One aspect of BYU currently having its most baseball alumni at the MLB level in nearly a decade is all of the possible matchups for former Cougars.
Since Daniel Schneemann ( Cleveland Guardians ), Justin Sterner (Athletics) and Michael Rucker ( Seattle Mariners ) are all in the American League, they're all guaranteed at least two series against each other per season, with the Mariners and Athletics matching up in four different series due to being AL West rivals.
But Sunday in Cleveland, two of those BYU alums went head to head in a batter vs. pitcher battle — and they just happened to have been teammates for a season in Provo.
Ten years after sharing the Miller Park dugout, Rucker stood on the mound staring down Schneemann at the plate, looking to get the first out of the eighth inning and preserve Seattle's 3-run lead.
But upon working the count to two balls and two strikes, Schneemann pounded Rucker's 97 mile-per-hour four-seam fastball over his head and into center field, driving in a run to cut the Guardians' deficit to just two.
Schneemann's Cougar-on-Cougar contact helped spark a Cleveland comeback, as the Guardians scored five more runs in the frame to defeat the Mariners 6-5 and clinch the weekend series victory.
The Guardians' late rally would come at Rucker's expense, as he ended up recording just one out, giving up four runs and being charged with the loss.
Rucker's earned run average for the season subsequently jumped to 8.53 compared to his 3.00 mark heading into Sunday's action, although he is still averaging nearly 16 strikeouts per nine innings for 2026, which would nearly double his previous career high.
Schneemann, meanwhile, smacked a double earlier in the contest, raising his season batting average to .214 with 27 runs batted in.
During their lone campaign as Cougar teammates in 2016, Rucker posted an 11-1 win-loss record with 94 strikeouts as an All-West Coast Conference First Team selection en route to being taken in the 11th round of the MLB draft, while then-freshman Schneemann batted .318 for the year with a .373 on base clip.
