No. 17 West Virginia Travels to Face No. 22 Arizona State in Top-25 Weekend Series

The No. 17 West Virginia Mountaineers (17-4, 5-1) are in a top 25 road matchup and look to remain atop the Big 12 Conference standings against the No. 22 Arizona State Devils (18-6, 4-2) for a three-game weekend series. Game one is Friday night with the first pitch set for 9:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+) game two is Saturday at 9:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+) and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. EST (ESPN2).

West Virginia comes into the game on a six-game winning streak after taking two of three from Baylor, sweeping BYU and knocked off Marshall Tuesday night.

Two Mountaineers reside in the top five of the Big 12 in batting averaging. Paul Schoenfeld has emerged as the Mountaineers leader at the plate, hitting a team-high .418, which ranks third in the conference with a team-best 26 RBI. The senior is currently on an 11-game hitting streak.

Gavin Kelly is fourth in the league with a .416 batting average and is riding a 17-game hitting streak. The sophomore leads the team in hits (37), runs (28) and doubles (11).

Senior Matthew Graveline has clubbed a team-high four home runs, while junior Armani leads the Mountaineers in stolen bases with 12.

On the mound, West Virginia is expected to start Dawson Montesa in the series opener. The junior right hander threw seven innings in his last outing against BYU, tying a season-high, with seven strikeouts. He holds 4-0 record with 4.65 ERA and 39 strikeouts.

Lefty Maxx Yehl is scheduled to move to the middle of the series after closing out each of the first six series of the season. The redshirt junior is second in the conference in ERA at .084, allowing a mere three runs in 32.0 innings of work. In the last two outings, he has recorded a combined 23 strikeouts, upping his season total to a team-leading 44 strikeouts on the season.

Chansen Cole will start game three. The right-handed sophomore had his toughest outing of the season last weekend against BYU. He allowed six earned runs in three innings, but registered six strikeouts. He is currently 3-0 with a 4.00 ERA with 29 strikeouts.

Arizona State is 11-2 after a four-game skid against SEC opponents, and notched its series wins over TCU and Kansas State.

Sophomore Landon Hairston leads the team with a .458 batting average, tie with fifth-year senior Dean Toigo with 11 home runs, 11 doubles, 36 runs, and 34 RBI.

Junior lefty Cole Carlon is slated to counter with Cole Carlon (2-1, 3.19 ERA), junior right-hander Alex Overbay (0-0, 5.19 ERA), is set for game two, and senior righty Kole Klecker (3-1, 5.61 ERA) is scheduled for the series finale.

This is the first meeting between the two programs.