West Virginia
Morgantown Regional Breakdown: Schedule, How to Watch, Bracket Preview
The Road to Omaha begins in Morgantown for West Virginia, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and Binghamton, and in less than 48 hours, regional play will officially be underway.
Below is a look at the weekend schedule, along with a sneak peek at each team heading into the tournament.
Schedule + How to Watch
Friday, May 29th
Game 1: No. 2 Wake Forest vs. No. 3 Kentucky, 12 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Game 2: No. 1 West Virginia vs. No. 4 Binghamton, 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+
Saturday, May 30th
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Sunday, May 31st
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Monday, June 1st
Game 7: If necessary
Bracket Breakdown
No. 1 West Virginia (39-14)
The Mountaineers came within a game of defending their Big 12 regular season crown. The opportunity was made possible by shockingly sweeping Kansas on the road, closing the gap to just one game heading into the final weekend. They built on that momentum with a strong showing in the Big 12 tournament, beating Kansas State and Arizona State en route to the championship game.
Pitching and defense are West Virginia’s calling card. Maxx Yehl (Big 12 Pitcher of the Year), Chansen Cole, and Ian Korn finished one, two, three in the league in ERA. To couple that great starting pitching, WVU ended the season with the best fielding percentage in the league (.980).
No. 2 Wake Forest (38-19)
The Demon Deacons have a potent offense that is powered by driving the ball into the gaps and over the fence. Eight players on their roster have a slugging percentage north of .450, three of which are over .600 — Luke Costello, Dalton Wentz, and Kade Lewis.
The pitching staff has been up and down throughout the year, with free passes and the long ball being the biggest issues. Wake finished the year fourth in the ACC in walks (266) and sixth in home runs allowed (71). When they’re not giving up the big one, they do a pretty good job of creating weak contact, resulting in an opponents batting average of .227.
No. 3 Kentucky (31-21)
A lot of people were surprised to see Kentucky have its name called on Monday, considering they lost eight of their 10 series in SEC play. Even they may have been a little surprised, so they could be a dangerous team in the fact that they are really playing with house money here.
The Wildcats are built very similarly to West Virginia offensively. They don’t have a ton of power, so they have to rely on stringing a bunch of hits and quality at-bats together, in addition to stealing bases. Kentucky stole 122 bags this season, which is 27 more than the Mountaineers. Ethan Hindle (11 HR) is the only Wildcat to have hit double-digit homers this season.
No. 4 Binghamton (31-20)
Offensively, the Bearcats do a really good job of working the count, fighting off pitches, and drawing walks. They walked 267 times this season, which would have ranked sixth in the Big 12, for what it’s worth. For them to have any success in this region, they are going to have to drive up pitch counts and execute when they do get runners in scoring position. Very little pop and speed in this lineup.
Pitching could be very problematic for Binghamton against these power conference teams, considering their staff finished the year with a 6.18 ERA and did not play a single game against a power conference foe. Opponents hit .274 off of them collectively.
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