kennedy Eschenberg, and Madelyn Robinson all return for the Cougars this fall.

Women’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball finished the regular season second in the WCC after a regular season sweep of Gonzaga. The Cougars were guaranteed a semi-final appearance at the WCC Tournament and played Pepperdine on Monday afternoon. The Cougars erased a 13-point deficit to beat the Waves 68-63, and will play Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament Championship. The Zags will likely be without Laura Stockton and Jill Townsend, who went out with injuries in their buzzer-beater, double overtime win against St Mary’s in the semi-final.

Gymnastics

BYU Gymnastics has won it’s last two meets, beating George Washington in Washington D.C. before beating no. 11 Boise State in Boise. The Cougars next meet is a tri-meet with Arizona St and West Virginia on Wednesday.

Rugby

Men’s rugby is off to tough start in their Spring schedule. In games not against St Mary’s the Cougars are 2-0 but have lost all three match-ups with the Gaels. They play next at Weber State on Saturday.

Lacrosse

Men’s Lacrosse visited sunny Arizona last weekend to play Arizona State and Grand Canyon. The Cougars fell to the Sun Devils, 13-8, before bouncing back with a 10-6 win over the Lopes.