PNC Park Welcomes Back the Mountaineers

For the third consecutive year, the West Virginia baseball team will play in a major league ball park.

On April 10th, 2018, the Mountaineers will make the 75 mile trek to Pittsburgh when they return to PNC Park to play Penn State.

Last season, the Mountaineers used a strong pitching performance and timely hitting to outlast the Nittany Lions 4-2.  The offense was provided last year by returning catcher/DH Chase Illig who led the team with 2 hits and 2 RBIs while Braden Zarbnisky added a hit, RBI and notched the save.   The win helped propel the Mountaineers into the NCAA Tournament while finishing with a record of 36-26.

The Mountaineers return a good nucleus of talent from last year’s team who look to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Several key players had successful summer leagues and will look to carry over that success into the 2018 season.

The team will have a new assistant coach and volunteer assistant in Dave Serrano and Dallas Burke for the 2018 season.  Former pitching and assistant Coach Derek Matlock and volunteer assistant Cody Atkinson left in the offseason to lead the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Coach Serrano comes to Morgantown from the University of Tennessee with the coaching experience of  7 trips to Omaha and one National Championship in 2004.

There are still a couple of chances to get a glimpse of the upcoming season when the Mountaineers play host to Bucknell on October 15th and then finish the fall season against Delaware State on October 21st.  The Mountaineers have already beat Marshall and won their alumni game to start the fall season.

A big step to getting to Omaha will start April 1oth.  Lets pack PNC Park with Blue and Gold.

Besides, there is nothing better than singing “Country Roads” in Pittsburgh.