Arizona will play its inaugural game in the Big XII Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday morning versus BYU. BYU upset Arizona State 2-0 on Wednesday in the first round. Arizona earned a bye to the quarterfinals after finishing in fourth place during the regular season.
After losing the opening game 12-5 at BYU in April, Arizona won 5-4 and 7-5 to win the series. BYU is 28-26 entering the game versus Arizona after finishing 10-20 in the Big XII in 2025. Arizona finished the regular season 36-18 overall and 18-12 in the Big XII.
Aaron Walton had four hits in 13 at-bats and Mason White had six hits in 14 at-bats in three games at BYU. Crew McChesney had four hits in 13 at-bats with four runs scored and five RBIs for BYU in the series. Ryder Robinson had seven hits in 14 at-bats with three runs scored and four RBIs for BYU.
BYU hit .305 in the three-game series versus Arizona. McChesney and Robinson had over a third of the 32 BYU hits in the three-game series. Arizona scored 11 runs off of the BYU starters in 12 innings pitched. BYU's bullpen held Arizona to six runs in the other 15 innings.
Arizona versus BYU pitching matchups
Arizona will start Owen Kramkowski, with BYU yet to announce their starting pitcher. Justis Reiser who started and pitched four innings for BYU versus Arizona in April, opened the game versus Arizona State on Wednesday and pitched four scoreless innings.
Jaden Harris started the second game for BYU versus Arizona in April and Jake Porter opened the second game for the Cougars on Friday for the Cougars versus Texas Tech. Ten pitchers started games for BYU this season, with seven likely dubbed openers in modern baseball in what is often referred to as a bullpen game.
Harris led BYU with 13 starts, Garrison Sumner has 11 starts in 13 appearances with an 8.74 earned run average and Payton Gubler has made nine. Reiser and Ashton Johnson, who pitched the final five innings for BYU on Wednesday, saved the Cougars' bullpen for the Big XII Tournament quarterfinals.
The matchup is set. We've got a rematch with BYU in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning 🫡 pic.twitter.com/yIEEQVpkGx
— Arizona Baseball (@ArizonaBaseball) May 21, 2025
Arizona versus BYU All-Time Series
Arizona leads the all-time series versus BYU 24-10. The Wildcats have won two out of the three games versus BYU played at neutral sites.
Arizona versus BYU Streaming
Arizona and BYU will have first pitch at 7 AM Mountain Daylight Time on ESPN+, with former Major League Baseball players and Texas Longhorns, Keith Moreland, who primarily played outfield, calling play-by-play and pitcher Greg Swindell as the analyst.
Looking ahead
The winner between Arizona and BYU will advance to the Big XII Tournament semifinal on Friday at 2:00 PM MDT on ESPN+ versus whoever emerges victorious between ninth-seed Cincinnati and top-seeded West Virginia on Thursday in the quarterfinal that immediately follows the Cougars and Wildcats.