The West Virginia baseball team is on fire in the heat of Big 12 play, as the Mountaineers have recently picked up a road series win against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, along with a mid-week win against Pitt and a clean sweep of the TCU Horned Frogs this past weekend.
West Virginia used a trio of strong crowds to sweep the Horned Frogs, as the Mountaineers won by the scores of 5-4 on Friday, 7-4 on Saturday, and 17-7 on Sunday.
Despite the recent success, the Moutaineers fell to Penn State in the lone matchup this season, as the Nittany Lions used a seven-run sixth inning to take down the Mountaineers on April 11th.
In Happy Valley, West Virginia jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but a barrage of errors on one play that allowed four Penn State runners to score derailed the Mountaineers’ chances of a mid-week road win.
Since the missed opportunity in Happy Valley, the Mountaineers have gone on to win six of their last seven ballgames.
Penn State has also seen its share of success in the 2023 season, as the Nittany Lions have a 23-13 record, including four straight wins, and five wins in seven games since the last meeting with West Virginia.
While Penn State has had a strong year, the success away from home has not been there for the Nittany Lions. On the road, Penn State has a 2-8 record, while WVU is 12-4 at Monongalia County Ballpark.
A big key for West Virginia in this mid-week game will be the play of superstar second baseman JJ Wetherholt. After missing five games due to injury, the .455 hitter surprised the Mountaineer faithful by pinch-hitting in Sunday’s win over TCU. In his first plate appearance off the bench, Wetherholt smacked a bases-clearing, 3-RBI double to break the game open. Later on, Wetherholt singled again, proving he was ready to be back in the lineup.
It will be key for Penn State to keep Wetherholt at bay, but more importantly, West Virginia will need to keep Wetherholt out of dangerous situations. Wetherholt injured his thumb against Oklahoma State in Stillwater, and keeping the second baseman out of scary sliding situations may be necessary until fully healthy. Wetherholt did wear a protective glove while on the basepaths on Sunday, but the green light for him to steal may not be there as much as usual.
Penn State will also be tasked with trying to slow down the likes of Tevin Tucker and Landon Wallace. While other hitters such as Caleb McNeely, Dayne Leonard, and Ellis Garcia have been hitting very well as of late, slowing down Tucker and Wallace will be a necessity for Penn State. Against TCU, Tucker recorded five hits and two runs batted in while playing a strong shortstop. This big week for the graduate senior gave him Big 12 Player of the Week honors.
As for Wallace, Penn State will need to be careful when the Nevada transfer is at the plate with men on base. In Friday’s game against TCU, Wallace hit a large, loud home run with Tucker on base to give WVU an early lead. In Saturday’s game, Wallace recorded three hits as well as a huge, two-RBI single to tie the game at 4-4 before WVU scored another three runs to win the game.
For WVU, slowing down the likes of Thomas Bramley, Jay Harry, and Grant Norris will be key points for whoever gets the start on the mound.
Norris leads the Nittany Lions in runs batted in, as the graduate senior infielder has 33 runs batted in, along with a .313 average with four home runs.
Harry and Bramley are both tied for second in runs batted in on the team with 31 a piece, and they both have batting averages over .320.
West Virginia will look to even things up on the season series against Penn State at 6:30 p.m. at Monongalia County Ballpark in Morgantown, WV. The action can be viewed on ESPN+.
