PREVIEW: West Virginia Looks to Keep its Momentum vs. Charlotte

West Virginia looks to take its first series win over the Charlotte 49ers.

The West Virginia Mountaineers are back on the road to face the Charlotte 49ers for a three-game series, with the first pitch set for Friday afternoon at four, game two Saturday will take place Saturday at two, and the series finale is scheduled for Noon on Sunday. Games one and two will be streaming on ESPN+ while game two will be on CUSA TV. 

The 49ers are coming off their best season in a decade, finishing 2021 with a 40-21 overall record and an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals.

Charlotte comes into the weekend ranked 29th in the NCBWA Poll and received three votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, placing them 44th. The 49ers suffered a season-opening loss to Louisville but bounced back with wins over UConn and the host team, South Florida, at the USF Invitational in Tampa.

Austin Knight came out of the weekend leading the team in batting average (.444), home runs (2) and RBIs (9), while freshman Cam Fisher hit .429, including a team-best three doubles, and sophomore David McCabe was 4-10 at the plate.

Senior left-hander Quinton Martinez started day one for the 49ers and only lasted two innings after giving up five hits and four runs. Freshman right-hander took the mound in game two, tossing four innings and giving up five hits and three runs. Senior left-hander Will Lancaster was the only Charlotte starting pitcher to pick up a win over the weekend. He pitched a solid 5.1 innings, only allowing two hits and a run.

West Virginia’s hot start has them ranked 30th in the Collegiate Baseball America rankings. The Mountaineers went 3-1 in the Bash at the Beach Invitational, notching two wins over Central Michigan and a victory over Kent State before wrapping up with a loss to the host team, Coastal Carolina.

Two Mountaineers came out of the weekend batting .500 in junior Victor Scott and Virginia Tech transfer Dayne Leonard. Freshman and West Virginia native Grant Hussey leads the Mountaineers with three home runs. In total, six Mountaineers are batting over .500 and hold a team average of .329.

In game one, West Virginia is expected to start sophomore Reed Carlson (0-0, 6.75 ERA). Then, in game two, sophomore Ben Hampton (1-0, 3.60 ERA) and Chris Sleeper (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the hill in the series finale.

West Virginia has met Charlotte twice, both times in Charlotte, and the 49ers took both series 2-1. 

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