No. 11 West Virginia Travels to Pittsburgh Looking for the Sweep in the Backyard Brawl Series

The Mountaineers are on the road seeking a Backyard Brawl series sweep

Pittsburgh - The Backyard Brawl series finale is set for Wednesday night with the first pitch between the West Virginia Mountaineers (36-12) and the Pitt Panthers (21-24) set for 6:00 p.m. EST at Charles L. Cost Field.

West Virginia clinched the series last week with a 10-0 inning mercy-rule decision after winning the neutral site contest at PNC Park on April 19.

West Virginia has combined to outscore Pitt 14-9 and is hitting .359 and three home runs while the pitching staff has collected 21 strikeouts.

The Mountaineers are coming off a series win over Oklahoma and improving their Big 12 Conference to 13-5 to remain firmly in first place.

All-American candidate J.J. Wetherholt is batting an NCAA-leading .463 while leading the conference in slugging percentage (.814), OPS (1.340), runs (61). hits (82), and stolen bases (33). The Mars, PA, native went 3-4 last week versus Pitt with a three-run home run.

West Virginia junior Braden Barry is riding a nine-game hitting streak, hitting .469 while recording four doubles a triple and 12 runs.

Freshman Mountaineer hurler Carson Estridge (3-0, 2.29) will get the start after picking up his third win of the season against the Panthers last week and registering a career-best seven strikeouts in a four-inning effort. Meanwhile, Pitt’s starter for the Backyard Brawl will be a game-time decision.

Pitt is coming off a series loss to Georgia Tech where the Panthers were outscored by a combined score of 26-9 but are ranked 65 in the RPI.

Kyle Hess leads the team with a .313 batting average while Noah Martinez has 42 RBI and CJ Funk has a team-high 12 home runs

West Virginia is 116-91 all-time versus Pitt, including 15-5 under head coach Randy Mazey.

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