No. 12 West Virginia Meets Pitt in a Midweek Matchup

PITTSBURGH – No. 12 West Virginia will wrap up a two-game season series against Pitt Tuesday night with the first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. EST and the action streaming on ESPN+ (ACCNX)

The Mountaineers (39-7) went 2-2 last week, suffering their first consecutive losses of the season, losing in the midweek contest to Marshall and followed with a series-opening loss to Texas Tech before bouncing back and taking the final two game games of the series to remain atop the Big 12 Conference standings.

West Virginia as lost its last two midweek games, both rivals (Marshall, Penn State) and both away from Morgantown.

The Mountaineers beat the Panthers in the first game in Morgantown 11-1, forcing the mercy rule. Pittsburgh native and freshman Gavin Kelly was 3-4 with three RBI and seniors Brodie Kresser and Grant Hussey both had two RBI on two hits.

The West Virginia bats have produced some of the best offense in the country, ranking 12th in team batting average and 16th in runs among Power Four schools.

Junior Sam White leads the team with a .360 batting average, with 13 doubles, three home runs and 33 RBI.

Senior Jace Rinehart is hitting .331 with team-highs 15 doubles and 44 RBI and is tied for a team-best seven home runs with senior Grant Hussey and junior Logan Sauve.

West Virginis Chase Meyer is scheduled to make his second start of the season. The sophomore has been electric out of the bullpen this season, grabbing eight wins in 16 appearances on the season while owning a 2.45 ERA with 49 strikeouts.

This game will likely be a ‘bullpen game’ so, expect a lot of Mountaineer arms to take the mound during the evening.

The Panthers (24-21) are expected to counter with Drew Lafferty (3-2, 6.92 ERA 27K). The sophomore was a weekend starter but has recently moved to the midweek rotation. He’s tossed seven scoreless innings in his last two midweek starts, allowing just five hits.

Pitt ranks in the bottom of the ACC in every statistical category in the field and in the batter’s box, except for two, drawing walks and hit by pitch.

Senior Luke Cantwell leads the team at the plate with a .357 batting average and team-highs 18 doubles and 41 RBI.

Sophomore Ryan Zuckerman has lifted a club-best 14 home runs.

West Virginia leads the all-time series 120-91.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI