On the first day of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field, the No. 12 seed BYU Cougars shut out No. 5 seed Arizona State 2-0 in a win-or-go-home opener early Wednesday afternoon.
BYU advances to face the University of Arizona Wildcats on Thursday, May 22, with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT on ESPN+ at Globe Life Field.
DON'T CALL IT AN UPSET ‼️@BYUBaseball posts a shutout en route to its first Big 12 Baseball Championship victory.
The Cougs take on No. 4-seed @ArizonaBaseball in the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Quarterfinals tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT.#Big12BSB | @Phillips66Gas pic.twitter.com/zlk8jFDKKK
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) May 21, 2025
Making their first postseason appearance since 2022, the Cougars got four scoreless innings from Justis Reiser on just 48 pitches. Ashton Johnson followed with five shutout frames in relief, giving up only three hits and walking none to earn the win.
BYU’s defense turned two double plays and held Arizona State hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Sun Devils’ potent offense, which led the Big 12 in batting average and slugging during the regular season, was silenced.
Crew McChesney opened the scoring in the top of the second with an RBI double to right center, scoring Krew Painter, who had reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced on a balk.
COUGS STRIKE FIRST😮💨
📺 https://t.co/N3hhB7ptUF pic.twitter.com/mJln2Rl4bk
— BYU Baseball (@BYUBaseball) May 21, 2025
Britton Hurdsman added an RBI walk in the fifth, plating Trey Gambill to extend the lead to 2-0. BYU finished with just five hits but drew eight walks and found ways to capitalize.
THE FINAL OUT!!! pic.twitter.com/Qu906wdK6S
— BYU Baseball (@BYUBaseball) May 21, 2025
The win marked BYU’s first conference tournament victory over Arizona State since May 26, 1972, a 6-5 extra-inning win in Provo. Arizona State had won the previous 13 meetings in conference tournament play.
THE 12TH SEED SURVIVES pic.twitter.com/OXS49W4fYS
— BYU Baseball (@BYUBaseball) May 21, 2025
Head coach Trent Pratt, now in his third season leading BYU, played two seasons at Arizona State from 1999 to 2000. His team now moves on to face an Arizona squad that finished fourth in the Big 12 standings with an 18-12 conference record.
Arizona State’s season may come to an end, unless they are selected on Selection Monday on ESPNU On May 26 at 12 p.m., to enter the NCAA Tournament under head coach and former MLB player Willie Bloomquist.
The Sun Devils, who entered the tournament 35-21 and were projected as potential regional contenders, were done in by eight walks, two hit batters, and untimely offense. ASU’s Jacob Tobias went hitless, while Matt King and Kyle Walker had two hits apiece.
Arizona State pitching recorded 18 strikeouts, but @ASU_Baseball is still out of the #Big12 tourney after a 2-0 loss to #BYU.
ASU is down to 45 in the RPI, which typically is an issue. But high conference finish + H2H series wins over Kansas and TCU should help.
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) May 21, 2025
BYU, the preseason pick to finish 14th in the Big 12, stays alive.
The D1Baseball.com Top 25 Rankings that were published on May 19, has No. 25 Kansas that is from the Big 12 Conference.
🆕 D1Baseball Top 25 Rankings: Week 14
(Presented by @NettingPros)@LSUbaseball remains No. 1 entering conference tournament week 🏆🔗 https://t.co/YjQteGBg1P pic.twitter.com/RYT0PsAETU
— D1Baseball (@d1baseball) May 19, 2025
2025 Big 12 Conference Standings
Conference Record Weighs More Than Overall Record
* Did Not Qualify For Big 12 Tournament
*13. UCF (9-21) (29-26)
*14. Utah (8-22) (21-29)
2025 Big 12 Conference Championship Schedule
All Games Start Times Are Eastern Daylight Time
Wednesday, May 21
Game 1 – No. 12 BYU vs. No. 5 Arizona State – 10 a.m. – ESPN+
Game 2 – No. 9 Texas Tech vs. No. 8 Cincinnati – 1:30 p.m. – ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 3 – No. 10 Baylor vs. No. 7 Oklahoma State – 5 p.m. – ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 4 – No. 11 Houston vs. No. 6 Kansas State – 9 p.m. – ESPN2 & ESPN+
Thursday, May 22
Game 5 – No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 12 BYU – 10 a.m. – ESPN+
Game 6 – No. 1 West Virginia vs. Game 2 Winner – 1:30 p.m. – ESPN+
Game 7 – No. 2 Kansas vs. Game 3 Winner – 5 p.m. – ESPNU & ESPN+
Game 8 – No. 3 TCU vs. Game 4 Winner – 8:30 p.m. – ESPNU & ESPN+
Friday, May 23
Game 9 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner – 5 p.m. – ESPN+
Game 10 – Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner – 8:30 p.m. – ESPN+
Saturday, May 24
Game 11 – Championship Game – 7 p.m. – ESPNU & ESPN+
Big 12 Conference MLBPipeline.com Top 150 Draft Rankings
No. 22 – OF – Brendan Summerhill – Arizona
No. 39 – OF – Brandon Compton – Arizona State
No. 87 – LHP – Ben Jacobs – Arizona State
No. 98 – OF – Nolan Schubart – Oklahoma State
No. 112 – RHP – Gabe Davis – Oklahoma State
No. 134 – SS – Mason White – Arizona
