West Virginia
No. 12 West Virginia Travels to Kansas State
Manhattan, KS – No. 12 West Virginia will wrap up its Big 12 Conference road schedule this weekend at Kansas State for a three-game series and aim to capture its second conference title in three years, while the Wildcats (28-20, 14-10) look to bolster their postseason resume.
The Mountaineers (39-8) fell to rival Pitt Tuesday night, marking the third midweek loss to a regional rival (Penn State, Marshall, Pitt) in as many weeks. Nonetheless, WVU has won six straight Big 12 series and sit atop the conference standings with an 18-4 league record with a two and half game lead over Arizona State, and a 3.5 game advantage of Kansas, Arizona, and TCU.
With six Big 12 games remaining, West Virginia needs three wins to solidify its first outright regular season championship. In addition, with every Arizona State loss, the win total shrinks. The Sun Devils host Houston this weekend.
West Virginia is tied for second in the Big 12 with a .305 team batting average and ranks third in RBI (169) and runs (180) during conference action. Eight Mountaineers are batting over .300 during league play. Junior Sam White leads the way with a .362 batting average with five doubles, a home run and 15 RBI.
On the season, White is batting a team-leading .367. Meanwhile, Jace Rinehart leads the team with 46 RBI and is tied with seniors Grant Hussey and Kyle West and junior Logan Suave for a team-high seven home runs – Six of Sauve’s seven home runs have come against Big 12 clubs.
The steady arm of West Virginia senior Griffin Kirn (4-1, 3.59 ERA, 70 K) will start in game one. The lefty is 1-1 in Big 12 games with 48 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Chase Meyer (8-2) is set to make his third start of the season in game two. The sophomore right-hander has been fierce on the mound this season, owning a 2.31 ERA with 51 strikeouts in primarily a reliever role. He’s made two previous starts this season, both during midweek contests with the most recent start coming against Pitt Wednesday night. He tossed two innings and recorded two strikeouts and allowed one hit. In his first start of the season against Towson in March, he threw two hitless innings with three Ks.
Right-hander Jack Kartsonas (6-1, 1.84 ERA, 51 K) is scheduled to start the series finale. The senior has worked his way back from an offseason surgery and into the weekend rotation. He holds a 1.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts in his last four starts.
Kansas State is expected to counter with lefty Jacob Frost (1-3, 4.86 ERA. 58 K) in the series opener. The senior had a rough outing last week against BYU, giving up three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. In his previous two starts. He registered 18 strikeouts, including a career-high 10 Ks against rival Kansas, in 13.2 innings of work.
Senior Michael Quevedo (6-1, 5.27 ERA, 66 K) is slated for game two. The lefty matched a career-high 10 strikeouts to collect his sixth win of the season against BYU.
Left-hander Lincoln Sheffield (6-4, 5.64 ERA, 59 K) is scheduled for game three. The junior tossed seven innings with a season-high eight strikeouts in his Big 12 debut against Utah in the conference series opener.
The Wildcats started its Big 12 slate 8-1 but dropped six straight (Oklahoma State, Kansas) before taking the last two series against Houston and BYU.
Kansas State ranks second in the league with 86 home runs, third in slugging percentage (.506) and fourth in runs (367).
Senior Keegan O’Conner leads the team at the plate with a .338 batting average and following a record-tying three home runs, upping his total to a team-best 15 home runs and for his efforts, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
Maximus Martin has raked in a team-high 53 RBI, which ranks third in the league, and is hitting .337 on the season and is tied with senior Seth Dardar for a team-high 15 doubles.
West Virginia leads the all-time series 2015.
The series opens Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. EST, game two is slated for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.
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Every game is extremely important from here on out for West Virginia, but tonight’s matchup with Cincinnati is one they cannot afford to drop. The Bearcats are one of the weaker teams in the league, and with Kansas on deck, it’s one Ross Hodge and Co. have to get.
Do they get the job done? Here are our picks for tonight’s contest.
Schuyler Callihan: West Virginia 64, Cincinnati 59
With or without Brenen Lorient (concussion protocol), I believe West Virginia is the better team, especially at home. Sure, they looked overwhelmed last Friday in Ames against Iowa State, but they won’t be the last team that gets the belt to the backside from the Cyclones.
The one area that has been problematic this season defensively for the Mountaineers has been on the perimeter. We saw Milan Momcilovic knock down eight triples on just eight attempts a handful of days ago. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great shooter and made some highly contested shots, but it’s been a recurring issue for WVU all year.
The good news? Cincinnati isn’t built to beat you shooting from range. Coming into this game, they ranked 263rd nationally in three-point shooting, hitting just 31.6% of their shots. Couple that with the fact that Cincinnati is somehow a worse free-throw shooting team than West Virginia by a full five percentage points, and you get a fairly confident pick from me in the Old Gold and Blue.
Christopher Hall: West Virginia 67, Cincinnati 66
West Virginia has remained perfect inside Hope Coliseum, and the unblemished home record will likely be intact when the Mountaineers host Kansas on Saturday.
West Virginia has struggled and is enduring a five-game losing streak against Power Four opponents after falling to Iowa State to open the Big 12 Conference. Although the Mountaineers did notch a win against Pitt at home, for the lone win against P4 competition.
Cincinnati is in a similar situation, although the Bearcats’ start to the season can be summed up in a 64-56 loss to Eastern Michigan. The absence of senior guard Jizzle James for the first ten games for personal reasons, coupled with Brazilian perimeter shooter Lucas Atauri and returning forward Jalen Haynes absent from the line up have caused early issues.
The Bearcats proved they could compete with one of the best teams in the country after a seven-point loss to Houston on Saturday.
West Virginia will need to tighten up its perimeter defense against James and Day Day Thomas – both are shooting over 40% from three, while WVU senior guard Honor Huff will have to work a little harder to find his spot from deep against one of the best three-point defenses in the league.
The game will be a defensive battle, which favors the Mountaineers at home. WVU may be without senior starting forward Brenen Lorient, but the comfy confines of the Coliseum and the crowd will lift the Mountaineers down the stretch for the 67-66 win.
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Former Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. has committed to West Virginia, ESPN reported.
Hawkins and his brother Maliek Hawkins, a cornerback, are both expected to play for Rich Rodriguez in Morgantown next season.
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Hawkins played in nine games across two seasons for the Sooners. He threw for 950 yards and nine touchdowns. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Maliek Hawkins has four seasons of eligibility left. He had previously been a top recruit himself.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — This week, West Virginia hunters will get a chance to try hunting the way the original Mountaineers did it. The Mountaineer Heritage season is open from Thursday through Sunday.
The season allows hunters to use only primitive implements. Sidelock or flintlock muzzleloading rifles or pistols are the only firearms allowed. In-line muzzleloaders are not legal for the Heritage Season nor are scopes. Archery enthusiasts are allowed only long bows or recurve bows. You’re compound bow will have to hang on its hook for this time.
“It’s a special season and it’s kind of an all encompassing big game season,” said Vinnie Johnson, Biologist with the West Virginia DNR.
The season enables hunters to kill a deer, bear, or turkey provided they hunt with one of those primitive firearms or bows. The season started several years ago and has become a big hit with sportsmen for a variety of reasons. For some it cuts the monotony of cabin fever and gives them a chance to get back into the woods well after hunting season. The season also enables hunters to go after big game with snow on the ground which doesn’t always happen during the regular fall seasons.
The snowfall could potentially make killing a bear less likely, but not always.
“It really depends on where you’re at,” Johnson explained in a recent edition of West Virginia Outdoors. “Some of our areas that are heavy bear country, there’s still a good opportunity you’re going to see a bear.”
The bumper crops of mast across the West Virginia landscape this year will also keep bears out of hibernation longer. The sunshine and warm weather forecasted into the weekend may also be a plus for keeping bears active and moving in the upcoming season.
“If there’s food on the landscape, they’re gong to be out moving around. They go into their dens when there’s no food left and they need to reserve for the remainder of the winter season,” he added.
Killing a big buck may be tricky. Some have already started to drop antlers. The season allows for either sex, but for those who have already killed two bucks from this past fall’s hunting seasons, you cannot kill another buck. If a hunter shoots an antlerless buck, which turns out to be a buck that already dropped antlers, hunters can check that as an antlerless deer.
Turkeys are also legal. Unlike deer, turkeys and bears, do not count against the bag limit from last year. However, hunters to need to have their 2026 hunting license. Although a lot of the purists like to not only hunt with an old time rifle, they also like to dress the part and will go into the woods wearing buckskins. Primitive garb or not, modern safety is still the rule and since it’s a firearms season for deer, you’ll need to wear blaze orange.
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