BYU baseball clinches final Big 12 Tournament spot with series win over Texas Tech

PROVO — There will be postseason baseball for BYU, at least in next week's conference tournament in Arlington, Texas.

Ryder Robinson smacked a two-run single during a three-run sixth, then sealed the win with the final out to help the Cougars rallied to top Texas Tech 6-5 for its first series win in eight weeks Friday night at Larry H. Miller Park.

Cooper Vest went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI for BYU (27-25, 10-19 Big 12), and Ashton Johnson (3-1) scattered three hits over the final 3.1 innings without an earned run to get his third win of the year.

But it was Robinson's bat that overturned a 5-3 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, plating Tate Gambill and Parker Goff to give the Cougars their first — and only — lead of the evening.

"We all believe in each other, and I think we just kept going with our game plan, sticking to it — and it ended up paying off," said Robinson, the sophomore from American Fork.

Moments earlier, Robinson nearly won it on a three-run homer that drifted a few feet wide of the right-field pole. But the TCU transfer shrugged it off and found a gap in left-center to Gambill and Goff from second and third, respectively.

It's the Cougars' first conference series win since March 22 against Cincinnati, and first win on a Friday in eight tries. BYU could win the first game Thursday games since then, but struggled to close out in league play.

Until Friday, that is.

"We just told them it's Thursday again," BYU coach Trent Pratt said. "That was the message all day; we played another Thursday game, and tomorrow we're going to play on Thursday again.

"I don't know if it helped or not," he deadpanned. "But we just kept telling them it was Thursday."

With the wins and a pair of losses by UCF to Baylor, BYU clinched the No. 12 seed in the Big 12 Tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Cougars will open the postseason Wednesday, May 21 at 8 a.m. MDT on ESPN+.

"It means a lot," Robinson told KSL.com. "This team has been through a lot of ups and downs, and I think it's a big deal for us to get in the tournament. We're excited moving forward."

A fair amount had to happen to get BYU into the postseason, being tied with the Utes and UCF before the final series of the regular season. But two losses by UCF and Utah's split series with TCU after Friday's 8-6 win gave BYU enough to clinch the No. 12 seed.

Either way, the Cougars never stopped believing. Head coach Trent Pratt didn't even look at the previous scores to know where his team stood.

When director of operations Tuckett Slade turned on the Baylor-UCF game in the clubhouse before Friday's first pitch, the third-year head coach had him turn it off. He didn't even want to see a number.

"I didn't want to know," he said. "All we can control is what we can do. I wanted to make sure I was making the best decisions to win this game and not worry about what other teams were doing.

"I didn't want to know anything about any other games."

The Cougars will wrap up the regular season Saturday against Texas Tech (19-32, 12-17 Big 12). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. MDT on ESPN+.

"It's the last time they play here," Pratt said. "But at least we know we get one more game to play together. That's always exciting."

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