BYU baseball defeated Texas Tech 18-8 on May 19 in the opening game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament, ending the contest early with a walk-off home run by Easton Jones in the seventh inning.
The victory allows BYU (28-27) to advance in the tournament and improves its record to 2-1 in Big 12 Tournament games. The Cougars recorded an impressive offensive performance, setting a new single-game batting average record for the tournament at .526 and tying the event’s record for most home runs in a game with five.
Key contributors included Jones and catcher Ridge Erickson, who each hit two home runs. Other standout performances came from Ryder Robinson, Luke Anderson, Ezra McNaughton, Bryker Hurdsman, and Keoni Painter. BYU collected a total of 20 hits while leaving only four runners on base; Texas Tech had eight runs on ten hits but stranded seven runners.
After falling behind early when Texas Tech scored five runs in the third inning for a brief lead, BYU responded with consistent offense across multiple innings. Notable moments included back-to-back scoring plays by Anderson and McNaughton, as well as multi-run homers from both McNaughton and Erickson. In the sixth inning alone, BYU exploded for seven runs to retake control of the game.
Relief pitcher Austin Park threw one-and-two-thirds scoreless innings with three strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. The game ended when Jones hit his second home run of the night—a walk-off shot—securing an early finish under tournament rules.
Looking ahead, No. 9 seed BYU will face No. 8 seed Baylor on Wednesday at Surprise Stadium. Both teams finished conference play with identical records during regular season competition.
