Mountaineers Begin Big 12 Championship Wednesday

Wednesday, May 23

Oklahoma City

5:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

Oklahoma State

Tickets

May 22, 2018 04:40 PM | Baseball

Video, Radio and Live Stats Game Notes Big 12 Championship Homepage

By: Charlie Healy

OKLAHOMA CITY – The West Virginia University baseball team commences postseason play at the 2018 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship on Wednesday, May 23, at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT, against No. 20 Oklahoma State at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City.

WVU is seeded seventh, while OSU is second. The winner will advance to play the winner of No. 3 Texas Tech-No. 6 TCU on Thursday, May 24, at 8:30 p.m. ET. In the double-elimination tournament, the losers of the two games on Wednesday will face off on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

On the other side of the bracket on Wednesday, top-seeded Texas will face No. 8 Kansas at 1:30 p.m. ET, and No. 4 Oklahoma opens against No. 5 Baylor at 10 a.m. ET. The winner of each bracket will meet on Sunday in the championship game, at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.

The Mountaineers (27-25, 9-15 Big 12) have earned a berth in the Big 12 Championship all six seasons in the league. WVU has advanced to the semifinals in back-to-back years, with a championship-game appearance in 2016. Since the annual event returned to Oklahoma City in 2016, West Virginia is 6-3 at the Big 12 Championship, with a 2-0 record against top-seeded teams and a 5-1 mark against teams seeded in the top five.

The Mountaineers rank among the NCAA and Big 12 leaders in several categories. West Virginia leads the Big 12 and is No. 24 nationally with 86 stolen bases, while WVU is No. 3 in the league and No. 27 in the country with 49 double plays turned.

Individually, several players rank inside the top-25 nationally in a variety of categories. Kyle Gray is No. 17 in the country with a .685 slugging percentage, while Braden Zarbnisky is No. 21 with 0.56 stolen bases per game and 23rd with 0.89 walks per game. Marques Inman is No. 24 in the NCAA with 0.40 doubles per game.

The Cowboys (29-22-1, 16-8 Big 12) finished second in the conference, just one game behind Big 12 champion Texas. WVU and OSU have met four times in postseason play, including twice last year. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 20 by Collegiate Baseball.

The Red Raiders (38-15, 15-9 Big 12) won the regular-season title the last two years, and own a Big 12-best .717 winning percentage in the regular season in 2018. The Mountaineers have beaten TTU in back-to-back Big 12 Championships, both when Texas Tech was seeded No. 1. Texas Tech is ranked in all six major polls, and as high as No. 6 by Perfect Game.

The Horned Frogs (30-22, 10-13 Big 12) come to Oklahoma City looking to extend a stretch of four consecutive NCAA Tournament and College World Series appearances. WVU and TCU last met in the postseason in the 2016 Big 12 championship game.

The complete Big 12 Championship bracket can be found here, while additional information about the championship, including a complete schedule and details about tickets, Oklahoma City and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is available at Big12Sports.com. Tickets can be purchased at Big12Sports.com/BuyTickets or through Ticketmaster. Tickets also are available by visiting the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark box office or calling (405) 218-2180.

FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with the Big 12 Championship.

Every game will be broadcasted on FOX College Sports, with the exception of Sunday's championship game, which will be televised on FOX Sports Networks. All games also will be available on FOX Sports GO to subscribers. Chad McKee and George Frazier will have the call.
Fans can listen to the games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on various affiliates throughout the state. Fans across the country can tune in to the broadcasts online at WVUsports.com and on the WVU Gameday App and the TuneIn Radio App on their mobile device. Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky will call the action.
Along with the regular-season radio affiliates, WVBD 100.7 FM in Beckley-Fayetteville also will carry the Mountaineers throughout the postseason.
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 can be found on social media by following and connecting with the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @WVUBaseball.

WEST VIRGINIA AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
West Virginia has had plenty of success at the Big 12 Championship, and has qualified for the postseason tournament in each of its six years in the conference. WVU has made back-to-back Big 12 Championship semifinal appearances, with a trip to the title game in 2016.

As the No. 3 seed in 2013, the Mountaineers came up just shy of the championship game in their first year in the league. With a pool play format, WVU went 2-1. West Virginia's lone loss was to Kansas, which won the pool and reached the championship game.
WVU advanced to its first Big 12 championship game in 2016, going 3-1 with an 11-10, 10-inning loss to third-seeded and No. 11-ranked TCU in the title game. West Virginia beat Oklahoma, 6-0, before a 9-4 upset win over No. 5 and top-seeded Texas Tech. The Mountaineers advanced to the title game with an 11-1, seven-inning win over Oklahoma. In its first three games, all wins, WVU outscored its opponents, 20-5, and out-hit them, 22-12. 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.
The Mountaineers went 2-2 in 2017 as the No. 4 seed. WVU beat Baylor, 11-1, in eight innings, and top-seeded and No. 3 Texas Tech, 12-7 in 10 innings. However, West Virginia's two losses came to eight-seeded Oklahoma State, which went undefeated and won the tournament.
West Virginia owns an 8-8 record in five years at the Big 12 Championship. WVU is 2-0 against the No. 1 seed and 3-0 vs. the No. 5 seed. The Mountaineers have had four All-Tournament Team honorees in both 2016 and 2017 after earning one in 2013.

LAST YEAR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
West Virginia went 2-2 at the 2017 Big 12 Championship and advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Starter Isaiah Kearns was lights-out on the mound and the offense scored seven runs in the first inning as West Virginia opened the championship with an 11-1, eight-inning victory over Baylor on May 24. Kearns held Baylor to three hits with six strikeouts while throwing his first career complete game. The three hits allowed are a program-record low at the Big 12 Championship, and it was the first complete game at the tournament by a WVU pitcher.
West Virginia lost its winner's bracket matchup against Oklahoma State, 8-4, on May 25. The Mountaineers had 13 hits but were held to four runs. WVU was led by Braden Zarbnisky, who had four hits, an RBI and a run scored. The four hits were the most in a Big 12 Championship game by a Mountaineer in team history.
The next day, West Virginia rallied to beat No. 3 Texas Tech, 12-7, in 10 innings. The Mountaineers erased a 6-3 deficit with a run in the eighth inning and two in the ninth to tie the game at 6-6. WVU then scored six runs in the 10th to beat top-seeded TTU. Jackson Cramer scored the game-tying run in the ninth on an RBI single and three-base error and followed it up with a three-RBI triple in the 10th. His five RBIs in the contest were the most by a Mountaineer in team history at the Big 12 Championship. West Virginia's 12 runs scored and 17 hits were also team records in a Big 12 Championship game.
In the semifinals on May 27, WVU rallied again to tie the game in the ninth inning, but lost in the 10th to Oklahoma State, 4-3. West Virginia trailed, 3-2, in the ninth when Jimmy Galusky singled in the tying run. However, OSU, which would go on to win the tournament title the next day, scored a run in the 10th to win it.

THIS YEAR VS. THE COWBOYS
West Virginia suffered a series loss to Oklahoma State from April 13-15, one of just two series losses at home for WVU this year.

The Mountaineers' four-game win streak was snapped with a 7-4 loss in the series opener on April 13, as OSU scored three in the third and three unearned runs in the fourth, both via three-run home runs. Kyle Gray had a career-high four hits with a home run.
WVU evened the series the next day with a 10-7 win, thanks to a six-run first inning and a two-run home run by Marques Inman in the eighth. The Mountaineers batted around in the first to take a 6-1 lead. OSU cut WVU's lead to one, at 8-7, before Inman's eight-inning homer. Tyler Doanes drove in three runs on two hits, for his first career RBIs and first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of his career. Kade Strowd pitched 5.0 innings and struck out 10 batters, the second time this season he has notched double-digit strikeouts, to earn the win.
Oklahoma State won Sunday's finale, 6-4, rallying with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to stay tied atop the Big 12 standings. Inman had three hits in the loss, his third consecutive multi-hit game.

WVU and OSU have met four times in the Big 12 Championship. West Virginia posted a 6-5 win in 2013, while Oklahoma State took a 3-0 contest in 2015. Last year, OSU went 4-0 at the tournament to win the Big 12 title as a No. 8 seed, a run that included an 8-4 win over WVU on May 25 and a 4-3, 10-inning win two days later in the semifinals.

THIS YEAR VS. THE RED RAIDERS
The Mountaineers went 1-2 at No. 7 Texas Tech from March 29-31. Playing the No. 1 RPI team in the country, WVU held the Big 12's best offense to 12 total runs in three games.

The Mountaineers upset TTU in the opener, 1-0, handing the Red Raiders their first home loss in 14 games this season and their first home shutout since 2015. Isaiah Kearns, Jackson Wolf and Shane Ennis combined to hold TTU to just five hits. Darius Hill drove in WVU's lone run with a sixth-inning single that came two pitches after Ivan Gonzalez doubled for West Virginia's first hit of the game. Wolf picked up his first career win and Ennis earned the first save of his career.
Texas Tech evened the series the following day, with a 4-1 win, as WVU again was no-hit into the sixth inning. West Virginia pitching held TTU to four runs on six hits, while the WVU bullpen did not allow a hit in 5.0 innings.
The Mountaineers rallied with two ninth-inning runs and brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the series finale on March 30, but it was not enough in an8-5 loss. WVU took a 3-1 lead in the fifth, but TTU responded with seven runs in the next two innings before West Virginia's ninth-inning rally. Kearns, who came off the bench, led WVU with a career-high-tying two hits and one RBI.

West Virginia is 2-0 vs. Texas Tech at the Big 12 Championship, with a 9-4 win in 2016 and a 12-7, 10-inning victory last season. Both wins came as TTU was ranked inside the top-5 nationally and seeded No. 1 in the tournament.

THIS YEAR VS. THE HORNED FROGS
WVU earned its first-ever win at TCU in a series loss in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 11-13.

West Virginia scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to beat TCU in the series opener, 4-3, for its first-ever win at TCU and third in the last four games in the series. WVU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and led 3-0 in the middle of the sixth, but TCU tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Darius Hill drove in the game's first run and the game-winner and had a career-high-tying four hits. Tristen Hudson earned his second career win in as many games, allowing just one hit in 2.1 innings, and Alek Manoah earned his second save of the year.
TCU evened the series the next day with a 10-4 win. West Virginia trailed 5-0 after three innings but rallied with a three-run top of the fourth to cut the deficit to two. However, TCU responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Kyle Gray hit his 14th home run of the season and Ivan Gonzalez hit his first of the year.
In the finale, TCU won the series with an 8-5 victory. The two teams traded runs in the second and WVU scored again in the third and fourth, but TCU scored three in the third and added single runs in the seventh and eighth after West Virginia cut the deficit to one, at 6-5, in the sixth. Jimmy Galusky and Tyler Doanes homered. Doanes' homer, the first of his career, was an inside-the-park home run.

The Mountaineers are 0-2 against TCU at the Big 12 Championship. A 6-2 loss in 2014 was followed by a 10-inning, 11-10 defeat in the 2016 Big 12 Championship Game.

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and visit WVUsports.com.