alt=Jay DrewFor BYU’s softball team, the timing for its most anticipated series of the 2024 season couldn’t be worse.
Ever since the Cougars were invited to the Big 12, their players, coaches, fans and everybody else associated with the program have looked forward to competing against national power Oklahoma, the sport’s premier brand.
The Sooners have won five of the last seven national championships, including the last three.
The long-awaited three-game series with the No. 1-ranked Sooners (36-3, 13-2 in Big 12) begins Thursday in Norman, Oklahoma, and runs through Saturday, but the Cougars don’t appear capable of making the games memorable, let alone pulling off an upset.
The main reason for the lack of optimism in Provo is pitching — BYU (21-17, 4-11) lost its ace, Kaysen Korth, to an undisclosed injury March 8 and has been trying to make do with two inexperienced freshmen — Kate Dahle and Gianna Mares — and senior Chloe Temples, a transfer from Stetson.
Another pitcher who was expected to be a key part of the staff, Hina Huber of Mesa, Arizona, had thoracic outlet surgery in January and is out for the season, just like Korth, an all-WCC performer last year who prepped at Riverton High.
Adding to the Cougars’ tall task is that Oklahoma will be an angry outfit, having lost two of three to No. 4 Texas in Austin last weekend, the losses by identical 2-1 scores. The first loss snapped OU’s 17-game win streak and 40-game Big 12 win streak.
Oklahoma opened its new 4,200-seat softball stadium, Love’s Field, on March 1, adding to the excitement of the series. All three games against the visiting Cougars are sold out. First pitch Thursday and Friday is at 5 p.m. MDT, while Saturday’s series finale begins at noon MDT. SoonerVision on ESPN+ will stream the games.
“It will probably be the biggest (crowd) we have played in front of,” said BYU coach Gordon Eakin. “I’ve been told you can’t get a ticket to it. … That part will be exciting for the girls to play in that environment. We are looking forward to the challenge as we do every weekend with every team.”
The veteran coach, who is in his 22nd season, isn’t about to put one game or series above another, but readily admits there is something special about getting a shot at one of the most powerful dynasties in college sports. He just wishes the Cougars were healthier in the circle, and playing better.
The Cougars have lost four straight, including Tuesday night’s 12-10 setback at crosstown rival Utah Valley. They dropped to 4-11 in Big 12 play after getting swept at UCF last weekend by scores of 3-2, 9-4 and 5-4. They blew a seventh-inning lead in the series finale, falling in extra innings.
Their biggest win was an 11-8 upset of then-No. 4 Oklahoma State in Provo on March 22, and they can also boast a 2-1 series win over fellow Big 12 newcomer Houston, capped by a thrilling 17-15 come-from-behind win in nine innings on March 29.
But for the most part, they’ve taken their lumps in their new league, evidenced by a 15-0 loss to Texas Tech and losses of 13-0 and 10-0 in five innings to Texas. For the first time in a long time, BYU has been on the wrong side of the mercy rule.
“It is what we expected, a gauntlet every weekend. No matter who you play in the Big 12, it is a huge challenge,” Eakin said. “We didn’t expect to … go into that gauntlet with so many key injuries to our pitching staff. It has been difficult to attack such a daunting schedule missing some key roles on the pitching staff.”
Eakin quickly says that’s not an excuse, noting that every team deals with injuries, to one extent or the other. It is just that BYU’s margin for error is so thin in one of the best softball leagues in the country.
The Cougars are currently in eighth-place in the 10-team Big 12 (Kansas State, West Virginia, Cincinnati and TCU don’t participate in softball) and have an RPI of 71. All 10 teams make the conference tournament May 8-11 at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, but only the top six seeds get first-round byes.
“We are fighting for a postseason bid,” Eakin said. “We got to win a few more games in the Big 12 to make that an accomplishment to get that at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament). But we are also fighting for seeding in the Big 12 so we don’t have to play the top one or two teams right out of the chute.”
Eakin said BYU’s offense has mostly been satisfactory, led by shortstop Ailana Abayani, whose .425 batting average leads the team, first baseman Huntyr Ava (.412) and center fielder Violet Zavodnik (.411). Zavodnik leads BYU with eight home runs, while Ava has hit five and Agbayani four.
“Obviously we have gone through some hills and valleys, but most of it has been very good in our ability to put runs on the board and give ourselves a chance to win. Especially when we fall behind, we still think we can come back offensively and give ourselves a chance to win. So our offense is doing a great job,” Eakin said.
“Our defense shines most of the time, but then it has a letdown every now and then and then and our pitching, for what we have gone through, has fought. You can’t ask them to do any more, but hoping that they mature quickly. Especially the freshmen, because they have the talent to play at this level,” he continued.
“We are fighting for a postseason bid. We got to win a few more games in the Big 12 to make that an accomplishment to get that at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament). But we are also fighting for seeding in the Big 12 so we don’t have to play the top one or two teams right out of the chute.”
— BYU softball coach Gordon Eakin
After years of domination in the WCC, and various other leagues the Cougars were in before that conference added softball, BYU is getting a comeuppance of sorts in its new Power Five conference, but Eakin said the good news is that recruiting is getting a big boost.
The coach said “everything” is more difficult in the Big 12.
“It is the total game. It is strength. It is speed. It is hitting. It is pitching. It is coaching. There are elite athletes in the Big 12,” Eakin said. “… All the teams are getting beat up by somebody else, with the exception of Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State.
“But as we did with Oklahoma State, anybody is capable of beating anybody on any given day. And that’s the difference, is not only the caliber of the teams and the athletes in every regard, but the experience of playing a top team week after week after week, there is just nothing like that in the WCC, for sure.”
