MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the second time in three seasons, the West Virginia University baseball team has won the Big 12 regular season title. Despite a 3-0 loss to Kansas, Thursday night at Kendrick Family Ballpark, the Mountaineers clinched the outright title with Arizona State's loss to Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers are now 40-11 on the season and 19-7 in the Big 12 while the Jayhawks improve to 40-14 overall and 18-10 in conference play.
It is the 16th regular season title in program history for West Virginia and the second Big 12 championship, having shared the title in 2023.
In Thursday's game, redshirt senior
Griffin Kirn threw 8.0 innings while allowing two runs and striking out 10. At the plate, senior
Kyle West and freshman
Gavin Kelly each had two hits.
Kansas took the lead in the first with a run-scoring fielder's choice before tacking on with solo home runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
Jayhawk pitcher Dominic Voegele, the Big 12 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, tossed 7.0 shutout innings with six strikeouts to earn the victory.
The Mountaineers will look to even the series on Friday. With expected inclement weather, first pitch is now 5 p.m.
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