West Virginia Hosts BYU in Big 12 Home Opener

The No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers (13-4, 2-1) welcome the BYU Cougars (10-9, 2-1) for a three-game weekend series with game one set for Thursday evening with the first pitch set for 4:30 p.m. EST, game two is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m. EST and the series final is scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 p.m. EST. All the action will stream on ESPN+.

West Virginia was voted to finish third in the preseason Big 12 Conference standings. WVU opened its league slate with a series win at Baylor. The Bears captured game one 7-6, but the Mountaineers rebounded took games two and three by a combined score of 21-2.

Gavin Kelly is hitting a team-high .423 with a team-best 10 doubles. The sophomore is riding a 13-game hitting streak, including eight multi-hit games. Matt Ineich is second on the team with a .397 batting average and the sophomore’s 18 RBI is tied for second on with junior Armani Guzman, while senior Matthew Graveline has clubbed a team-high four home runs and Paul Schoenfeld leads the Mountaineers with 23 RBI and 10 steals.

On the mound, the Mountaineers are expected to start right-hander Dawson Montesa (2-2, 5.25 ERA) in the series opener. The junior posted a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work at Kennesaw State and held a 3.14 ERA heading into the month of March. However, in his last two outings, the Glendale, New York, native issued nine walks and allowed eight earned runs on seven hits.

Chansen Cole (3-0, 2.25 ERA) is slated to start game two. The sophomore right-hander tossed a season-best six innings and registered five strikeouts in the Big 12 debut at Baylor last week. In his second game as a Mountaineers, the Boiling Springs, South Carolina, native registered a season-high seven strikeouts.

Maxx Yehl (3-0, 0.72 ERA) is scheduled to close the series. The redshirt junior southpaw secured the series over Baylor with career-highs, 12 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings. After a rocky season opener, the Portville, New York, native has allowed one earned run in 23 innings.

After BYU was selected 14th in the league preseason standings, the Cougars opened the conference schedule with a series win against Cincinnati last weekend, taking two of three games against a Bearcat squad that sits eighth in the RPI. West Virginia is 41st in the RPI, while BYU sits 57th.

Ezra McNaughton leads the Cougars in batting average (.407), home runs (7) and RBI (26). The sophomore is currently on an 18-game hitting streak, including 13 multi-hit games. Senior Easton Jones and junior Ryder Robinson are tied for second on the team in home runs with six apiece.

The Cougars are scheduled to counter with senior right-hander Garrison Sumner (1-0, 7.06 ERA) in game one, and senior right-hander Wayland Crane (0-1, 6.30 ERA) in game two, and BYU will make a game time decision for the series finale.

West Virginia is 4-2 all-time against BYU, taking the first two series since the Cougars joined the league in 2023.