Steve Sabins Challenges WVU Fans to Pack Stadium for Massive Series vs. UCF

A strong road trip to the desert concluded for the West Virginia Mountaineers on Tuesday as they took down Arizona in a "non-conference game" on the heels of taking two of three against Arizona State in Tempe.

Now, the focus shifts to a critical three-game series against the visiting UCF Knights, who come to Morgantown sitting atop the Big 12 Conference standings. The winner of this series will have control of first place heading into the second week of April, and for WVU head coach Steve Sabins, he wants Mountaineer Nation to show up in numbers.

“Yeah, two great teams going at it, at home. We need the place packed," he said during an interview with 3 Guys Before the Game. "I don’t think there’s any reason why that’s not a sold-out crowd, and we’re jamming guys in there, and fire marshals are making sure that no more bodies can get in there. It’s just an awesome opportunity for our program this upcoming weekend.”

This is the type of series that can really raise eyebrows around the country. If West Virginia can win two or perhaps take all three games, they will be widely considered a top-10 team and one that has firm control of defending their Big 12 crown.

A sneak peek at UCF

The Knights have outperformed expectations to this point in the season, but they have taken advantage of a light start to Big 12 play, if we're being honest. They swept 12th-place Oklahoma State and swept 13th-place Arizona, but to their credit, they took two of three against TCU, which is in a four-way tie for fourth place.

In non-conference play, they outscored Siena in the season-opening series 44-1, lost both games against Miami (FL), dropped to Indiana and LSU, and lost two of three to South Florida. They did beat Notre Dame and Florida Gulf Coast and swept Murray State.

Much like West Virginia, UCF doesn't rely on the long ball to win them games. Andrew Williamson is the club's leader with six dingers, and John Smith III is right behind him with five. After that, they have two who have hit two and five who have hit one. That's it. They like to manufacture runs and put some stress on you on the basepaths.

Where they've been elite is on the mound. Coming into this series, they rank second in the Big 12 in ERA at 4.24, trailing only WVU at 3.99.