MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Winners of six of its last eight games, the West Virginia University baseball team hosts Kansas State in a three-game series, from April 20-22, at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
The series begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 20, and continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Friday, April 20, 6:30 p.m. – Video | Radio | Stats
Saturday, April 21, 4 p.m. – Video | Radio | Stats
Sunday, April 22, 1 p.m. – Video | Radio | Stats
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Tickets for all three games are available at WVUGAME.com, by calling 1-800-WVU GAME, at the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum or on game day at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
Friday's promotions include Friday Night Happy Hour, with half-off beverages from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and all fans can play Baseball Bingo. Additionally, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is hosting a food drive, and fans can bring a canned food item and receive $2 off their ticket. Saturday is a True Blue game and Family Day, where fans can purchase four tickets and receive a $10 concession voucher for just $25. An exclusive WVU baseball t-shirt will be given away to the first 500 fans at Saturday's game, while 3,000 blue shakers also will be given away. Finally, Sunday is the first trading card giveaway of the season, along with Kids Day, postgame autographs and running the bases, with a new Kids Zone Presented By WVU Medicine Children's and Mr. Twister's Balloon Art and Face Painting.
 
The Mountaineers (17-17, 2-7 Big 12) enter the weekend ranked No. 25 in the latest NCAA RPI after a 9-2 win over Canisius on Wednesday. WVU has the No. 2 strength of schedule in the country and is one of five Big 12 teams in the top-38 RPI. West Virginia has won six of its last eight and seven of its last 10 games.
 
The Mountaineers rank among the NCAA and Big 12 leaders in several statistical categories. West Virginia is No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 24 nationally with 60 stolen bases, while WVU and ranks third with 0.88 home runs per game. On the mound, WVU's 1.88 strikeouts-to-walk ratio is No. 4 in the league.
 
Individually, Braden Zarbnisky leads the league and is No. 6 nationally with an average of 1.07 walks per game. He also is second in the Big 12 and No. 20 in the NCAA with 0.59 stolen bases per game. Darius Hill is averaging 18.1 at-bats per strikeout, a ratio that is No. 9 nationally and first in the Big 12. Additionally, Hill's 14 doubles is No. 26 nationally.
 
The Wildcats (16-21, 2-10 Big 12) are coming off a 4-3 win at Nebraska, which snapped a nine-game losing streak. The three-game series this weekend is part of an eight-game roadtrip for Kansas State.
 
Two senior right-handers will take the mound on Friday, as WVU's BJ Myers (0-1, 5.08 ERA) faces K-State's Justin Heskett (2-5, 6.34). On Saturday, it's a pair of sophomore righties, as Kade Strowd (3-3, 4.83) goes for the Mountaineers and Caleb Littlejim (2-1, 6.55) takes the mound for the Wildcats. Sunday's starting pitchers have not been determined.
 
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with this weekend's games, with Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky calling the action.

• The games will feature a free video stream, available on WVUsports.com and the WVU Gameday App. New this season, fans also can watch the video streams via Roku by downloading the West Virginia Mountaineers channel.
• Fans can listen to the games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state, while fans across the country can tune in to the broadcasts online at WVUsports.com and on the WVU Gameday App, as well as the TuneIn App on their mobile device.
• Direct links to the video streams, radio broadcasts and live stats can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com.
• Additional behind-the-scenes updates, news and notes from can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @WVUBaseball.

 
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
Kansas State enters the weekend with a 16-21 record and a 2-10 mark in Big 12 action. The Wildcats are 11-10 at home, 4-9 on the road and 1-2 at a neutral site. On Wednesday, K-State beat Nebraska, 4-3, after losing its last nine games, including back-to-back Big 12 series sweeps.
 
Will Brennan leads the team with a .367 batting average, 55 hits and 10 doubles. Drew Mount has a team-best 41 RBIs, nine home runs and .556 slugging percentage.
 
On the mound, Alex Belch has a 1.84 ERA in 14.2 innings in relief, while Kasey Ford has earned a team-leading four wins and 41 strikeouts with a team-high-tying nine starts.
 
In his 15th season at the helm, Brad Hill holds a record of 461-381-3 and is the program's all-time winningest coach. The two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year has led the Wildcats to the NCAA Regional in four out of the last nine seasons, including in 2013, when the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Super Regional.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. WILDCATS
West Virginia is 8-7 all-time against Kansas State, with all 15 meetings coming since WVU joined the Big 12 Conference prior to the 2013 season. The Mountaineers are 4-2 in Morgantown and 4-5 in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
In K-State's first visit to Morgantown in 2014, West Virginia swept the Wildcats at Hawley Field. After a 10-1 win in the opener, the Mountaineers won the series with a 6-5, walk-off victory on a fielder's choice. WVU completed the sweep with a 6-1 victory.
 
West Virginia followed it up with a series win in Manhattan in 2015, before K-State took two-of-three in Morgantown in 2016. West Virginia capped the 2016 series with a comeback victory on Sunday. WVU rallied with four two-out runs in the eighth inning to beat the Wildcats, 5-4. In the series opener against K-State, WVU rallied with four runs to tie the game in the seventh, but it was not enough in an 8-6 loss. Kansas State won on Saturday, 15-2.
 
Last year at K-State, West Virginia suffered its first Big 12 series loss of the season and became the final conference team to lose a Big 12 weekend series after going 1-2 in Manhattan. WVU won the opener, 9-7, and lost Saturday's contest, 8-4. The Wildcats secured the series with an 11-4 victory in the finale. Kyle Gray led WVU offensively, with three hits in each game.
 
ON DECK: MARSHALL IN CHARLESTON
The Mountaineers face in-state foe Marshall in Charleston, West Virginia, on Tuesday, April 24, at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game at Appalachian Power Park is hosted by Marshall, and tickets are available at HerdZone.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT: MIDWEEK WIN VS. CC
Seven starters had at least one hit as West Virginia defeated Canisius, 9-2, on Wednesday afternoon.

• The West Virginia offensive charge was led by sophomore designated hitter Marques Inman, who drove in WVU's first three runs on one hit, while freshman third baseman Tyler Doanes had two hits and two RBIs.
• Seven of the nine Mountaineer starters had at least one hit, while seven scored at least one run and six drove in one or more runs.
• WVU pitchers struck out 12 batters, led by sophomore right-handed starter Isaiah Kearns. A week after striking out a career-high eight batters in a win over Pitt, Kearns matched that total in just 4.0 innings. He allowed two runs on two five hits with one walk. Kearns earned the win to improve to 2-1 on the season.
• WVU improved to 3-1 this season against CC, after the two teams met in Morgantown for a weekend series in March. Wednesday's game was organized a day earlier after inclement weather canceled the Mountaineers' game at Pitt on Tuesday night.

 
Single game tickets and mini-packages for the 2018 season are on sale now. Fans can purchase tickets at WVUGAME.com, call 1-800-WVU GAME or visit the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum. The 2018 schedule, with game times, can be found on the baseball schedule page on WVUsports.com. A printable PDF and schedule breakdown also are available on WVUsports.com.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.