WVU to Face Kansas With Big 12 Championship, NCAA Seeding at Stake

Were you able to stay up until 2:30 a.m. last night to watch West Virginia take down Arizona State? If so, a major tip of the hat to you. Thanks to the intense moments and the chirping back and forth in the sixth inning, staying awake became a little easier.

Fortunately, we have a more normal start time tonight for the Big 12 championship game as the Mountaineers look for a fourth win in four tries against the regular season champ, Kansas.

Hosting a regional is essentially all but official now for West Virginia, but they're not satisfied. They want to come back home with a championship trophy, especially after falling just one game shy of defending its regular season title last weekend.

For Kansas, they are out looking for revenge after being swept on their own field two weeks ago by these very Mountaineers. They also seem to be in a good position to host, but winning both the regular season and the tournament title removes all doubt for them.

Whoever wins this game will do wonders for their NCAA Tournament resume, giving them a nice bump in their seeding. WVU could be ranked a much higher No. 1 seed, which would give them a more favorable regional to work with, as well as a better super regional matchup, should they get out of that first round.

Let's take a look back at how that three-game set went in Lawrence.

Game 1: West Virginia 4, Kansas 1

Big 12 Pitcher of the Year Maxx Yehl was dominant against the Jayhawks, pitching arguably the best game of his career. He went the distance, striking out nine batters while allowing just one run on six base hits. He danced in and out of trouble on a few occasions, but never panicked. Despite the pitch count climbing high, Sabins let him finish it out, rounding out the night with 124 pitches.

Game 2: West Virginia 5, Kansas 2

The Kansas native, Paul Schoenfeld, snapped out of his funk, belting a solo homer to give WVU an early 1-0 lead in the first, but was quickly answered by Tyson LeBlanc with a homer of his own in the bottom half of the inning. Brodie Kresser helped get the lead right back in the 2nd with a sac fly scoring Matthew Graveline. Chansen Cole held things in place for the next few frames before Josh Dykhoff went yard to knot things up at two. Kresser came through in the clutch once again in the 8th to put WVU back on top, and then a two-run shot by Gavin Kelly gave the Mountaineers some insurance.

Game 3: West Virginia 13, Kansas 2

Things looked kind of bleak early for WVU in the series finale when Dawson Montesa couldn't find the zone, walking four batters and giving up two runs in three innings. Fortunately for him, the bats got red hot, hanging a six-spot in the sixth and then two runs each in the seventh and eighth, enforcing the mercy rule. Resse Bassinger was phenomenal in relief, pitching five scoreless frames. Sean Smith had himself a day, going 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, and 4 RBI.

First pitch between the Mountaineers and Jayhawks is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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