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No. 12 West Virginia has the chance to win the Big 12 this weekend when they hit the road to face Kansas State, while the Wildcats look to get towards the top of the Big 12 standings.
WVSports.Com previews the series as well as what to expect from each team heading into the weekend.
Last Time Out
West Virginia lost to rival Pitt 10-9 on Tuesday as the Panthers walked off the Mountaineers by scoring five runs in the ninth. Last weekend, WVU took two of three games at home from Texas Tech.
Kansas State took two of three from BYU this past weekend, and their scheduled midweek game against Omaha was canceled.
First Pitch Times and Pitching Probables
Game One: Friday, 7:00 p.m. — Jacob Frost (KSU) vs. Griffin Kirn (WVU)
Game Two: Saturday, 5:00 p.m. — Michael Quevedo (KSU) vs Chase Meyer (WVU)
Game Three: Sunday, 2:00 p.m. — Lincoln Sheffield (KSU) vs Jack Kartsonas (WVU)
West Virginia is not changing their two starters of Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas, but they will be putting Chase Meyer into the rotation for him to make his third start of the season.
Meyer is 8-2 with a 2.31 ERA this season. He started Tuesday's game against Pitt, and he has not thrown more than 67 pitches in a game this season. Meyer has thrown more than four innings just once this season, when he tossed 5.0 against Arizona in relief. Meyer has a 1.64 ERA during Big 12 play.
Kirn has a 3.59 ERA this season and during Big 12 play, he has allowed 19 earned runs across 39.2 innings pitched.
The Wildcats are going with three left-handed pitchers this weekend.
Frost has the lowest ERA out of the three with a 4.86 ERA on the year, while Sheffield has thrown the most innings for KSU with 59.0 on the season. Quevedo leads the Wildcats in strikeouts on the year with 66, and his 43 during Big 12 play is eighth-best during that span.
Lineups
Kansas State enters the weekend batting .278 during Big 12 play. The Wildcats scored a combined 31 runs in their two wins against BYU last weekend.
During Big 12 play, Kansas State has blasted 39 home runs, which is the second-most in the league. Keegan O'Connor has accounted for nine of those home runs, including three in one game against BYU last weekend.
KSU has the sixth-most strikeouts as a lineup this season against league competition, while they also have the fourth-most walks.
O'Connor leads KSU in batting at .338, while Maximus Martin is right behind him at .337. Martin leads the team in RBIs with 53, and the Wildcats have four hitters who have at least 10 home runs on the season, both including O'Connor and Martin.
West Virginia is the third-best offense in terms of batting average during conference play this year. The Mountaineers have scored the third-most runs as well during league play with 180.
WVU's 26 home runs against Big 12 competition is eighth-best in the league, and their 52 doubles are second-most in the league. The Mountaineers have the third-most steals with 36 during Big 12 play as well.
West Virginia has seven batters hitting .310 or better this season, and 10 batters have at least 24 RBIs on the year.
WVU has four hitters who have seven home runs this season, and Jace Rinehart leads WVU in doubles as well as runs batted in.
RPI Ramifications
WVU is currently No. 22 in the latest RPI rankings, while KSU is No. 44. That means this will be a Quad 1 series for both teams.
WVU is 3-2 in Quad 1 games, while KSU is 4-14.
Standings Update
West Virginia has a chance to clinch the Big 12 regular season title with a series sweep this weekend. The Mountaineers are 18-4 in conference play. Kansas State is in the pack behind WVU as they are 5.0 games out of first place at 14-10 in league play.
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