WVU Baseball Tumbles in National Rankings After Tough Weekend Series Loss

After vaulting into the top 15 of last week's national rankings, the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team dropped two games of a three-game series to the UCF Knights in Morgantown over Easter weekend. The series was viewed as a very important one by most, as the two top teams in the Big 12 Conference by record met, but some things were out of the Mountaineers’ control.

Head coach Steve Sabins revealed after the Mountaineers were shut out in game one of the series that at least half a dozen Mountaineer players were dealing with some sort of viral sickness. Regardless of health, the Mountaineers were simply outplayed this weekend on their home field. Let’s take a look at where the national media is placing the Mountaineers after a rough weekend.

D1 Baseball

No. 17 (No. 13 last week)

Baseball America

No. 18 (No.13 last week)

ESPN

No. 17 (No. 13 last week)

USA Today Coaches Poll

No. 19 (No. 12 last week)

Perfect Game

No.16 (No. 11 last week)

The Athletic

No. 18 (No. 11 last week)

While the Mountaineers did see a fairly decent slide in the rankings, they still sit with an impressive 21-7 overall record. It’s important to mention that UCF is an incredibly quality opponent, as they find themselves breaking inside the top 10 of several outlets' national rankings this week. The Mountaineers may not have been at full health, but they will likely face the Knights again should they make a run in the Big 12 Conference Tournament in a few months. The Mountaineers currently sit at third place in the conference behind UCF and Kansas.

A series loss should not affect the way the Mountaineers are viewed in the grand scheme of things. Should this time continue on the trajectory they have been on all season long, they are still very much in the conversation of hosting a regional or super regional at the end of the season.

Three Mountaineers earned midseason All-American honors just last week. The team has the talent both offensively and defensively to make a serious run in the postseason, and doing so on their home field. As long as Steve Sabins is the head coach of the program, there is plenty of reason for hope for WVU baseball.

You can catch the Mountaineers in action from Charleston, West Virginia, as they take on the in-state rival Marshall Thundering Herd from GoMart Ballpark on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.