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May 5—MORGANTOWN — History will be on the line, as the 13th-ranked WVU baseball team travels to rival Pitt at 6 p.m. Tuesday to conclude its nonconference schedule.
The Mountaineers (39-7) will be looking for their 40th victory of the season, which would tie the program record. WVU has also won eight straight against the Panthers (24-21), who are on their own four-game winning streak.
WVU has struggled of late against nonconference opponents, losing midweek games against Penn State and Marshall — both by one run — but the Mountaineers are coming off a series win against Texas Tech, in which WVU won two of the three games.
"It felt like we played our best baseball today, " WVU head coach Steve Sabins said Sunday, after WVU shut out Texas Tech, 5-0. "It was really encouraging and it felt like we're going in the right direction."
WVU went 40-23 in 2023 and went 40-21 in 1994, with both seasons standing as the program's benchmark for most wins in a season. This year's group can tie the mark against Pitt and would then still have six games remaining in the regular season before the start of the Big 12 tournament.
Not that Sabins is pushing that theory of success on his players.
"We've talked to the team about not trying to hold on to anything. They've put themselves in this situation and they should be proud of that, " Sabins said. "Every season has a situation. You could be fighting to get into the conference tournament, fighting to host a regional or fighting to win a Big 12 championship. There are a million situations you can be in as a team and this is just one of them. Unless you let go and get better and focus on where your feet are at and play clean baseball, they can all turn out negative. As soon as you try to defend something you're not the owner of, you just get your butt kicked. The only option, weirdly, is to not care and to not put yourself in that mindset."
WVU sophomore Chase Meyer (8-2, 2.45 ERA) will get his second starting nod of the season. Pitt will counter with sophomore Drew Lafferty (3-2, 6.92 ERA), who will be making his 11th start of the season and his first against the Mountaineers.
Pitt is coming off a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech and sits in 13th place in the ACC. First baseman Luke Cantwell leads the Panthers with a.357 batting average. Ryan Zuckerman leads the Panthers with 11 home runs. WVU defeated Pitt earlier this season 11-1, at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
WVU will have the services of outfielder Skylar King, who served a one-game suspension Sunday, after being ejected from a game on Saturday against Texas Tech. King is hitting.355 and is second on the team with 13 stolen bases.
Meyer is looking to regroup after allowing four runs (one earned) in his last two outings that covered 1 2 /3 innings of relief work. He is not expected to pitch long, because Sabins wants to use him for the upcoming road series against Kansas State.
"It makes sense to maybe give him an inning, " Sabins said of Meyer. "Whatever maximizes him to be ready to win a game and throw a lot of pitches on Friday would be the goal."
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The Mountaineers (39-7) will be looking for their 40th victory of the season, which would tie the program record. WVU has also won eight straight against the Panthers (24-21), who are on their own four-game winning streak.
WVU has struggled of late against nonconference opponents, losing midweek games against Penn State and Marshall — both by one run — but the Mountaineers are coming off a series win against Texas Tech, in which WVU won two of the three games.
"It felt like we played our best baseball today, " WVU head coach Steve Sabins said Sunday, after WVU shut out Texas Tech, 5-0. "It was really encouraging and it felt like we're going in the right direction."
WVU went 40-23 in 2023 and went 40-21 in 1994, with both seasons standing as the program's benchmark for most wins in a season. This year's group can tie the mark against Pitt and would then still have six games remaining in the regular season before the start of the Big 12 tournament.
Not that Sabins is pushing that theory of success on his players.
"We've talked to the team about not trying to hold on to anything. They've put themselves in this situation and they should be proud of that, " Sabins said. "Every season has a situation. You could be fighting to get into the conference tournament, fighting to host a regional or fighting to win a Big 12 championship. There are a million situations you can be in as a team and this is just one of them. Unless you let go and get better and focus on where your feet are at and play clean baseball, they can all turn out negative. As soon as you try to defend something you're not the owner of, you just get your butt kicked. The only option, weirdly, is to not care and to not put yourself in that mindset."
WVU sophomore Chase Meyer (8-2, 2.45 ERA) will get his second starting nod of the season. Pitt will counter with sophomore Drew Lafferty (3-2, 6.92 ERA), who will be making his 11th start of the season and his first against the Mountaineers.
Pitt is coming off a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech and sits in 13th place in the ACC. First baseman Luke Cantwell leads the Panthers with a.357 batting average. Ryan Zuckerman leads the Panthers with 11 home runs. WVU defeated Pitt earlier this season 11-1, at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
WVU will have the services of outfielder Skylar King, who served a one-game suspension Sunday, after being ejected from a game on Saturday against Texas Tech. King is hitting.355 and is second on the team with 13 stolen bases.
Meyer is looking to regroup after allowing four runs (one earned) in his last two outings that covered 1 2 /3 innings of relief work. He is not expected to pitch long, because Sabins wants to use him for the upcoming road series against Kansas State.
"It makes sense to maybe give him an inning, " Sabins said of Meyer. "Whatever maximizes him to be ready to win a game and throw a lot of pitches on Friday would be the goal."
Continue reading...
