California Baptist University
Brigham Young University
BASE Preview: Lancers Take on BYU in Utah
3/4/2026 3:55:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE--- California Baptist baseball is headed to Utah for the first time this year to face off against BYU. This will be the first time in program history that the Lancers will take on the Cougars. CBU enters the three-game series with an 11-3 record after taking the first installment of the crosstown showdown versus UC Riverside earlier this week. BYU kicks off its home campaign this week and comes into the series with a 6-5 record.
Adcock returns for his 23rd season, the longest of any CBU coach, and owns the most wins within the Western Athletic Conference within the Lancer athletic department. The CBU skipper was named by the DI Baseball news outlet to finish first within conference play this season and is expected to make a regional run. To help the squad reach its possible potential, Adcock recruited two right-handed pitchers, a pair of outfielders, and a catcher from other universities.
The CBU pitching staff has been the talk of the town this season, boasting a 2.15 ERA as a team and leading the WAC by 1.85 points. The squad is ranked 5th in the nation for its low ERA and 7th in hits allowed per nine innings. Leading the squad is sophomore Michael Malki, who returned to CBU after an impressive summer in the Cape and was ready to take on a full-time weekend role. Malki sits with a .64 ERA across 14 innings with 25 strikeouts, ranking himself 23rd in the nation and first in the WAC. At the plate, several Lancers have been putting in the work offensively, but Riley Hunsaker leads the squad with a .375 batting average and 15 hits this season. Bryce McFeely actually leads the team in hits with 21 and currently owns a .339 batting average after knocking his first two DI home runs against UCR earlier this week.
BYU returned 22 players from its 2025 roster and added five new arms to its arsenal this year. The squad is back home for the first time this season after spending 11 games on the road to open their 2026 campaign.
The Cougars suffered losses to San Diego State and Western Kentucky to open the year, but picked up a few one-off wins against UCSD, UC Riverside, and Washington State. Most recently, BYU fell to Long Beach State 7-6 after being unable to complete a late-inning comeback. Offense looks strong for BYU as Ryder Robinson went 11 for 22 last week with three RBI and a pair of doubles. From the mound, Ashton Johnson owns a 2-0 record and has been strong across his 15 innings of action this season with a .57 ERA.
The series will begin on Thursday at 2 p.m., followed by Friday with a first pitch at 2 p.m. The weekend will conclude on Saturday at Noon with all games streamed to ESPN+.
