WVU Baseball Will Play Kansas in Big 12 Tournament Play-In Game Tuesday

The Mountaineers have a long road ahead of them to get to the postseason in 2021. No. 8-seed West Virginia will play No. 9-seed Kansas on Tuesday in the Big 12 Tournament play-in game.

As the two lowest teams in the conference, West Virginia (23-25, 8-16 Big 12) and Kansas (30-26, 8-16) will play each other at 7 p.m. EST Tuesday at Chikasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The winner moving on to play No. 1-seed Texas in the first round of the tournament.

West Virginia won its series against the Jayhawks earlier this season, winning games one and three of their three-game series in late March. In that series, WVU ace Jackson Wolf (5-5, 3.26 ERA), who figures to be the starter on Tuesday, pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. Wolf threw 106 pitches in his most recent outing Thursday against Texas and would be working on five days of rest if he pitches against Kansas. WVU’s best relief pitchers this season were Noah Short (2.84 ERA) and Jacob Watters (3-1, 3.63)

Offensively, WVU was led by veterans Paul McIntosh, Austin Davis, Victor Scott and Matt McCormick. McIntosh, a catcher and outfielder, tied for the team lead in home runs (eight) and RBI (26) while batting .270 with 25 runs scored. Davis, the right fielder, led the team with a .317 batting average and 51 hits. He also stole 16 bases in 19 attempts and scored 26 runs.

Scott, a sophomore center fielder, hit just .239 but led the team with 18 stolen bases, 29 walks and 28 runs scored. He also hit four home runs. Finally, McCormick, a corner infielder and catcher, led the team with 83 total bases. He hit .297 with 48 hits, 14 doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI.