After dropping three of their last four games, the West Virginia baseball team will look to get back to their winning ways against the No. 18 Oklahoma State Cowboys.
West Virginia is coming off a series loss to Kansas in the first Big 12 home series, as well as a mid-week loss at Penn State.
The Mountaineers led 6-1 in Happy Valley at one point, but a seven-run sixth inning that featured a barrage of WVU errors carried the Nittany Lions to a win.
Winning a series in Stillwater will be a daunting task for Mazey’s Mountaineers, as the Cowboys currently sit at 23-11 on the season, including a 7-5 conference record.
Oklahoma State started its Big 12 season in mid-March with a series loss at No. 21 Texas Tech, but the Cowboys regrouped and swept the Baylor Bears in the next conference series.
Since the sweep of Baylor, Oklahoma State has played in two more Big 12 sets. After dropping the first game of the series, the Cowboys won two straight games against No. 19 Texas to take the three-game set.
In their most recent Big 12 series over the weekend, the Cowboys dropped two out of three games at No. 25 TCU, and a mid-week loss at home against Oral Roberts gave them their third straight loss.
Despite the three straight losses, Oklahoma State has plenty of firepower in the lineup. The Cowboys feature three hitters with a .300 batting average or better in at least 100 at-bats on the season.
Leading the way for Oklahoma State is outfielder/pitcher Carson Benge, who is currently hitting .380 with five home runs and 25 runs batted in on the season. Not far behind in the batting average category is outfielder/first baseman Nolan Schubart, who is currently hitting .364. Along with a steady average, the freshman has hit eight home runs with a team-leading 34 runs batted in. Leading the way for the Cowboys in the power department is Roc Riggio. The sophomore infielder is batting .323 with a team-leading 10 home runs along with 31 runs batted in.
Oklahoma State also features a couple of strong starting pitchers that will likely appear in the weekend series against West Virginia. Juaron Watts-Brown has a 4-1 record with a 3.30 earned run average on the season, and Isaac Stebens currently has a sub-three earned run average with a 4-0 record.
Staying on the topic of pitching, West Virginia’s weekend starting pitchers will need to step up in Stillwater to help get the team back on track. Ben Hampton, who led the Mountaineers last season with an 8-5 record, has just a 4.05 earned run average and struggled at home against Kansas, giving up seven hits and four earned runs with three walks. Hampton will likely get the ball on Friday, and a bounce back performance would be a great sign for the junior.
WVU’s Saturday starter, Blaine Traxel, who has pitched four complete games this season, had his worst outing of the season against the Jayhawks, as the Cal State Northridge transfer surrendered seven hits and six earned runs in the loss.
WVU’s starting pitcher on Sunday will likely be Robby Porco, as the former Sunday starter Grant Siegel pitched in the mid-week game against Penn State. In his first Big 12 start, the freshman gave up just three hits and one earned run, while striking out 12 batters in a 12-3 win over Kansas. The performance earned Porco Big 12 Co-Pitcher of the Week.
The Mountaineers and Cowboys will meet at O’Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Friday and Saturday’s first pitch will be at 7 p.m., while the rubber match on Sunday will be at 1 p.m. The action can be viewed on ESPN+.
