Starting Friday, the West Virginia baseball team will play against the Charlotte 49ers (2-2) in a four-game series over the weekend.
The Mountaineers are coming off a split series against Stetson which concluded with a doubleheader on Monday, where they lost star shortstop and highly-touted MLB Draft prospect JJ Wetherholt as he exited the game after the first inning of the second game of the doubleheader. He is expected to miss at least this weekend with a grade-one hamstring strain.
Wetherholt hit .449 last season with an on-base percentage of .517 to go along with 36 stolen bases and 16 home runs. He played a huge role in WVU becoming Big 12 champions in 2023.
Without Wetherholt, the Mountaineers offense will need to pick up the slack and could look to transfer from UT Arlington Ben Lumsden, who hit two home runs in the season opener as well as sophomore Ellis Garcia, who had five RBIs on four hits against the Hatters and two stolen bases.
Catcher Logan Sauve, who was talked about a lot preseason could be another player to step up for West Virginia. In four games, he has five hits, including one homerun and two RBIs.
The 49ers are coming off a series loss against Virginia Tech, where they took the last game and then defeated Davidson in a single game, 24-1.
The pitching matchup for this weekend is as follows:
RHP Aidan Major vs. RHP Miles Langhorne (2024 stats: 2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB and 2 SO)
LHP Tyler Switalski vs. LHP Cole Reynolds (4.2 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 3 BB and 3 SO)
RHP Hayden Cooper vs. RHP Cameron Hansen (4.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB and 6 SO)
RHP Carson Estridge vs. TBA
Aidan Major, who looks to be WVU’s ace this season pitched six innings in the Mountaineers’ opening day win last Friday, allowing three earned runs on three hits, striking out seven.
Tyler Switalski, a transfer from Gardner-Webb, pitched five innings on Saturday, allowing two earned on three hits with two strikeouts in the loss.
SIU Edwardsville transfer, Hayden Cooper struggled with command in the first game of the doubleheader on Monday, he allowed three earned runs on five hits, walking two and throwing a wild pitch in the eventual loss.
6-foot-7 sophomore righty, Carson Estridge got the ball for West Virginia in the last game of the series against Stetson. He pitched four innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts.
First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. EST Friday, with the doubleheader scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday and the series finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be streamed on ESPN+.
Discover more from Blue Gold Sports
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
