CREDIT: wvusports.com
The West Virginia Mountaineers Baseball team enter their first Big XII Baseball Tournament as the third ranked team. A terrific finish for a team picked to finish in last place according to a preseason coaches poll.
WVU finished the regular season with a mark of 31-25 overall and 13-11 in Big XII play. The Mountaineers are set to square off with the 6th ranked Kansas Jayhawks this Wednesday at 4 pm (Central Time) in Oklahoma City, OK.
The Big XII Championship is double elimination play by division, with each division consisting of four teams. In the Mountaineers division, WVU will also have to contend with 7th ranked TCU Horned Frogs and the 2nd ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys in divisional play.
Should WVU advance from divisional play, they will face the winner of the other division, consisting of 1st ranked Kansas State Wildcats, 4th ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 5th ranked Baylor Bears, and the 8th ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The Mountaineers expect to have star pitcher Harrison Musgrave start against the Kansas Jayhawks, a team the Mounaineers swept in the regular season. WVU took down Kansas in Beckley in late April 1-0, 4-3, and 3-2 (in 12 innings). Each game was a tight affair and it would stand to reason that the next match-up will also be a close game.