MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 15-seeded West Virginia University baseball team hosts the 2019 NCAA Morgantown Regional from Friday, May 31 – Monday, June 3, at Monongalia County Ballpark.
 
The Mountaineers (37-20) are making their 13th NCAA Championship appearance in program history and first since 2017. WVU earned an at-large berth and will host an NCAA Regional for the second time in school history and first since 1955.
 
West Virginia, seeded No. 1 in the regional and ranked No. 13 nationally, will host No. 2-seeded and 17th-ranked Texas A&M, No. 3-seed Duke and No. 4-seed Fordham. The Mountaineers open play against Fordham on Friday, May 31, at 8 p.m. ET, on ESPN3, while Texas A&M and Duke will meet in Friday's first game, at 4 p.m.
 
On Saturday, June 1, the winners of Friday's games will play at 7 p.m., while the losers will meet at 2 p.m. in an elimination game. On Sunday, the winner of Saturday's elimination game and the loser of Saturday's winner's bracket contest will square off at noon, and the winners advance to the Regional Final to play the winner of Saturday's winner's bracket game at 6 p.m. If necessary, a seventh game will be played on Monday, at 4 p.m.
 
West Virginia welcomes Texas A&M, Duke and Fordham to Morgantown for the first time, while A&M is the first SEC baseball team to ever play at WVU.
 
WVU's last NCAA appearance came in 2017, when the Mountaineers advanced to its third Regional Final in program history in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The last time West Virginia hosted an NCAA event was the 1955 NCAA District III Championship, when Wake Forest won a best-of-three series, 2-1.
 
The Mountaineers enter the NCAA Championship with a 37-20 record and a 17-5 mark at home. WVU's 37 wins are tied for its second-most in program history. West Virginia, ranked in the top-25 in each major poll and as high as No. 13, finished fourth in the Big 12, the No. 2-ranked RPI conference in the country, with a 13-11 record.
 
Texas A&M enters the Morgantown Regional with a 37-21-1 overall record and a 16-13-1 mark in the SEC to finish fourth in the western division. The Aggies are ranked in the top-25 in each major poll and come in as high as No. 17 in this week's Perfect Game poll.
 
Duke, an at-large team from the ACC, is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance and owns a 16-16 mark. The Blue Devils own a 31-25 overall record and a 15-15 mark in the ACC and placed fourth in the Coastal Division.
 
Fordham, the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament champion, is making its eighth NCAA Championship appearance and first since 1998. The Rams posted a 38-22 overall record and went 15-9 in the A-10 to finish fourth. Fordham is receiving votes in this week's NCBWA poll.
 
Fan information on the 2019 NCAA Baseball Regional, including information on Monongalia County Ballpark, WVU's clear bag policy, tickets and a parking map is available at WVUsports.com/MorgantownRegional.
 
FOLLOWING ALONG
There are a number of ways to follow along with this weekend's action.

• Every game will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks and can be found on WatchESPN. WVU will open NCAA action on ESPN3.
• 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 NCAA.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.

 
WEST VIRGINIA'S NCAA HISTORY
The 2019 NCAA Morgantown Regional marks West Virginia's 13th NCAA appearance in team history and second since 2017. The Mountaineers are 10-24 all-time in NCAA play, and have advanced to the regional finals three times, in 1961, 1982 and 2017.

• WVU is 1-2 at home, and hosted the 1955 District III Championship, a best-of-three series against Wake Forest. The 1955 event marked WVU's first NCAA appearance in program history. The Mountaineers' first NCAA win came on May 30, 9-7.
• The Mountaineers are 2-6 against the SEC, 1-11 against the ACC and have not played a team in the Atlantic 10.
• In 2017, WVU reached the regional final thanks to a pair of victories over third-seeded Maryland, 9-1 in the opener and 8-5 in an elimination contest. However, Wake Forest edged WVU twice, 4-3 and 12-8.
• Prior to regional play, West Virginia played Lafayette in a play-in game in 1948, though the game is not recognized in the NCAA's postseason record book. Lafayette won, 8-0, and advanced to the NCAA Finals.

 
MOUNTAINEERS RANKED FOR SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE WEEK
For the seventh consecutive week, WVU is in the national rankings and appears in all six major polls.

• The Mountaineers check in as high as No. 13 in this week's D1Baseball top-25. WVU is No. 15 in the NCBWA rankings and in the Coaches Poll, No. 17 in the Baseball America top-25, No. 18 in the Perfect Game poll and No. 22 by Collegiate Baseball. Additionally, WVU is No. 13 in the latest NCAA RPI.
• West Virginia's No. 13 ranking is its highest since at least 1982, when the Mountaineers finished the 1982 season No. 16 in the final Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.
• WVU is ranked for more than two weeks in a season for the first time in seventh-year coach Randy Mazey's tenure.
• The Mountaineers' appearance in this week's polls is the 10th time they have been ranked since 1982, with all 10 appearances, seven times in 2019, twice in 2017 and once in 2018, coming under Mazey.
• WVU is one of four Big 12 Conference teams ranked in at least one national poll this week.

 
WVU IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
In the national statistical rankings, the Mountaineers are No. 6 nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.22), No. 8 in strikeouts per nine innings (10.1), No. 10 in shutouts (6), No. 17 in WHIP (1.26) and No. 23 in ERA (3.63). WVU's 93 stolen bases, which is third-most in a single season in program history, leads the Big 12 and is No. 30 in the NCAA, while West Virginia's 110 doubles and 29 sacrifice flies rank No. 2 in the conference.
 
Individually, junior right-hander Alek Manoah's 135 strikeouts, a school record, ranks No. 5 in the country. He is No. 10 in WHIP (0.88), No. 17 in ERA (1.85), No. 19 in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.87), No. 21 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.89), No. 22 in wins (9), No. 24 in games started (15), No. 33 in strikeouts per nine innings (11.87), and No. 36 in complete games (2).
 
Junior left-hander Nick Snyder is No. 7 in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (13.86) and No. 9 in hits allowed per nine innings (5.43), while he is No. 3 in the Big 12 in ERA (2.71) and wins (8).
 
Senior right fielder Darius Hill ranks No. 6 in the country with 23 doubles, while his 77 career doubles are a WVU record and two shy of the Big 12 record of 79. Junior center fielder Brandon White is second in the Big 12 in stolen bases (26) and sacrifice bunts per game (2). Sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes is third in the league in doubles (20) and sacrifice flies (6), while junior right-hander Sam Kessler is third in saves (8) and freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker is third in stolen bases (19).
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. TEXAS A&M
West Virginia and Texas A&M have never met on the diamond. WVU is 18-46 all-time against SEC squads, with the last game coming in 2010, a 6-0 loss to Kentucky in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In the NCAA Championship, the Mountaineers are 2-6 against the SEC. Most recently, WVU and Tennessee split a pair of games in Clemson, South Carolina, in the 1996 NCAA Regional. West Virginia earned an 8-4 win before a 10-4 defeat.
 
This weekend's visit to Monongalia County Ballpark by Texas A&M is the first by an SEC baseball team to Morgantown.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. DUKE
West Virginia is 3-7 all-time against Duke, following a 3-1 victory in 2014 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. WVU and Duke have met in the NCAA Championship before, in 1961, where West Virginia lost a 7-3 matchup. The first meeting between the two teams came in 1930, in Durham, while the Blue Devils are making their first trip to Morgantown.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. FORDHAM
West Virginia owns a 3-1 record against Fordham, following a pair of wins in 2003 in Wilmington, North Carolina, 3-1 and 9-5. The two teams first met in 1918, a 3-0 home victory for Fordham. The Mountaineers and Rams have never played in Morgantown.
 
ON DECK: NCAA SUPER REGIONAL
The winner of the NCAA Morgantown Regional will advance to the Super Regional and face the winner of the Nashville Regional, hosted by No. 2-national seed Vanderbilt. The best-of-three series will be held from June 7-9 or June 8-10 and will be hosted by the highest-seeded team.
 
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