The baseball team wrapped up its regular season by winning its series over TCU. They also ended with a 21-9 conference record, which is the most wins they’ve ever had in the Big 12. They also fared well in the postseason awards: Maxx Yehl was the Pitcher of the Year, and three others made the All Big 12 first team: fellow pitchers Chansen Cole and Ian Korn, plus Gavin Kelly. Paul Schoenfeld was on the second team, and there were five who were named honorable mention: Reese Bassinger, Carson Estridge, Armani Guzman, Matt Ineich, and Sean Smith.
We will know by now where WVU was placed in the NCAA tournament, but going into the Big 12 tournament, I felt they needed to win one game to seal a spot hosting a regional. They did that by knocking off Kansas State in the quarterfinals, so I will be surprised and disappointed if they did not get to host. They are in the Top 12 of all the major polls (with a high of 6, and a low of 12; they are in the top 10 of four of the six biggest polls). WVU is also highly ranked in two of the three ratings systems the selection committee uses (RPI 18, KPI 12, DSR 10, after the Kansas State win). RPI is the outlier, but WVU isn’t the only team that RPI doesn’t like (Georgia is a Top 5 team in all the polls, but outside the top 10 in RPI). All the major baseball bracketologists have WVU hosting, so I expect that to be the case, and those games start this weekend.
The golf team had a good showing at their Regional out in Arizona. They went in as the 9-seed and finished eighth, and the first seven were all seeded ahead of WVU. They weren’t quite where they wanted to be in the first round, but played under par the final two rounds, and finish strong. (It should be said, even if they had played in the first round like they did in the last two, they still would not have advanced). Sophomore Nick Turowski was the top finisher at 18th . Of the Mountaineers who were out in Arizona, only Kaleb Wilson and Westy McCabe were seniors, so there is definitely a bright outlook for the future.
The outdoor track & field team will be well represented this week in Lexington, Kentucky, for the NCAA East First Round meet. WVU qualified eight athletes: Joy Naukot, Anastasia Chepkorir, Lexi Lamb, and Emily Bryce in the 10,000m run, Mercy Kinyanjui and Ronis Chelangat in the 3000m steeplechase, Kishay Row in the 800m run, and Annishka McDonald in the high jump. They will hope to finish in the Top 12 and advance to the NCAA Championships which will be held June 10-13 in Eugene, OR. The first round competition is Thursday and Saturday of this week. They will be streamed on ESPN Plus starting at 6:00 on Thursday and 5:00 on Saturday. WVU does stand a good chance of getting at least two advancing to Oregon.
The rowing team completed their season at the Big 12 Championships, and they had their best conference championship showing ever. They first competed in the Big 12 in the 2013 season. That year, they finished fourth out of five teams. Every championship since then, they ended up at the bottom of the standings. This year, however, they climbed back up to fourth place out of six teams. Congratulations to the squad, and the trio of Nikolina Djordjevic, Teegan Wendley, and Grace Terlion, who earned All Conference honors.
