West Virginia Hosts Ohio State for a Three-Game Series

The Mountaineers are poised to take on the Buckeyes in weekend series

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-7) welcome the Ohio State Buckeyes (8-7) for the final non-conference weekend series of the season. Game one scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m., game two is set for Saturday at 4:00 p.m., and the series finale is slated for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All three games will stream on ESPN+.

The Mountaineers beat down in-state rival Marshall 11-2 on Tuesday, marking the seventh consecutive win in the series.

West Virginia sits at no. 35 in the RPI heading into the weekend. The Mountaineers have yet to notch a quad one win, although split the series at Charlotte in the second weekend of the season, a program sitting outside of the top 50 at 56th.

West Virginia has suffered several injuries to its starting lineup early in the season, most notably junior sensation JJ Wetherholt in the fourth game of the season. It was followed by injuries to junior Brodie Kresser in the second series of the year and sophomore Logan Sauve and junior Grant Hussey the ensuing series.

The Mountaineers have overcome their losses to the starting lineup and is receiving production from freshman Spencer Barnett while sophomores Ellis Garcia and Sam White and senior transfer Kyle West have filled in defensively.

Freshman Spencer Barnett slides into home in the Mountaineers win against Marshall / Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: FanNation - Mountaineers Now

“It's hard to pick an MVP on this team at this point in the season,” said West Virginia head coach Rand Mazey, also noting Sam White would get some votes. “Ellis Garcia would get some votes. He’s played multiple positions and swinging the bat well. (Junior starting pitcher) Aidan major would give some votes. He's been really good. (redshirts sophomore reliever David) Hagaman would get some votes. I mean, we’re playing without our three best hitters. You don’t understand how hard that it is to do. Many teams couldn’t do what we’re doing without your three best hitters. I kind of like where we’re at right now.”

Sam White leads the team with a .323 batting average with three home runs and is tied with sophomore Benjamin Lumsden for a team-high 14 RBIs. Lumsden is third on the team in batting average at .295 and also has three home runs on the year.

Ellis Garcia is second on the team with a .303 batting average to go with four doubles, a home run and 13 RBIs.

Sophomore Sam White records one of his five hits in the series against BYU / Christopher Hall - Sports Illustrated: FanNation - Mountaineers Now

Right hander Aidan Major will start in the first game of the series. He has a 3-0 record with a 3.12 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 26 innings.

Senior Derek Duke made his Mountaineer debut in the series final in the Big 12 Conference opening series finale against BYU last week. He went five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit to collect his first win.

Junior left-hander Tyler Switalski will make his fifth start of the season in game three. He sits at 1-0 on the year with a 4.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts.

Ohio State is coming off a 15-game west coast road trip to begin the season and notched a pair of quad one wins over Oklahoma and Cal and come into the series ranked 73rd in the RPI.

Landon Beidelschies is scheduled to start the series opener for the Buckeyes. The sophomore left-hander holds a 2-2 record with a 3.43 ERA and a team-best 26 strikeouts, including a career-high eight strikeouts in the win over Cal.

Senior right-hander Colin Purcell is set for game two and sits with a 1-2 record and a 3.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 16 innings and lefty Gavin Bruni will close out the series and the junior has a 2-0 record with a 3.71 ERA with 15 strikeouts on the year.

Right fielder Mitchell Okuley leads the team in batting average (.375), doubles (7) RBIs (14). The senior led the team with nine home runs last season.

Henry Kaczmar was a first team All-Big Ten selection a season ago. The sophomore shortstop is second on the team with a .350 batting average with three doubles, a triple, a homerun, and 11 RBIs.

Junior third baseman Tyler Pettorini is third on the team with a .304 batting average with a double, a home run, and 12 RBIs.

Four Buckeyes lead the team with two home runs.

West Virginia holds a 9-8 series lead against Ohio State. The Mountaineers split the last series with the Buckeyes, winning the last meeting 7-6 after falling in the series opener 10-4. The series finale was cancelled due to inclement weather.