WVU Learns Opponent for Quarterfinal Matchup in Big 12 Tournament

It's time to get postseason play underway! Thursday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers will square off with the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Conference tournament, battling for a spot in the semifinals.

Kansas State will be playing its third game in as many days after having beaten No. 10 seed Utah in the opening round 9-5 and then pulling the upset of No. 7 TCU by a 9-4 score last night. Given how great the pitching was for the Horned Frogs last weekend in Morgantown, I'm sure Steve Sabins and Co. are probably pretty happy to not have to deal with that bunch again.

West Virginia swept the three-game series at the beginning of the month, doing so in convincing fashion. The Mountaineers outscored the Wildcats 29-7 over the three days.

Game 1: West Virginia 7, Kansas State 0

In the series opener, Maxx Yehl and Ian Korn split the workload nearly in half as Yehl went five scoreless with eight punch outs and Korn finished it off, giving up just one base knock over the final four innings. Paul Schoenfeld went 3-for-5 with an RBI double, and Brodie Kresser went 2-for-4, driving in two runs on a base hit through the right side of the infield.

Game 2: West Virginia 9, Kansas State 1

The pitching dominance continued as Chansen Cole went the distance, giving up one run on five hits, throwing 120 pitches in his complete game effort. He induced a lot of weak contact, leading to nine groundouts and seven flyouts. Five Mountaineers finished with multiple hits, and those hitters combined for seven extra base hits, headlined by homers from Gavin Kelly and Sean Smith.

Game 3: West Virginia 13, Kansas State 6

WVU built a comfortable 7-1 lead early, but K-State stormed back to make it a three-run game in the top of the eighth. That didn't last long as the Mountaineers answered the bell, plating six in the bottom half of the frame. The Wildcats got two back in the top of the ninth, but needed a whole lot more.

WVU head coach Steve Sabins has not publicly announced the starting pitcher for tonight's game, but did mention earlier this week that regardless of who toes the rubber first, everyone will be available to throw, including the other two starters.

First pitch between West Virginia and Kansas State is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

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