Big 12
WVU Baseball to Face Cincinnati in Big 12 Quarterfinals
WVU baseball will face Cincinnati in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Tournament tomorrow afternoon at Globe Life Field. First pitch between the top-seeded Mountaineers and No. 8 seed Bearcats is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from the home of the Texas Rangers. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Cincinnati (32-23, 16-14 Big 12) advanced to the quarterfinal round via a 6-5 win over No. 9 seed Texas Tech on the first day of the tournament Wednesday afternoon. WVU (40-13, 19-9), meanwhile, earned a first-round bye by virtue of winning the Big 12 regular season title to arrive in the quarterfinals.
The Mountaineers have been the Big 12’s top team this season, although they haven’t played like it lately, losing five of their last six games and eight of their last 11. West Virginia also dropped two straight conference series to end the season, losing two of three to Kansas State and being swept by Kansas over the weekend.
Head-to-head this year, West Virginia swept Cincinnati in a three-game series in Morgantown last month. WVU starting pitchers combined to allow just three runs across 15 2/3 innings that series while the offense slugged eight extra-base hits. In particular, Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist Jace Rinehart went 7-11 with five RBI, three runs, a double and a home run against the Bearcats.
In the opening round Wednesday, Cincinnati held off a late Texas tech comeback attempt en route to the victory. UC led 6-3 after seven innings when the Red Raiders added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to pull within one run. UC’s Kellen O’Connor pitched the final two innings to save the win for starter Nathan Taylor, who went six. Derrick Pitts and Quinton Coats, who homered, each drove in a pair of runs.
The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the Big 12 semifinals to face either No. 4 Arizona or No. 12 BYU at 5 p.m. (ESPN+).
West Virginia is looking for its first Big 12 Tournament championship and sixth overall tournament title.
For a related story, WVU baseball well represented on All-Big 12 teams.
