West Virginia University baseball hopes to further their aspirations to secure a conference championship and an opportunity to host an NCAA Regional as they prepare for another Big 12 road series.
The Mountaineers (27-16, 14-7) are set for a weekend clash with a historical conference rival in Cincinnati (25-20, 11-10). It will be the first meeting between the two programs in 13 years — the opponents last met on the diamond as members of the Big East Conference in May 2011. WVU narrowly leads the all-time series 18-17, but the Bearcats own a 10-6 advantage in their home stadium.
The Mountaineers are entering behind the momentum of completing a season sweep of Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl with an 11-1 at PNC Park on Tuesday. During that rivalry affair, West Virginia native and WVU first baseman Grant Hussey blasted a pair of homers out of the park en route to securing the program’s all-time home run record with 36 total.
WVU can drastically improve their shot at a conference title and a top seed in the Big 12 Tournament this weekend with a strong performance. They enter one game behind current conference leader Oklahoma, tied with Oklahoma State for second-place in the league standings. Oklahoma is set for a weekend series against fourth-place Texas — meanwhile Oklahoma State will face Texas Tech, who has the second-most overall wins and third-best overall winning percentage this season amongst conference teams.
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The Mountaineers are also certainly hoping to impress enough during the final month of the season to earn the opportunity to bring the NCAA Regional back to Morgantown — to host they will need to be one of the Top 16 seeds in the 64-team field. In the last D1 Baseball forecast for the postseason field, WVU is projected as a No. 2 seed in a potential Knoxville region hosted by Tennessee. That puts them between the 17th and 32nd overall seed currently.
WVU will face Cincinnati at UC Baseball Stadium — first pitch on Friday is set for 5 p.m., Saturday for 3 p.m., and Sunday for 1 p.m. Fans looking to watch the action live will be able to find a television stream of all three games on Big 12 Now on ESPN, and an audio stream will be available via the Mountaineers Sports Network radio affiliates, the Varsity Network, the WVU Gameday App, and WVUSports.com.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to a series of parties in Morgantown over the weekend.
Morgantown police officers, West Virginia University Police and state police responded to reports of overcrowded parties, underage drinking, physical altercations and multiple injuries.
Morgantown Communications Director Brad Riffie said several citations were issued for open containers and underage consumption.
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Two large parties were dispersed and six arrests were made without incident.
None of the reported injuries are believed to be serious or life-threatening.
The Morgantown Fire Department assisted in the operations.
Hancock County, WV — A Weir High School senior has been recognized as the 2026 West Virginia Student Journalist of the Year.
Hailey Hans was selected for the statewide honor after building a journalism portfolio since her freshman year. She also serves as the staff manager of Weir Student Media, where she oversees articles and is in charge of deadlines.
“When I was a freshman I was placed in the journalism one class, and I actually tried to get pulled from the class. But, then after I sat in the class and I learned a little bit, that’s where my love grew and then from there I continued to take classes, I helped pass a law, and I got to these national conventions. Where it just lit a fire inside me,” Hans said.
Hans is planning to attend West Liberty University in the fall to study education with a minor in journalism, with the goal of becoming a journalism teacher. She will now submit her portfolio for the national-level contest.
The regular season is now behind us, and we are moving on to the next chapter of the 2025-26 men’s college basketball season, the week of conference tournaments.
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With their win on Friday over UCF and thanks to TCU taking care of business against Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers have locked up the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 tournament, meaning they will receive a first-round bye. Ross Hodge’s squad will await the winner of No. 10 BYU and No. 15 Kansas State.
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While most may think it’s best to pull for K-State to spring the upset, it’s actually probably better if BYU wins. Why? Well, simply because beating Kansas State isn’t going to boost your resume. If there’s any chance at an at-large bid for the Mountaineers, they need to beat more quality teams. Beating BYU a second time would go a long way, and then springing the upset against Houston in the quarterfinals would really open some eyes.
Anyways, here is a look at all of the matchups and the entire bracket.
First round byes: Iowa State, TCU, West Virginia, UCF
Double byes: Arizona, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech
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Tuesday (First Round)
Game 1: No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Baylor, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 2: No. 9 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Utah, 3 p.m. on ESPN+
Game 3: No. 10 BYU vs. No. 15 Kansas State, 7 p.m. on ESPN+
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Game 4: No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN+
Wednesday (Second Round)
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. winner of No. 12 Arizona State/No. 13 Baylor, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 6: No. 8 UCF vs. winner of No. 9 Cincinnati/No. 16 Utah, 3 p.m. on ESPNU
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Game 7: No. 7 West Virginia vs. winner of No. 10 BYU/No. 15 Kansas State, 7 p.m. on ESPNU
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Game 8: No. 6 TCU vs. winner of No. 11 Colorado/No. 14 Oklahoma State, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN2/U
Thursday (Quarterfinals)
Game 9: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 5 winner, 12:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
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Game 10: No. 1 Arizona vs. Game 6 winner, 3 p.m. on ESPN/2
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Game 11: No. 2 Houston vs. Game 7 winner, 7 p.m. on ESPN/2
Game 12: No. 3 Kansas vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
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Friday (Semifinals)
Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m. on ESPN/2
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Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN/2
Saturday (Championship)
Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 6 p.m. on ESPN
