West Virginia Meets Indiana in the Opening Round of the 2023 NCAA Championships

Lexington, KY - The West Virginia Mountaineers (39-18) square off against the Indiana Hoosiers (41-18) Friday night in the opening round of the Lexington Regional with the first pitch set for 7:00 p.m. EST and streaming on ESPN+.

Indiana went on an eight-game winning streak three times during the season to capture its sixth 40-win regular season in program history and obtained the club’s 10th all-time appearance to the NCAA postseason, claiming the three seed in the Lexington Regional of the 2023 NCAA Baseball Championships.

Six Hoosiers earned All-Big 10 accolades, highlighted by All-Big 10 Freshman of the Year Devin Taylor and First Team All-Big Ten. The right fielder led all Big Ten freshmen in batting average (.328), OPS (1.146), runs scored (58), home runs (16), RBIs (56), total bases (121), slugging percentage (.695), walks (34) and on-base percentage (.451) during the regular season. His team-high 16 home runs rank third all-time by a Big Ten freshman and second in program history.

Reliever Ryan Kraft grabbed first team All-Big Ten after posting a conference leading 2.51 ERA .The sophomore left hander ranked ninth nationally amongst relief pitchers with 57 1/3 innings of work and posted a 6-1 record, with a perfect 4-0 mark in conference games and added five saves coming in non-conference action during the 2023 campaign.

Senior Phillip Glasser, sophomore Luke Sinnard and sophomore Brock Tibbitts each earned second-team selection.

Tibbitts leads the team with a .372 batting average, .465% on-base percentage and 66 RBIs to go with 10 home runs.

Glasser tied the program reached base record at 45, reaching in each of the first 45 games of the season. He produced a team-high 29 multi-hit games and ranks second on the team with a .351 batting average.

Sinnard was the only Big Ten pitcher with multiple double-digit strikeout games in 2023 and comes into the weekend with a program record 109 strikeouts on the year. The right hander holds a 6-3 record and a 4.16 ERA and is expected to take the mound against West Virginia.

The Mountaineers posted a 39-16 record during the regular season, including a 15-9 conference record to claim their first Big 12 Conference regular season championship and the programs 14 NCAA tournament appearance and the two seen in the Lexington Regional.

Thirteen Mountaineers earned All-Big 12 Conference honors, featuring sophomore J.J. Wetherholt capturing the program’s first Big 12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year and head coach Randy Mazey taking home Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year.

Wetherholt ended the regular season ranked second in the country in batting average, hitting .447 while also leading the Big 12 Conference in slugging percentage (.786), OPS (1.296), runs (65), hits (92) and stolen bases (35). Additionally, he ranked second in the league with 21 doubles and on base percentage at .510 while leading the team with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs.

JJ. Wetherholt leads the NCAA tournament field with a .466 batting average.

Junior centerfielder Braden Barry, junior left fielder Landon Wallace and senior starting pitcher Blaine Traxel were named to the All-Big 12 second team.

Braden Barry was fifth in the league in doubles (19), sixth in stolen bases (31), second in sacrifice bunts (7), eighth in runs (55), and third in triples (3) while Landon Wallace ranked sixth in the conference in on base percentage (.467), second in sacrifice bunts (7), ninth in OPS (1.049), and third in triples (3).

Traxel is set to start against the Hoosiers. The right hander is second in the nation with 86.2 innings pitched and leads with five complete games. He is 7-5 on the season with a 3.79 ERA.

The Mountaineers are 1-2 all-time versus Indiana with the last meeting coming in 2013 at Myrtle Beach.

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