Coming into the weekend West Virginia baseball was in the midst of some adversity. The Mountaineers had lost three of their last four games, including an ugly mid-week loss to Penn State on Wednesday.
West Virginia had the opportunity to right the ship and prove they are for real in the Big 12, or to let the negative momentum get the best of them. Two victories and a series win over No. 18 Oklahoma State later, the Mountaineers proved they are here to compete in the Big 12 and play in the NCAA Tournament.
Facing a team who has hosted a regional four times since the Mountaineers joined the conference, the task would not be easy. Two teams who were desperate to find victories after both lost their series the previous weekend.
It would be the Mountaineers who would start fast, as JJ Wetherholt led off the game Friday with a home run. West Virginia wouldn’t look back, getting a great pitching performance from Carlson Reed out of the bullpen Friday, throwing three scoreless innings to complete the win.
Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, Wetherholt would get injured Friday night, hurting his hand sliding. The team took x-rays and announced they came back negative, while listing him day-to-day. Wetherholt — who is 12th in the country in batting average — would not return for the remainder of the series, forcing the Mountaineers to win without their best hitter.
They would do just that on Saturday, as the Mountaineers used a four-run eighth inning, to win game two and take the series.
This was the second road series West Virginia clinched in Big 12 play, having defeated Kansas State two weeks prior.
Bullpen saves the day
West Virginia’s bullpen helped guide the Mountaineers to their two victories. It was a total of four pitchers used — two starters and two relievers — on Friday and Saturday. Reed along with Aidan Major combined to pitch 8.1 innings. In that, they gave up a combined one run on three hits, while striking out 14 Cowboy batters.
It was a welcomed sight for Major, who had struggled recently. Coming into Saturday, Major had given up at least one run in seven consecutive outings. He had a 7.17 ERA coming into the weekend, and had given up 15 runs over 17.1 innings in that stretch of seven games. He would give up just one over 5.1 innings Saturday, while only surrendering two hits and walked none.
Standings Check
West Virginia right now is fourth in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers are 5-4 in league play and are the only team to have played less than 12 games in conference play thus far. The Mountaineers welcome in TCU who is 7-5 in league play and who sit right above West Virginia in the standings. The Horned Frogs lost a home series to UNC Wilmington over the weekend, after beating Oklahoma State and Texas Tech in back-to-back Big 12 series.
