West Virginia Opens the Big 12 Conference Schedule at Oklahoma State

The Mountaineers look to make an early season push for the top of the standings

West Virginia University outfielder Skylar King / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Stillwater, OK – The West Virginia Mountaineers (15-1) opens their Big 12 Conference schedule on the road Oklahoma State for a three-game weekend series. Game one is set for Friday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. EST, Game two is slated for Saturday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. EST and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. All game will stream on ESPN+.

The Cowboys (9-7) were voted to win the league in the preseason and as high as 13th in the preseason national polls.

Oklahoma State has played six top 20 programs in the country early in the season and are 2-4 in those games.

The Cowboys returned six position players who started at least 35 games a season ago.

Senior returner Nolan Schubart led the Cowboys at the plate last season is currently second on the team sitting behind senior Colin Brueggemann, who is hitting .406 with five home runs in 25 RBI. Schubert is batting .383 with three home runs and 20 RBI.

Oklahoma State is expected to start junior right-hander Gabe Davis (0-2, 6.10 ERA, 14 K) in game one, junior lefty Harrison Bodendorf (4-0, 3.15 ERA, 27 K) in game two, and sophomore right-hander Hunter Watkins (3-0, 4.74 ERA, 25 K) in the series finale.

West Virginia is scheduled to counter with Griffin Kirn (3-0, 2.35 ERA, 22 K) in the series opener, Gavin Van Kempen (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 18 K) and will await till Sunday to announce the starter for game three.

The Mountaineers dropped their first game of the season in the middle game of a three-game series against Kennesaw State over the weekend but bounced back with a resounding 14-7 series clinching win and forced a mercy rule against Towson in the midweek matchup.

Three West Virginia hitters are batting above .400. Senior Skylar King leads the trio with a .426 batting average with 11 RBI, freshman Gavin Kelly is hitting .407 with 11 RBI, and senior Brodie Kresser owns a batting average of .404 with 15 RBI.

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