Series Preview: No. 17 West Virginia vs. UCF
No. 17 West Virginia baseball looks to extend its 11-game winning streak within conference play as they head to face UCF for a three-game series starting Friday.
The Mountaineers enter the series coming off a three-game sweep over Cincinnati last weekend, before falling to Penn State on the road on Tuesday. The Knights took two of three from TCU last weekend, before beating Florida Atlantic during their midweek matchup this week.
First Pitch Times and Pitching Probables
Game One: Friday, 6:30 p.m. — Camden Wicker (UCF) vs. Griffin Kirn (WVU)
Game Two: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. — Russell Sandefer (UCF) vs Gavin Van Kempen (WVU)
Game Three: Sunday, 1:00 p.m. — Matt Sauser (UCF) vs Jack Kartsonas (WVU)
West Virginia is going to continue to go with the three pitchers they have put out there each of the last two weekends. The newest addition to the rotation in Kartsonas has pitched well over his first two outings as a starter, tossing a combined 13.0 innings, allowing one unearned run, and only three combined hits between both games.
Kartsonas is currently fifth in the Big 12 during league play with a 1.80 ERA. Kirn is sixth in the Big 12 during conference play in strikeouts with 39. Van Kempen has only pitched 5.0 or more innings once this season, but is arguably entering the weekend off one of his best outings of the season, going 4.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits.
Lineups
On the season, both West Virginia and UCF’s lineups have done quite well.
The teams ranked first and second, respectively in the Big 12 in batting average on the season, with UCF hitting at a .319 clip and WVU hitting .314 on the season. During Big 12 play, though, those numbers have changed. West Virginia is still second in batting average at .322, while UCF is seventh at .282.
During Big 12 play, both WVU and UCF have been able to reach base, but it’s been the Mountaineers who have the big advantage in terms of runs scored. WVU is third in runs scored during league play with 145 runs, while UCF is 10th with 103 runs scored.
UCF’s Edian Espinal leads the Knights in batting at .352 on the season, but he didn’t play on Sunday vs. TCU or during the Knights’ midweek matchup. Behind him is DeAmez Ross, who is hitting .345 on the season, having started all 40 games for UCF this season.
WVU has three of the top 12 leaders in batting average in the Big 12, as Skylar King, Sam White, and Jace Rinehart all are hitting .354 on the season or better. As an offense, WVU is second in the league in runs scored and also has the most stolen bases in the league this year.
RPI Ramifications
West Virginia is currently No. 15 in the latest RPI rankings, while UCF is No. 55. This means as it stands, it is a Quad 1 series for the Mountaineers, something they have only played once so far this year.
WVU has played seven Quad 1 games this season, and they are 4-3 in those games. Their seven Quad 1 games are the second-fewest any team in the Big 12 has played up to this point.
UCF’s RPI would need to stay above 60th for this to remain a Quad 1 series for the Mountaineers, but it will also be a Quad 1 series for the Knights who are 6-4 in Quad 1 games.
Standings Update
West Virginia is currently atop the Big 12 standings, holding a two-game lead on three different teams (Arizona, Kansas, TCU). Out of those three teams, none play a team with a winning record currently in conference play. Arizona faces Texas Tech, Kansas Utah, while TCU faces Baylor this weekend.
UCF is currently tied for 12th place in league play at 6-12, with series losses to Houston, Cincinnati, Kansas, and Kansas State.
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