OKLAHOMA CITY – The West Virginia University baseball team travels to Oklahoma City for the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship, which begins on Wednesday, May 24, at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.
WVU is seeded fourth and will play No. 5 Baylor in the opening round on Wednesday, at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT. The winner of the WVU-BU game will play the winner between No. 1 Texas Tech and No. 8 Oklahoma State on Thursday, May 25, at 5 p.m. ET. In the double-elimination tournament, the losers of the two games on Wednesday will face off on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
The Mountaineers (32-22, 12-12 Big 12) return to Oklahoma City after advancing to their first Big 12 championship game a season ago. WVU went 3-1 in OKC, with two wins over Oklahoma and a win over No. 5 Texas Tech before falling in the title game to No. 11 TCU. West Virginia is 6-6 all-time in its first four seasons in the conference.
The Bears (34-19, 12-12 Big 12) tied WVU for fourth place in the Big 12, with a 12-12 record. The Mountaineers earned the tie-breaker after winning the series at then-No. 10 Baylor, 2-1, to open Big 12 play from March 17-19. WVU won the opener, 7-1, before clinching the series the following day with a 6-5 win. BU avoided the sweep with a 5-1 win.
The Red Raiders (42-13, 16-8 Big 12) shared the regular-season Big 12 title with TCU. Texas Tech, which is coming off a sweep of Kansas, went 2-1 against West Virginia in a trio of one-run games in Morgantown from May 6-7. TTU swept a doubleheader on May 6, 1-0 and 4-3, before the Mountaineers won the finale, 3-2.
The Cowboys (26-25, 8-14 Big 12) earned a berth in the Big 12 Championship after winning both games against Oklahoma last weekend. WVU went 2-1 against OSU from March 31-April 2. WVU lost the opener against OSU, ranked No. 23 nationally at the time, 3-2, before winning a 5-3 game in 10 innings the next day. West Virginia won the series on Sunday, 9-8.
On the other side of the Big 12 bracket, second-seeded TCU will face No. 7 Kansas on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, and No. 3 Oklahoma opens against No. 6 Texas at 8:30 p.m. ET. The winner of each bracket will meet on Sunday in the championship game, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.
FOLLOWING ALONG
Wednesday through Saturday’s contests will be televised on FCS, FSSW+ or FSMW+, while Sunday’s championship game will air live on FOX Sports Networks and ROOT SPORTS Pittsburgh. All games will also be available on FOX Sports GO or through the Xfinity app to authenticated subscribers.
Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes from Oklahoma City can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team at @WVUBaseball on
Twitter,
Facebook and
Instagram.
ON DECK: NCAA TOURNAMENT SELECTION SHOW
Up next, the Mountaineers hope to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. The selection show is set for Monday, May 29, at noon ET, on ESPNU, when the 64-team field will be announced.
LAST YEAR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
The Mountaineers advanced to their first-ever Big 12 championship game last season, going 3-1 at the postseason tournament. WVU was three outs away from winning its first Big 12 title.
- WVU’s road to the championship game began with a 6-0 win over Oklahoma, followed by a 9-4 upset victory against No. 5 Texas Tech before an 11-1, seven-inning win. West Virginia outscored its opponents 20-5 and out-hit them 22-12 in the first three games.
- In a roller-coaster championship game, No. 11 TCU won, 11-10 in 10 innings. The Horned Frogs jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the third inning before WVU stormed back to lead it 10-9 after five innings. TCU came back with a run in the ninth to tie it before winning it in the 10th.
- In four games, Kyle Davis led the team with 10 hits, 14 RBIs, four doubles, two home runs and 22 total bases. Davis’ 14 RBIs are a Big 12 record.
QUICK HITS: KEY TEAM NOTES
- West Virginia is celebrating its 125th year of baseball. Founded in 1892, WVU owns an all-time record of 2,127-1,524-19. The Mountaineers are the second-oldest program in the Big 12.
- West Virginia is ranked No. 20 in the NCAA RPI. The Big 12 has six teams in the top 25 and the league has the No. 1 RPI in the nation.
- WVU is 32-22 on the season, 14-8 at home, 15-14 on the road and 3-0 at a neutral site.
- WVU is tied for fourth place in the Big 12, with a 12-12 record, and won its first four weekend series in conference play. West Virginia earned the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season.
- The Mountaineers are 9-6 against top-25 teams, with all but six games coming on the road.
- Kyle Davis’ reached-base streak was snapped at a team-high 23 games, a stretch that included a team-best 12-game hitting streak.
- Sophomore designated hitter/right-handed pitcher Braden Zarbnisky has been named a semifinalist on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award watch list, presented by the College Baseball Foundation. Zarbnisky is hitting .333 in 38 games with 20 starts and has a team-leading five wins and six saves while posting a 2.67 ERA in 21 relief appearances.
- Senior Jackson Cramer has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes senior student-athletes who have shown a commitment in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. Fans can vote for Cramer at seniorCLASSaward.com.
- Senior right-handed reliever Jackson Sigman has made 33 appearances this year, the most in a single season in program history.
