No. 6 West Virginia baseball faces Texas for a three-game series with a lot on the line. The Mountaineers need to win just one game to clinch their first ever Big 12 regular season championship, while the Longhorns need to sweep the Mountaineers to finish atop the standings for the third time since 2018.
The Mountaineers have a primed opportunity in front of them against a tough Longhorns squad. Each of the past two seasons, Texas has made is to the College World Series, and have won four of their last six games against Big 12 competition.
“Texas is Texas. That’s one of the greatest traditions in college baseball. Can’t go down there and get caught up in the atmosphere,” West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey said. “We just have to go down and focus on the baseball, not the crowd and do what we’ve been doing. I wouldn’t put anything past our team, what they’re capable of. We’ll go down there, try to win the first inning.”
The Mountaineers are switching things up a little bit as far as their weekend rotation. Friday starter Ben Hampton has not been announced as a starter yet for this series, and Mazey is giving the ball to Carson Estridge on Thursday night in game one. Estridge — a freshman — is 3-0 on the year, with a 3.75 ERA in 24.0 innings pitched.
Mazey plans to turn to normal Saturday starter Blaine Traxel in game two, while the game three starter is up in the air. There are multiple options Mazey could go. Robby Porco threw just nine pitches in his start on Sunday, and has not made it out of the third inning in his last three starts.
Mazey could also turn to his ace Ben Hampton if the Mountaineers needed a win to clinch the Big 12 title, but they could also hold Hampton if they have already secured the title for the Big 12 Tournament which begins on Wednesday.
Texas is sending left-hander Lucas Gordon to the mound on Thursday. Gordon has struggled in two of his las three outings, with the two highest run totals he has given up coming against TCU and Kansas. Last week against San Jose State, Gordon threw 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, and struck out two.
On Friday, the Longhorns are giving the ball to Lebarron Johnson. Johnson has a 2.76 ERA in 62.0 innings pitched. On Saturday, Texas head coach David Pierce is going with Tanner Witt. Witt, is highly touted in the Texas program, but is still in his first few games back after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.
West Virginia’s offense will have to show up against the Longhorns this weekend. Texas 4.12 ERA is the best in the Big 12, while WVU is right behind them at a 4.13 team ERA.
JJ Wetherholt leads the WVU offense as he is a candidate for the Golden Spikes Award and he is also a favorite to be named Big 12 Player of the Year. Wetherholt leads the Big 12 in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, on base + slugging percentage, runs scored, hits and stolen bases.
Offensively for the Longhorns, they have six hitters batting over .300 on the season. Eric Kennedy leads the team with 15 home runs, while catcher Garrett Guillemette leads the team with 55 RBI. Texas’ Dylan Campbell comes in riding a 30-game hitting streak. During this streak, Campbell has a .402 average with 11 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 27 RBI, 32 runs scored and 15 stolen bases.
Game Information
Game one and two on Thursday and Friday are set to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Longhorn Network. Game three on Saturday is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch.
TV Information
Longhorn Network is carried through ESPN. To find out more information on Longhorn Network and how to access it, click here.
Big 12 Championship Picture
West Virginia needs one win to clinch a share of the Big 12 regular season title. The Mountaineers would clinch the entirety of the title with a win and at least one Oklahoma State loss this weekend, or two wins. However, WVU would carry the No. 1 seed into the Big 12 Tournament with a win because they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Oklahoma State.
