Big 12 Baseball Race: Where WVU Sits Heading Into the Final Weekend
As we head into the final weekend of the regular season, three teams are still alive for the Big 12 Conference title.
TCU wrapped up its conference slate last weekend, taking all three games over last place Kansas, finishing the season with a conference record of 16-8 and currently sitting atop the standings. TCU holds tie breakers over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Texas. However, Texas Tech remains alive along with Oklahoma. Coincidentally, the two square off this weekend.
At 14-7 in Big 12 play, Texas Tech will have to take all three games from Oklahoma to win the title with no tiebreakers required. On the other side, at 13-8 and holding the tiebreaker over TCU, Oklahoma needs to take all three from Tech to claim the Big 12 Conference championship. A WVU side note: in this scenario, If Oklahoma State were to win all three-games over Baylor, it could come down to the two’s record versus West Virginia which falls in favor to Oklahoma.
That brings us to West Virginia. A program picked to finish eighth in the preseason standings could finish as high as third, but they will need a lot of unexpected help. First, West Virginia will have to sweep Kansas State, which seems unlikely. However, if they were to take all three from K-State, they will need Texas to drop two to Kansas, Oklahoma State to get swept by Baylor, a program a win or a Kansas loss away from clinching an eighth seed in Big 12 tournament, and Texas Tech’s sweep to the Championship.
West Virginia cannot finish any lower than seventh and Kansas State would have to come into Morgantown and take all three from the Mountaineers during Senior Weekend for it to happen. It’s likely, the Mountaineers will finish sixth in the Big 12 standings, seeing that Oklahoma State, Texas, and Oklahoma all own the tiebreaker over WVU.
Here’s how I see the final standings playing out. Oklahoma State and Texas will get their sweeps. Texas Tech will take the series over Oklahoma 2-1 and TCU will be the regular season champions. Meanwhile, West Virginia will take two from Kansas State.
1. TCU 16-8
2. Texas Tech 16-8
3. Oklahoma State 16-8
4. Oklahoma 14-10
5. Texas 14-10
6. West Virginia 13-11
7. Kansas State 9-15
8. Baylor 6-18
9. Kansas 4-21
If these standings playout, West Virginia will face Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Championship Wednesday May 25 at approximately 8:30 pm EST.
West Virginia and Kansas State begin the three-game series Thursday with the first pitch set for 6:30. Game two is Friday at 6:30 and the series finale is scheduled for Saturday at noon.
BIG 12 STANDINGS
1. TCU 16-8
2 Texas Tech 14-7
3. Oklahoma State 13-8
4. Oklahoma 13-8
5. Texas 11-10
6. West Virginia 11-10
7. Kansas State 8-13
8. Baylor 6-15
9. Kansas 4-18
2022 BIG 12 PRESEASON STANDINGS (First Place Votes)
1. Texas (8)
2. Oklahoma State (1)
3. Texas Tech
4. TCU
5. Baylor
6. Oklahoma
7. Kansas State
8. West Virginia
9. Kansas
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