Utah and BYU in the baseball Holy War (Photo by Utah Athletics)
Baseball in the Beehive State falters as the Utah teams continue to struggle.
Utah 23-19 (11-13 in the Big 12)
April ended with a rough patch for the Utes. They lost the opening game of the series against rival BYU on Thursday, 6-4. This gave Utah a four-game losing streak to close out the month. The U righted the ship, though, in May. On Friday, in Provo, the Utah Utes got a huge 8-1 victory over their Holy War rival.
Saturday’s game would decide the rivalry and Big 12 series. Utah again erupted for eight runs, and won this game, 8-3. The Utes took two of three from BYU this week, but due to a BYU victory in Salt Lake City earlier in the season, the teams stand locked at 2-2 in 2026. The only way they won’t finish the year tied is if the Holy War has a Big 12 Tournament edition. On Tuesday, Utah will play Utah Valley for the third and final time this season down in Orem. They’ll then hit the road to go to Dallas-Fort Worth to play against TCU.
Utah Valley 15-31 (1-11 in the WAC)
UVU’s rough season saw no changes after their first game against California Baptist. Homefield advantage did nothing for the Wolverines as they fell on Friday, 14-10. Saturday saw Cal Baptist hammer Utah Valley again, this time 14-8. Even when UVU’s pitching got better in the final game on Sunday, their bats went quiet, and they fell, 2-1. The Wolverines have now lost 13 in a row and have lost 16 of their last 17. UVU will play their final matchup of the season against Utah tomorrow in SLC. They’ll then head to Texas to take on Abilene Christian.
BYU 23-23 (12-12 in the Big 12)
The BYU Cougars got their series against Utah off to a great start on Thursday night in Provo. BYU’s five runs in the fifth inning would power the Cougars to a 6-4 victory. The worst BYU could do against the Utes now was split their four-game season slate. Unfortunately for the Cougars, they did their worst. BYU opened the month of May with back-to-back losses to Utah. The Cougars were outscored in their two losses on Friday and Saturday by a combined 16-4 margin. BYU will finish the year 2-2 against Utah unless they meet up in the Big 12 Tournament. BYU will play at UNLV tomorrow before playing three games later on in the week against Texas Tech.
Utah Tech 29-19 (6-6 in the WAC)
Utah Tech got the week off to a positive start by hosting the UNLV Rebels on Tuesday. The Trailblazers opened the week with an 8-3 victory before a crucial conference home stand against Tarleton State. Unfortunately, Tech couldn’t build off of their weekday victory. Tarleton State took the opening game of the series on Friday, 9-6. Utah Tech struggled again on Saturday and was defeated, 8-4. Tarleton State finished off the sweep of Utah Tech with a 10-8 victory on Sunday. Tech has lost five of their last six WAC games and is on the verge of dropping the ball after the fantastic start they had to the 2026 season. Utah Tech will hit the road this week for three games against UT Arlington in Texas.
The Utah Four
1. Utah 23-19 (11-13 in the Big 12)
1. BYU 23-23 (12-12 in the Big 12)
2. Utah Tech 29-19 (6-6 in the WAC)
3. Utah Valley 15-31 (1-11 in the WAC)
Wally Joyner Player of the Week
Utah’s left fielder, Jake Long, was this week’s standout player. Long had five hits, three runs batted in, two doubles, and a home run in Utah’s series win over rival BYU. Jake Long has been Utah’s leading hitter this season. The junior from Whittier, California, is batting .363 and has 65 hits this season for the Utes.
