The West Virginia baseball team is on the road this weekend set to face the Kansas Jayhawks in a three-game series in Lawrence.
The Mountaineers are coming off a series loss to Oklahoma State where they took the last game 15-10, but dropped the first two of the series after having offensive and bullpen struggles.
Kansas is coming off a 7-6 loss to Wichita State on Wednesday but swept BYU over the weekend to improve in the Big 12 where they currently sit at fourth, with a 7-5 record in conference play. They are 15-11 overall.
In DI Baseball’s Midseason NCAA Tournament Field of 64 Projections, the Jayhawks were the projected No. 3 seed in the Lexington, Kentucky region, whereas WVU was projected as one of the first four out.
West Virginia is 16-12 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12, tied with Oklahoma State for fifth place in the conference. They have been without star shortstop JJ Wetherholt for most of the season after he went down with a hamstring strain in their opening series against Stetson. Wetherholt could return this weekend, but it is unknown whether he will or not, with the team hoping for him to make a full recovery.
Without Wetherholt, senior Reed Chumley has helped pick up the slack, leading the team with a .316 batting average and tied with Grant Hussey for the most home runs with six. Aidan Major has been the Mountaineers’ ace this season and has a 3-2 record on the bump with a team-high 53 strikeouts.
As for Kansas, they’re led by senior catcher Jake English who leads the team with a .345 batting average and eight home runs. The Jayhawks have a consistent one-two punch in their rotation with freshman Dominic Voegele leading the staff with a 1.89 ERA and senior Reese Dutton leading the team with 43 strikeouts, with a 6-1 record.
First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. EST and can be streamed on ESPN+, followed by Saturday’s game at 3 p.m. EST and Sunday’s at 12:30 p.m. EST.
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