Baylor Baseball Travels to Morgantown for Series against No. 21 West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, WV – Baylor baseball (19-20, 9-9) will travel to Morgantown for a three-game conference set against the No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers (23-16, 11-7). First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday’s contest will start at 3 p.m., and the series finale on Sunday is slated for 10 a.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Baylor Bears

• 2024 Record: 19-20
• Big 12 Record: 9-9
• RPI: 115
• SOS: 58
• Notable Wins: BYU (3), No. 24 Texas Tech (2), Cincinnati (2), Texas
• Notable Losses: Kansas (2), No. 23 Indiana (3), No. 20 Dallas Baptist, Nebraska, Oregon, No. 5 Tennessee

Baylor Athletics

The Bears have won 11 of their last 14 games and are coming off a 9-3 victory over Sam Houston on Tuesday.

Head Coach: Mitch Thompson

• Career Record: 410-191 (11th season) 
• Record at Baylor: 38-53 (2nd season) 

2024 Projections

• D1Baseball: 12th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: 11th in the Big 12

Team Stats (Big 12)

• Earned Run Average: 5.90 (12th)
• Batting Average: .282 (8th)
• Fielding Percentage: .967 (12th)

No. 21 West Virginia Mountaineers

• 2024 Record: 23-16
• Big 12: 11-7
• RPI: 34
• SOS: 44
• Notable Wins: BYU (2), No. 17 Oklahoma (2), Kansas (3), No. 17 UCF (3)
• Notable Losses: Oklahoma State (2), Texas Tech (3)

West Virginia Athletics

West Virginia INF JJ Wetherholt (Jr.) was the Preseason Player of the Year in the Big 12. He recently returned from injury and is hitting .327 with a .493 on-base percentage.

Head Coach: Randy Mazey

• Career Record: 529-417 (18th season) 
• Record at West Virginia: 343-257 (12th season) 

2024 Projections

• D1Baseball: 7th in the Big 12
• Coaches Poll: Tied for 6th in the Big 12

Team Stats (Big 12)

• Earned Run Average: 5.29 (9th)
• Batting Average: .269 (11th)
• Fielding Percentage: .977 (2nd)

Baylor Probable Starting Fielders:

*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*

Baylor Athletics

In the last two weeks, SS Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) has been crushing the baseball and has raised his batting average to .255 after hitting .168 as of April 7.

• C: Cortlan Castle (Jr.) - (.275 BAVG, .340 OB%, 19 R, 4 XBH, 13 RBI, 91 AB)
• 1B: Cole Posey (Sr.) - (.276 BAVG, .364 OB%, 14 R, 5 XBH, 12 RBI, 58 AB)
• 2B: Daniel Altman (Sr.) - (.276 BAVG, .381 OB%, 23 R, 7 XBH, 24 RBI, 116 AB)
• SS: Tyriq Kemp (Jr.) - (.255 BAVG, .380 OB%, 20 R, 7 XBH, 12 RBI, 110 AB)
• 3B: Hunter Teplanszky (Jr.) - (.285 BAVG, .390 OB%, 19 R, 10 XBH, 27 RBI, 144 AB)
• LF: Wesley Jordan (Jr.) - (.336 BAVG, .457 OB%, 32 R, 19 XBH, 29 RBI, 122 AB)
• CF: Ty Johnson (Jr.) - (.331 BAVG, .414 OB%, 8 XBH, 14 RBI, 142 AB)
• RF: Enzo Apodaca (RJr.) - (.349 BAVG, .435 OB%, 34 R, 15 XBH, 33 RBI, 152 AB)
• DH: Zach Mazoch (So.) - (.302 BAVG, .406 OB%, 8 R, XBH, 12 RBI, 53 AB)

Projected Bench

• C: Harrison Caley (Sr.) - (.308 BAVG, .400 OB%, 8 R, 4 XBH, 9 RBI, 26 AB)
• C/1B: Brayden Buchanan (Fr.) - (.188 BAVG, .350 OB%, 4 R, 2 XBH, 32 AB)
• 1B/2B: Mason Greer (Sr.) - (.186 BAVG, .259 OB%, 9 6 R, 6 XBH, 13 RBI, 97 AB)
• 2B: Chase Womack (Fr.) - (.100 BAVG, .280 OB%, 3 R, 2 RBI, 20 AB)
• OF Kade Fletcher (RJr.) - (.235 BAVG, .386 OB%, 6 R, 3 XBH, 5 RBI, 34 AB)
• OF Caleb Bergman (So.) - (.259 BAVG, .364 OB%, 5 R, XBH, 2 RBI, 27 AB)

Probable Starting Pitchers:

*ERA = Earned Run Average, WHIP = Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched, GS = Games Started*

Baylor Athletics

RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) has put together an incredible third season in the green and gold.

• BU SP 1 – RHP Mason Marriott (Jr.) - (2-3, 4.47 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 44.1 IP, 9 GS)
• WVU SP 1 – RHP Hayden Cooper (Sr.) - (1-2, 6.19 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 3 GS)
• BU SP 2 – RHP Collin McKinney (RFr.) - (3-3, 5.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 37.2 IP, 9 GS)
• WVU SP 2 – LHP Derek Clark (Sr.) - (4-1, 2.79 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 51.2 IP, 7 GS)
• BU SP 3 – TBD
• WVU SP 3 – RHP Aidan Major (Jr.) - (3-3, 5.30 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 54.1 IP, 10 GS)

West Virginia Probable Starting Fielders:

*BAVG = Batting Average, OB% = On-Base Percentage, AB = At-Bats*

• C: Logan Sauve (So.) - (.312 BAVG, .402 OB%, 23 R, 8 XBH, 18 RBI, 93 AB)
• 1B: Grant Hussey (Jr.) - (.237 BAVG, .345 OB%, 19 R, 13 XBH, 21 RBI, 118 AB)
• 2B: Brodie Kresser (Jr.) - (.294 BAVG, .412 OB%, 14 R, 9 XBH, 10 RBI, 85 AB)
• SS: JJ Wetherholt (Jr.) - (.327 BAVG, .493 OB%, 12 R, 6 XBH, 11 RBI, 49 AB)
• 3B: Reed Chumley (Sr.) - (.314 BAVG, .406 OB%, 28 R, 20 XBH, 26 RBI, 121 AB)
• LF: Michael Perazza (Fr.) - (.250 BAVG, .288 OB%, 4 R, 4 XBH, 7 RBI, 56 AB)
• CF: Benjamin Lumsden (So.) - (.243 BAVG, .364 OB%, 20 R, 10 XBH, 16 RBI, 107 AB)
• RF: Sam White (So.) - (.312 BAVG, .413 OB%, 29 R, 14 XBH, 25 RBI, 141 AB)
• DH: Kyle West (Jr.) - (.279 BAVG, .368 OB%, 25 R, 17 XBH, 32 RBI, 136 AB)

Top Quotes

Head coach Mitch Thompson on what he sees from West Virginia:

Baylor Athletics

CF Ty Johnson (Jr.) went 2-for-4 and stole a career-high three bases in the victory over Sam Houston on Tuesday.

• “Good club. They've got the preseason Conference Player of the Year and a first-round draft pick in JJ Wetherholt; he’s all-world, and this guy's really good. [They have] lots of left-handed hitters that are kind of a matchup problem for a lot of clubs, and maybe a matchup problem for us too if we don't execute and do the right thing. They're well-coached and have some left-handed starting pitchers that'll be different. We haven't seen that much in the league this year, so they'll be a big, big challenge for us. They're coming off a tough weekend, and they're back at home in front of their crowd. The crowd will be good and getting into it. It's my first trip to Morgantown, so I'm looking forward to it.”

Head coach Mitch Thompson on the importance of this weekend’s series:

• “The last several weeks have been building to get us into a position where we could play the last month of the year and have something to play for, and we definitely do – as does the rest of the conference. The league is really tight. The parity is incredible. Anybody can beat anybody. If you go play well, you win – if you don’t, you lose. We’re going to be focused on trying to play good baseball and throw strikes, make routine plays, put the ball in play and execute; if we do that, we’ll be in ballgames.”

Right-handed pitcher Patrick Hail (RJr.) on the team’s recent hot streak:

• “As a team, we’ve learned that we can hang with anybody. I think we’ve shown that. We’ve got some pretty good wins with a road sweep of BYU and a win against a good Sam Houston club. Our bats have shown their true identity; it makes it a lot easier on the mound when they can explode for 18 [runs] on any given day.”

Center fielder Ty Johnson (Jr.) on whether the road sweep of BYU will help prepare the Bears for a trip to Morgantown:

• “We learned we are a team that can win on the road. Obviously, it’s been a huge challenge for us this year. But going into BYU and getting a sweep on the road gives us confidence to go into a hostile environment like that and be able to win. It’s going to be exciting being able to go to Morgantown and get a three-game series against those guys.”

What I’m Looking For This Weekend + Other Notes

• Left fielder Wesley Jordan (Jr.) extended his on-base streak to 30 games after going 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs against Sam Houston on Tuesday. Jordan became the first player since Davis Wendzel (37) in 2018 to reach safely in 30 consecutive games.
  

  Baylor Athletics

  LF Wesley Jordan (Jr.) became the first player since Davis Wendzel (37) in 2018 to reach safely in 30 consecutive games.
• Baylor will look to continue its hot streak against No. 21 West Virginia (23-16, 11-9), a surefire NCAA Tournament team. The Bears have won 11 of their last 14 games.
• After two really good outings against Houston and No. 24 Texas Tech, lefty Mason Green (Fr.) has surrendered at least three earned runs in his last five starts in conference play. While he still has a bright future ahead of him, Thompson decided to switch things up this weekend, moving Green out of the Sunday starter role. Thompson said the starting pitcher on Sunday will be decided after Saturday’s contest.
• Former Baylor reliever Hambleton Oliver (Sr.) transferred to West Virginia this past offseason. In 14 appearances out of the bullpen for the Mountaineers, Oliver holds a 3.38 ERA, and batters are hitting .218 against him.
• Going to Morgantown is never an ideal road trip for the Bears. However, after a hard-fought sweep of BYU earlier this month, Thompson’s young squad should have a better idea of what to expect and a better grasp of how to win away from Baylor Ballpark. 
• Prediction: The key this weekend is not getting swept. The Bears are in the middle of a heated race to make the conference tournament; a sweep at the hands of the formidable Mountaineers could be a blow to Baylor’s chances. Win one game, and anything else is a huge plus.

Other Reading

• Baylor Baseball Final Month Check-In: Push to Big 12 Tournament, Offseason Needs, Etc.

• Drew Leach’s Long & Winding Road Back to Baylor

• Danny Altman Making the Most of His Opportunity for Baylor Baseball