The red-hot West Virginia baseball team will return to Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark for another big conference series against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The Mountaineers completed the season sweep over ACC rival Pitt on Wednesday with a 9-8 win on the road. With the win over the Panthers, West Virginia has now won 12 of its last 13 ballgames going into the series against the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech comes into the series with a 34-16 overall record, with a 9-9 record in Big 12 conference play. The Red Raiders have struggled away from Lubbock, posting a 5-8 record on the road.
Many eyes around the nation are now on West Virginia, as the Mountaineers have retained their spot at No. 12 in the rankings for the second straight week, while inching closer to hosting a second NCAA regional in the last four years.
The nation’s eyes are also on WVU second baseman JJ Wetherholt. Wetherholt, who has been named the nation’s best second baseman by D1 Baseball, has now emerged as the leader in batting average in all of college baseball with a .470 average. Wetherholt has been on a tear since coming back from his thumb injury a couple of weeks back, as the sophomore has tallied 21 hits, six home runs, and 19 runs batted in across 10 games since the setback.
Wetherholt has proven to be one of the best players in the country in 2023 and a top talent in the 2024 MLB draft class, as the midseason All-American is ranked as the sixth best prospect going into the draft by Future Star Series.
Wetherholt also made his mark in the field in West Virginia’s latest win over Pitt, as an over-the-shoulder catch landed Wetherholt on Sportscenter for a Top 10 play bid.
Another factor for the Mountaineers as of late has been outfielder Braden Barry. Barry has a 10-game hitting streak since the end of the TCU series two weekends ago. Barry two runs batted in against Oklahoma last weekend.
Another big wild card for the weekend series will be the Mountaineer pitching. Despite getting the win against Pitt on Wednesday, the WVU pitching surrendered eight earned runs. While none of the seven WVU pitchers against Pitt included weekend starters Ben Hampton, Blaine Traxel, and Robby Porco, it does cause some concern if the bats ever go cold.
Despite the shaky pitching, there were some bright spots on the mound in Wednesday’s win, as reliever Noah Short got two big outs including a strikeout with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Reliever Keegan Allen also impressed in his first outing since April 16th, as the Oklahoma transfer struck out two while surrendering no hits in one full inning of work.
David Hagaman and Carlson Reed did a solid job in slowing down the Pitt offense, as the two combined for two innings of work while allowing just one hit and no runs. Reed shut the door on the Panthers in the ninth inning with three strikeouts while stranding two runners.
The Mountaineers will need that pitching in late innings against Texas Tech, as the Red Raiders have some true talent in their order. Texas Tech features one of the top hitters and run producers in the nation in first baseman Gavin Kash. Kash, after spending one season with the Texas Longhorns, has made the most of his opportunity in Lubbock, as the sophomore is hitting .367 on the season with 22 home runs and 76 runs batted in. Kash’s 22 home runs and 76 RBIs rank him third in the country in each respective category.
Aside from the daunting left-handed swing from Kash, Texas Tech also has third baseman/catcher Kevin Bazzell to pose a threat to picthers. Bazzell is less of a power threat than Kash, but the redshirt freshman does drive in runs at a high level with five home runs and 50 runs batted in. Bazzell also leads the Red Raiders in batting average with a .383 clip.
Another run producer for Texas Tech is second baseman Austin Green. Green hits near the .300 mark with a .295 average, and the junior infielder has also hit nine home runs with 50 runs batted in.
WVU’s likely starting pitchers for the series will be Ben Hampton on Friday, Blaine Traxel on Saturday, and Robby Porco on Sunday. Against Oklahoma, Hampton stood tall with six innings of one-run ball, despite giving up seven hits.
Traxel struggled a bit in Saturday’s record-breaking attendance game against Oklahoma, as the senior gave up seven hits and five earned runs in seven innings pitched.
In the rubber match against Oklahoma, Porco only pitched 2.1 innings, but the immense amount of rain may have played into that. In the 2.1 innings, the freshman Porco surrendered a hit and two walks but did not give up any runs.
West Virginia and Texas Tech will square off at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark for the three-game series. Friday’s game will start at 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s will start at 4 p.m. The rubber match of the series on Sunday will begin at 1 p.m. All the action can be viewed on ESPN+.
Photo by Aaron Parker
