West Virginia and Pitt to Meet for Backyard Brawl

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 12 West Virginia University baseball team hits the road for the Backyard Brawl on Tuesday. First pitch from Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh is set for 6 p.m.
 
Mountaineer fans can watch the games on ACCNX, listen on Mountaineer Sports Network, and can follow along with live stats at WVUsports.com.
 
West Virginia has the best record in the country at 39-7 after taking two of three from Texas Tech over the weekend. The Mountaineers dropped the opener before coming back to win 3-2 in game two and 5-0 in the rubber game. WVU sits at 18-4 in the Big 12, three games ahead of Arizona State with six games remaining.
 
In the latest polls, West Virginia sits at No. 7 in Perfect Game, No. 13 in NCBWA, No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 9 in Baseball America, No. 18 in The Athletic, and No. 12 by D1Baseball, which is recognized by the NCAA.

Junior Sam White leads the team with a .360 batting average while senior Jace Rinehart has a team-high 44 RBI. Rinehart, senior Grant Hussey, and junior Logan Sauve each have seven home runs to pace the offense. On the mound, WVU has a 3.63 team ERA, ninth best in the country.

 

Probable Pitchers

RHP Chase Meyer (8-2, 2.45 ERA, 49 K, 22 BB, 33.0 IP) vs. RHP Drew Lafferty (3-2, 6.92 ERA, 27 K, 20 BB, 39.0 IP)

 

Pitt is 24-21 this season after sweeping Virginia Tech this past weekend. The Panthers are 9-15 in the ACC and 11-7 at home this season.

 

Luke Cantwell leads Pitt with a .357 average and 41 RBI while Ryan Zuckerman has 11 home runs. On the mound, Ethan Firoved has a 2.82 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 44.2 innings along with eight saves.

 

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.