West Virginia will clash with its second Big Ten opponent on Tuesday, this time facing someone toward the top of the conference standings.
21-10 Penn State travels to Morgantown on Tuesday for a single game against the Mountaineers. The Nittany Lions rank fifth in the Big Ten standings.
The Mountaineers sit at second place in the Big 12, boasting a 27-4 record overall. WVU is 20-1 in nonconference games, with a 9-6 win over its only Big Ten opponent thus far, Ohio State.
While the Buckeyes place last in the Big Ten, though, Penn State will give the Mountaineers a better representation of the conference’s competition.
Penn State scored 30 runs across three games in its most recent series against Minnesota, winning each game 10-4, 5-2, and 15-10 respectively. The series came off the back of a 14-3 win over Bucknell. Beforehand, though, the Nittany Lions struggled, falling 2-1 in a series with Michigan and losing its single game against Pitt, 9-2.
West Virginia had no issues against Pitt on Wednesday, beating the Panthers 11-1 in eight innings. Following the win was WVU’s most recent series against Utah, where the Mountaineers held the Utes to four runs or less in each game. WVU won the series finale 14-4 on Saturday.
The Mountaineers and Nittany Lions will meet once more this season, on April 22 in State College, which Tuesday’s game will set the tone for.
WVU hosts Penn State at 6:30 p.m. at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
