MORGANTOWN — Armed with a potent offense that leads the Big 12 in stolen bases and has averaged 9.4 runs scored over its last five games, West Virginia is about to embark on a three-game series against No. 6 Oklahoma State that will answer one crucial question:
Are the Mountaineers for real?
That seemingly is always the question anytime a team exceeds expectations early in the season, which is exactly what WVU (21-10, 5-1 Big 12) has done.
“I don’t even pay attention to that stuff,” WVU head coach Randy Mazey said after the Mountaineers swept Baylor last weekend. “It’s early. Being in first place right now literally means nothing. It just means we’ve played great to this point, but that doesn’t mean we’ll play well next weekend.”
Picked eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll, the Mountaineers are on top of the league standings as the nationally ranked Cowboys (24-9, 7-2) come to Mon County Ballpark at 6:30 p.m. Friday to begin the series.
Oklahoma State is expected to start preseason All-American Justin Campbell (4-1, 3.40 ERA) on Friday. The 6-foot-7 sophomore right-hander leads the Big 12 with 73 strikeouts. WVU is expected to counter with junior Jacob Watters (2-1, 3.38 ERA), who has made 11 appearances this season, with four starts.
There are a number of reasons WVU has gotten to this point.
It used late-game theatrics to take a series against TCU, including Ben Abernathy stealing home in the ninth inning of Game 1 and then Braden Barry scoring right behind him when the ball got away from the catcher in a 3-2 win.
In the three-game sweep of Baylor, Ben Hampton proved his worth as a Big 12 starting pitcher and WVU’s offense scored 22 runs on 32 hits.
That led to senior outfielder Austin Davis being named Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting .688 and nearly hitting for the cycle in the third game against the Bears.
West Virginia is on a six-game winning streak heading into the series, with its top five hitters in the lineup all batting .317 or higher.
Victor Scott II and Davis are No. 1 and No. 2 in the Big 12 in stolen bases. Scott is ninth in RBIs, McGwire Holbrook is ninth in batting average, while Hampton is second in wins, innings pitched and fifth in ERA.
Hampton is expected to start against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
It all points to WVU being at its best against the Cowboys, who have been a thorn in the Mountaineers’ side recently.
Oklahoma State is 5-3 against WVU since 2019, which includes a 5-2 victory in the 2019 Big 12 tournament championship game.
Oklahoma State was 3-1 against WVU last season.
The Cowboys have won six of their last eight games and their pitching staff is second in the Big 12 with a team 4.01 ERA, while opponents are hitting just .227.
In late innings, Oklahoma State closer Trevor Martin also leads the Big 12 with nine saves.
Senior Jake Thompson leads the offense with a .328 average and 31 RBIs.
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