WACO, Texas – Big 12 Conference play begins this weekend for the West Virginia University baseball team with a three-game series at Baylor, from March 22-24, in Waco, Texas.
The series at Baylor Ballpark begins on Friday, March 22, at 7:35 p.m. ET, in a contest broadcast on FCS. First pitch on Saturday is at 4:05 p.m. ET, on FSSW, while the series concludes on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET, also on FSSW.
The Mountaineers (13-7) have won eight of their last 10 games and back-to-back weekend series. WVU is coming off a 14-1 victory at home against Youngstown State on Tuesday, which followed a 2-1 weekend at William & Mary. West Virginia is receiving votes in this week's Coaches Poll.
The Bears (13-6) suffered an 8-7 loss at Sam Houston State on Tuesday, their first true road game of the season and fourth outside of Waco. An NCAA Regional team a year ago, Baylor is ranked No. 26 in this week's Collegiate Baseball poll, No. 29 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association rankings and is receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.
Two juniors will square off on the mound to open the series on Friday, as right-hander
Alek Manoah (3-1, 2.17 ERA) gets the ball for the Mountaineers and left-hander Paul Dickens (2-1, 2.88 ERA) starts for the Bears. Saturday's matchup features a pair of sophomores, as WVU lefty
Jackson Wolf (2-1, 3.71 ERA) goes up against BU righty Jimmy Winston (1-0, 0.93 ERA). Sunday's starters have not been determined.
Statistically, the Mountaineers rank in the top-25 nationally in five categories. WVU is No. 8 with 49 stolen bases, No. 15 with 6.72 hits allowed per nine innings, No. 18 with 18 double plays turned, No. 21 with a 2.98 ERA and No. 25 with 21 home runs. Additionally, West Virginia's pitching staff leads the Big 12 with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings and is second with a 1.23 WHIP.
Individually, junior center fielder
Brandon White is No. 10 in the NCAA with 14 stolen bases, Manoah ranks No. 12 in the NCAA with 45 strikeouts and sophomore second baseman
Tyler Doanes is No. 14 with three triples. Additionally, several Mountaineers rank No. 3 in the Big 12 in various stats, as junior infielder
Kevin Brophy and sophomore catcher
Paul McIntosh have four home runs, White and freshman shortstop
Tevin Tucker have three sacrifice bunts, junior right-hander
Sam Kessler has three saves, Doanes has 10 stolen bases and senior right fielder
Darius Hill has two triples.
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with this weekend's action.
SCOUTING BAYLOR
Baylor is 13-6 on the season and 12-3 at home. The Bears are coming off an 8-7 loss at Sam Houston State on Tuesday, which followed a home series win against Cal Poly. BU opened the year on an eight-game win streak.
Davis Wendzel leads the team with a .387 batting average, 29 hits, 18 RBIs and shares the team lead with three home runs. Winston owns a 0.93 ERA in 19.1 innings pitched, primarily in relief, while Dickens has a team-high 28 strikeouts in 25.0 innings.
Steve Rodriguez is in his fourth year at Baylor, after he led BU to its first Big 12 Championship title in 2018 and a second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance. The 2017 Big 12 Coach of the Year, Rodriguez is 108-76 at Baylor and 509-379 in his career, after a 12-year stint at Pepperdine.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
West Virginia is 10-9 all-time against Baylor, with all 19 meetings coming since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2013. WVU won the series in Waco, Texas, in 2017, and lost the home series last season. West Virginia won the opening contest in 2018, 2-1, but dropped the next two, 4-1 and 6-2. In the series, the Mountaineers are 5-3 at home, 4-5 on the road and 1-1 at a neutral site.
LAST TIME OUT: BATS STAY HOT
West Virginia scored a season-high 14 runs on 12 hits en route to a 14-1 victory against Youngstown State on Tuesday afternoon.
- A six-run second inning helped the Mountaineers jump out to an early 7-0 lead, as eight players had at least one hit and seven drove in one or more run in the win. Eight of WVU's 14 runs came with two outs.
- Junior left-hander Nick Snyder and five relievers combined to hold the Penguins to one run on six hits, while the WVU defense did not commit an error. Snyder earned his team-high-tying third win of the season (3-1) and held YSU to four hits in 4.0 shutout innings. He struck out four and walked one. Five relievers followed with 1.0 innings each, including three freshmen.
- WVU's offensive attack was led by freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker, who had a career-best four RBIs with two hits and three runs scored in three at-bats with a walk. Tucker hit his first career home run in the sixth inning, a two-run shot with two outs.
UP NEXT: IN-STATE MATCHUP IN CHARLESTON
The Mountaineers face in-state foe Marshall on Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. ET, at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston, West Virginia. Tickets for the contest in the Capital City, which is Marshall's home game, are available at
HerdZone.com.
Single game tickets, season tickets and mini-packages for the 2019 season are on sale now. Fans can join the excitement of WVU baseball and support the Mountaineers by purchasing tickets at
WVUGAME.com, calling 1-800-WVU GAME or visiting the Mountaineer Ticket Office at the WVU Coliseum.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow WVU Baseball on
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