West Virginia Travels to PNC for the Backyard Brawl

The Mountaineers meet the Panthers in the Backyard Brawl

Pittsburgh - The West Virginia Mountaineers will head north up I-79 for the first installment of the 2023 Backyard Brawl series versus the Pitt Panthers Wednesday night at PNC Park with the first pitch set for 6:00 p.m.

The Mountaineers are coming off a series win at No. 24 Oklahoma State. However, in the series opener, All-American candidate, and Big 12 Player of the Year frontrunner J.J. Wetherholt suffered a hand injury while stealing his conference-leading 27th base of the season. His x-rays came back negative, and he has been listed ‘day-to-day’ since.

Wetherholt led the NCAA in hits prior to his injury but since missing two games, his 64 hits on the year ranks second in the country. The sophomore also leads the Big 12 in batting average (.451) and runs (43) while sitting second in the league in OPS (1.264), slugging percentage (.746), on base percentage (.518) and doubles (16).

Senior shortstop Tevin Tucker is 7-8 at the plate since taking the leadoff spot in Wetherholt’s absence and he is second on team in batting average, hitting .355 on the season.

Landon Wallace is on a 10-game hitting streak. The junior is hitting .418 during that span with 14 RBIs and four home runs.

Carson Estridge will make his first career start on Wednesday. The freshman has made six appearances out of the bullpen this year and holds a 0.93 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched.

The Pitt Panthers will counter with Mathew Fernandez. The junior right-hander is 1-2 on the year with a 4.26 ERA and 39 strikeouts.

Pitt came out of the weekend with a series win at seventh-ranked Virginia. However, the Panthers sit below .500 on the year with a 16-18 record.

Kyle Hess leads the Panthers with a .355 batting average while CJ Funk has a team-high 12 home runs and Noah Martinez has a team high 36 RBIs.

West Virginia leads the all-time series at 114-91 and the Mountaineers took the three-game series against the Panthers last season. 

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