No. 17 Mountaineers Travel to Texas

Friday, April 26

Austin, Texas

7:30 p.m.

West Virginia University

Texas

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Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

April 25, 2019 06:15 PM | Baseball

Around the Horn Game Notes Watch, Listen and Live Stats

By: Charlie Healy

AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 17 West Virginia University baseball team returns to the road for a three-game series at Texas, from April 26-28.

The series in Austin, Texas, begins on Friday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT, and continues on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT. The finale at Disch-Falk Field is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT. All three games will be broadcast live on the Longhorn Network.

The Mountaineers (24-14, 8-7 Big 12) have won 10 of their last 13 games and four consecutive Big 12 series. West Virginia is ranked for the second consecutive week and moved up to No. 17 in this week's D1Baseball top-25. WVU, which appears in each major poll, also rose seven spots to No. 18 in the Baseball America rankings.

The Longhorns (24-19, 5-9 Big 12) have lost four in a row and return home where they own an 18-7 record. UT is receiving votes in this week's NCBWA poll.

With three Big 12 series remaining for both teams, WVU is tied for third place in the league with an 8-7 mark, while UT is in eighth with a 5-9 record.

Statistically, West Virginia's pitching staff is No. 6 nationally with 6.92 hits allowed per nine innings, No. 12 with 10.0 strikeouts per nine innings, No. 14 with a 3.22 ERA and No. 21 with a 1.24 WHIP. The Mountaineers also rank No. 28 in the NCAA with 73 stolen bases on the season.

Individually, junior right-hander Alek Manoah is No. 5 nationally with a 0.80 WHIP, No. 6 with 95 strikeouts, No. 13 with two complete games and No. 17 with 5.30 hits allowed per nine innings. He also leads the Big 12 with a 1.81 ERA and six wins. Freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker is second in the Big 12 with 0.18 sacrifice bunts per game, and junior center fielder Brandon White also is second with 20 stolen bases. Senior right fielder Darius Hill is third in the conference in doubles (14), junior right-hander Sam Kessler is third in saves (6) and sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes is third in stolen bases (15).

FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with this weekend's action, with Dan Zangrilli and Ernie Galusky on the call.

All three games will air live on the Longhorn Network and on WatchESPN to subscribers.
Fans can listen to the games on the Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College on various affiliates throughout the state, while fans across the country can tune into the broadcast online at WVUsports.com/Watch and on the WVU Gameday and TuneIn Radio Apps.
Live stats can be found at TexasSports.com
Direct links to video and radio streams and live stats are available 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.

SCOUTING TEXAS
Texas is 24-19 on the season, 5-9 in Big 12 play and 18-7 at home. UT enters the weekend on a four-game losing streak after being swept by Oklahoma State last weekend. The Longhorns then visited Texas State on Tuesday and dropped a 7-6 contest.

Eric Kennedy leads the team with a .286 batting average in 140 at-bats, and Austin Todd has a team-best 35 RBIs and is tied for the team lead with 41 hits. Matteo Bocchi leads the pitching staff with a 1.75 ERA in 25.2 innings pitched, while Blair Henley has a team-high six victories and 50 strikeouts in 10 appearances and 59.0 innings.

A Texas native, David Pierce is in his third season at the helm. Pierce owns an 105-66 record in Austin and a career mark of 302-175 in eight seasons. He was named Baseball America's 2018 National Coach of the Year and the Big 12 Coach of the Year after he led the Longhorns to the College World Series.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE LONGHORNS
The Mountaineers lead the all-time series against the Longhorns, 11-7. WVU is 7-2 in Morgantown and 4-5 in Austin. Last season, West Virginia captured a home series win against No. 19-ranked Texas. WVU lost the opener but came back to win the next two.

In last year's opener, the Mountaineers led 6-3 after six innings, but the Longhorns rallied late to win it, 11-6. In Saturday's 8-6 victory, WVU benefited from a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth inning that came after UT scored three of their own to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the inning. The win was secured when Alek Manoah stranded the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth. All but one WVU starter had a hit in the win. West Virginia benefited from a three-run fourth inning, a four-run eighth and a strong performance on the mound to win the series the next day, 8-3. Tyler Doanes had a career-best four RBIs with two hits and two runs scored to lead the offense.

LAST TIME OUT: ANOTHER BIG 12 SERIES WIN
WVU secured its fourth consecutive series victory with a pair of wins against Kansas this weekend at Monongalia County Ballpark. The Mountaineers played their fifth doubleheader of the season on April 20 and recorded a pair of walk-off wins, 1-0 in the opener and 4-3 in 11 innings in the nightcap, before a 6-5 defeat in the finale on April 21.

For the second consecutive week, junior right-hander Alek Manoah threw a complete-game shutout with 15 strikeouts, as he allowed just three hits with no walks in the opener. Junior first baseman Marques Inman provided the only offense Manoah needed with a walk-off home run to lead off the ninth inning.
WVU walked off the second game on Saturday, 4-3 in 11 innings, as a wild pitch scored the game-winning run. Following a 2:40 weather delay at the end of the sixth inning, West Virginia took a 3-1 lead in the eighth, but Kansas tied the game at 3-3 on a two-out, two-RBI single in the ninth. Freshman left fielder/third baseman Phillip Dull was one of four Mountaineers with two hits, his first career multi-hit game, and he added an eighth-inning RBI single. Sophomore catcher Paul McIntosh added his team-best eighth home run in the sixth inning.
West Virginia rallied late in Sunday's finale but lost a 6-5 contest. WVU came back with four runs on five hits in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game, and put two on with two outs in the ninth, but the Jayhawks avoided the sweep. Kansas took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and led 6-1 in the seventh. WVU was held to four hits in the first six innings.
The Mountaineers' scheduled midweek contest against Penn State on Tuesday was canceled due to inclement weather.

ON DECK: WVU HOSTS IN-STATE FOE MARSHALL
West Virginia returns home to host in-state opponent Marshall on Tuesday, April 30, at 6:30 p.m. ET, at Monongalia County Ballpark. Tickets 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. The first 500 fans will receive a foam finger, and all fans can play Baseball Bingo to win prizes.

Single game tickets and flex plan 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 Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.