West Virginia Set to Battle No. 16 UCF

The Mountaineers look to remain atop the Big 12 standings as the 16th-ranked Knights ride into Kendrick Family Ballpark

West Virginia senior Reed Chumley / Christopher Hall

Granville, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (19-13, 8-4) host the No. 17 UCF Knights (21-9, 8-7) for a three-game series this weekend. Game one is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m., Game two is slated for Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. All the action will stream on ESPN+.

West Virginia and UCF are coming off midweek losses. The Mountaineers lost in extra innings to in-state rival Marshall while UCF fell on the road to Stetson 5-3. WVU split a four-game series at Stetson to open the season.

The two also have common opponents in Big 12 foes Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers took the series from Oklahoma in Norman and lost to Oklahoma State at home while UCF was swept in Norman and protected homefield against Oklahoma State.

Junior Matt Prevesk leads the Knights at the plate with a .365 average, 26 runs scored and a .431 on-base percentage with 20 RBIs.

Redshirt senior Jack Zyska is second on the team with a .312 batting average with a team-high 8 doubles and is tied with Prevesk with 26 runs scored. His five home runs rank second on the team.

Catcher Andrew Sundean has missed the last six games with a leg injury, but the team is hopeful he will soon return to the lineup. The junior is hitting .311 on the season and is tied with Zyska with 26 runs scored.

Junior Andrew Estrella leads the team with six home runs but has been in and out of the lineup as of late due to injuries and former WVU second baseman Mikey Kluska has a team-high three triples.

UCF is scheduled to start right-hander Ben Vespi for the series opener. The senior is 2-1 on the season and holds a 5.00 ERA with a team-best 34 strikeouts. Junio righty Dom Stagliano is set to take the mound in game two. He is 1-2 and leads the starting rotation with a 3.74 ERA.

West Virginia will counter with junior right-hander Aidan Major. He is 3-2 this season with a 4.02 ERA and a team-high 55 strikeouts. Derek Clark is set for game two and is coming off three consecutive nine inning performances and is 3-0 on the year in five appearances with a team-leading 1.70 ERA.

Both teams will wait to announce a starter for the series finale.

West Virginia sophomore Sam White leads the team with a .325 batting average. Senior Reed Chumley is tied with junior Grant Hussey with eight homeruns. Chumley also has team-highs of eight doubles and 23 RBIs.

2024 Preseason Big 12 Baseball Player of the Year JJ Wetherholt returned to the starting lineup in the road series against Kansas last weekend as a designated hitter after missing 24 games due to a hamstring injury. In his first game back, the junior went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs. Since, he is 2-13 at the plate, including going 0-4 in the loss to Marshall.