Virginia
West Virginia looks to rebound against Texas Tech in Big 12 Championship opener – WV MetroNews
Less than a week ago, West Virginia was in position to finish outright regular season Big 12 champion, which would have given the Mountaineers the No. 1 seed in this week’s Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Instead, after being outscored by 20 runs and swept for the first time this season in a three-game set at Texas, West Virginia’s extended stay in the Lone Star State is as a No. 3 seed off three straight losses for the first time this season.
The Mountaineers face No. 6 Texas Tech at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the last of four Big 12 battles on the opening day of the league tournament. The matchup will be shown on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and presents an opportunity for West Virginia to bounce back as it still has hope of hosting a NCAA Regional next weekend.
“You play a long season and you can’t get too excited about when you win or too disappointed when you lose,” WVU manager Randy Mazey said. “This isn’t like football where you have to sleep on it for six nights until you get to play again. In our sport, you have to learn to rebound pretty quickly from the good days and bad days. We had a great practice yesterday and had a lot of fun. Guys were hooting and hollering. Our mentality right now is pretty good.”
Still, with four full days between the last of its three losses to No. 1 seed Texas and the matchup with the Red Raiders, there’s been plenty of time for West Virginia (39-16, 15-9) to ponder what went wrong.
WVU trailed after every inning of the series and got little production in the way of its starting pitching.
Ben Hampton, a veteran left-handed starting pitcher normally utilized on Fridays to open Big 12 series, was instead used in Saturday’s series finale and failed to make it out of the first inning.
That came after Texas victories in which the Longhorns had little difficulty mustering offensive production at the rate they desired against freshman Carson Estridge in the series opener and Blaine Traxel in Game 2.
WVU will try a new starting pitcher Wednesday against the Red Raiders (37-19, 12-12) when redshirt freshman David Hagaman makes his first career start.
The right-handed Hagaman has enjoyed a strong season out of the bullpen with a 1-1 record and a 2.30 ERA over 31 1/3 innings. Hagaman has struck out 31, issued 13 walks and allowed 16 hits.
Hagaman has prevented the opposition from scoring in 16 of his 20 appearances, including six straight. He has not pitched more than 3 2/3 innings in any outing, though Hagaman logged three-plus innings in his two most recent appearances for his longest outings this season.
“I have all the faith in the world in our guys, but there’s a lot that goes into it with matchups, you plan on being here for four or five days and what you have to try to do to try to get a host spot,” Mazey said. “There’s a ton of different variables. We met as a coaching staff yesterday and figured this was our best chance to win the first game.”
A well-rested bullpen should be in play for both teams, but could be particularly beneficial to the Mountaineers.
While the Red Raiders lost the last two of a three-game series in Morgantown less than two weeks ago when their offense was held in check with 10 runs over the three matchups, it was somewhat of an anomaly for Texas Tech. The Red Raiders lead the league and ranks No. 8 nationally with 488 runs.
“We pitched really well against a dangerous team,” Mazey said. “They’ve seen all of our guys now so they have a little bit of an advantage as far as knowing what our pitchers like and the shape of their pitches. We have to try and do the same thing to limit their offense as much as we can.”
For West Virginia, which fell from No. 6 to 21 in D1Baseball’s Top 25, a team considered relatively safe to host a NCAA Regional this time last week no longer is.
Instead, the Mountaineers undoubtedly have work to do as they try to stack multiple victories and put themselves back in a spot where hosting becomes more of a likelihood than possibility.
“I’m not in that room with those committee members to know what they talk about,” Mazey said. “All we can do is try and win each game that we play and if we do well enough and somebody feels we’re worthy of playing in Morgantown, then we’ll play in Morgantown. We want to win one game at a time and let other people make those decisions.”
It’s the final day of the Battle 4 Atlantis and the West Virginia Mountaineers are hoping to leave the Bahamas with a third-place finish in the event. Winning the whole thing would have been extremely impressive considering the field, but Darian DeVries’ squad has already notched a key resume-building win over Gonzaga and can do so again today against No. 24 Arizona.
Here are my picks for today’s game. Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
1 Star – Not very confident
2 Star – A little confident
3 Star – Fairly confident
4 Star – Very confident
5 Star – Should be a lock to happen
3-star play on Arizona (-6.5): This is a really tough matchup for the Mountaineers playing its third game in three days. When these two meet later in the year, I believe WVU will put together a much stronger showing and potentially even win the game. Not there, though.
The Wildcats have a nine-man rotation, which occasionally will be a ten-man. WVU’s key players have logged a ton of minutes over the last two days, with both games going to overtime. As evidenced in yesterday’s game, if the Mountaineers face serious foul trouble, it impacts them more than most teams due to a lack of depth. Amani Hansberry should be able to produce a third straight big game, but if he starts picking up fouls left and right, WVU will be in trouble. Arizona’s guard-heavy lineup will attack and finish around the rim with ease.
I’ve got the Wildcats pulling away with a strong second half.
1-star play on the under: Arizona is a high-scoring team that likes to push the tempo. They’ve averaged 67 field goal attempts in this tournament, whereas WVU has attempted 59 and 63 in games that went to overtime. For West Virginia to win, they’re going to have to slow things down when they have the ball, much like they did in the opening-round game against Gonzaga.
I mentioned fatigue setting in as a possibility in the WVU-Louisville game yesterday, and although Darian DeVries isn’t using that as an excuse, you can tell it played a factor for both teams, especially in the first half. Both squads looked sloppy, slow, and disjointed. I seriously doubt WVU and Arizona will have an extra bounce in their step today, playing for the third time in three days and in a game deciding who takes home third place.
ATS: 3-3 (50%)
O/U: 4-2 (66%)
Overall: 7-5 (58%)
Odds Disclaimer
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MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI
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How to Watch & Listen to West Virginia vs. No. 24 Arizona
Big 12 Score Predictions for the Final Week of the Regular Season
Can West Virginia Finish Strong? ESPN FPI Reveals Chances to Beat Texas Tech
A Virginia woman has been arrested and charged in connection with a murder-for-hire plot, according to the Henry County Sheriff’s office.
Gennevieve McGhee, 44, was allegedly captured via audio and video evidence in the meticulous planning of a murder for hire, the sheriff’s office said.
McGhee is accused of meeting with a confidential source at her residence in Ridgeway, Virginia. The source was acting under law enforcement direction and utilizing a recording device to capture evidence.
TEXAS INFLUENCER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT
Henry County Sheriff’s Office charged Gennevieve McGhee, 44, with criminal solicitation of murder following an investigation that revealed her alleged involvement in planning a murder for hire. (Henry County Sheriff’s Office)
She allegedly discussed detailed instructions on payment arrangements and instructions for carrying out a robbery and murder.
McGhee is charged with criminal solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit a felony.
INDIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL CHARGED IN MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT ON SIKH SEPARATIST LEADER IN NEW YORK CITY
Gennevieve McGhee, 44, is charged with criminal solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit a felony. (iStock)
McGhee was taken into custody by deputies from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday and is being held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center with no bond.
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The case remains under review by the Henry County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
Additional information on the case is not available at this time, officials said.
The West Virginia Mountaineers (4-2) will meet the No. 24 Arizona Wildcats in the third place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis midseason tournament for the sixth meeting between the two programs.
West Virginia vs. Arizona Series History
Arizona leads 2-3
Last Meeting: March 28, 2008 (NCAA Tournament) WVU 75-65
When: Friday, November 29
Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas, Imperial Arena (3,900)
Tip-off: 3:00 p.m. EST
Stream: ESPN2
Announcers: Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli
Radio: Tony Caridi (PBP), Brad Howe (analyst) Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College(Radio affiliates)
WVU Game Notes
– West Virginia was scheduled to play in the 2020 Battle 4 Atlantis. The tournament was moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., due to COVID, and the Mountaineers won the renamed Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.
– WVU is 45-16 in in-season tournaments since 2007.
– With a win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU defeated a Top 5 AP team for the second consecutive season. Last season, the Mountaineers downed No. 3 Kansas in Morgantown, 91-85.
– Prior to the overtime win over No. 3 Gonzaga, WVU had lost six straight overtime games.
– This is WVU’s fourth trip outside the United States and Puerto Rico to play a regular season game. WVU played in Cancun in 2013 and 2019 and opened the season in Germany in the 2017 Armed Forces Classic.
– West Virginia is the only team in the country that has two players on the same team who averaged more than 20 points per game from last season — Tucker DeVries (21.6 ppg) and Jayden Stone (20.8 ppg)
– West Virginia is 201-55 against nonconference teams in regular season games in the last 21 seasons.
– The Mountaineers have posted a winning nonconference record in 31 of the last 32 seasons.
– WVU is 265-99 in its last 362 games against unranked teams, including winners of 148 of its last 180 at the WVU Coliseum.
– This is the 116th season and 122nd year overall for WVU basketball, which began in 1903.
– Darian DeVries, who led Drake to six consecutive 20-win seasons and has a career .731 winning percentage as a head coach, was named the 23rd head men’s basketball coach at West Virginia University on March 24, 2024.
– DeVries has a record of 154-57 (.731) in seven seasons as a head coach, including a 59-16 (.787) mark in the last two-plus seasons.
– This past August, the men’s basketball team went to Italy for a 10-day tour and won all three of its games against international competition.
– West Virginia returns just 2.8 percent of its scoring from last season’s team (Ofri Naveh).
– The Mountaineers are led by a pair of transfers in Tucker DeVries (Drake) and Javon Small (Oklahoma State). Last season, DeVries was named an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention selection, while Small earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.
– In addition, Eduardo Andre (Fresno State), Joseph Yesufu (Washington State), Sencire Harris (Illinois), Amani Hansberry (Illinois) and Jayden Stone (Detroit Mercy) will all see considerable action this season.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the 20-member Julius Erving Preseason Watch List, giving annually to the nation’s top small forward.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the preseason Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List.
– Tucker DeVries was named to the John R. Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watch List.
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