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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