WVU baseball seeks 8th consecutive Backyard Brawl win over Pitt
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Mountaineers will have two winning streaks on the line Wednesday night.
WVU (23-4, 4-3 Big 12) looks to pick up its fourth straight victory and its eighth consecutive Backyard Brawl win over Pitt (16-11, 3-6 ACC) Wednesday at Kendrick Family Ballpark at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Pitt has not beaten WVU on the baseball field in over three years, and it has been almost a decade since the Panthers last won in Morgantown in 2016. The football and basketball teams continue to trade punches, but the Mountaineers are dominating the Brawl on the diamond.
During WVU’s seven-game winning streak against Pitt, the Mountaineers are outscoring the Panthers 57-19. That includes two wins at home in 2023 and 2024 in which WVU set attendance records for a regular-season home game at Kendrick Family Ballpark and two run-rule victories.
The Mountaineer faithful will get a close look at an impressive freshman on the mound Wednesday night. Righty David Hagen is scheduled to take the ball for WVU, and he has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. Among WVU pitchers with at least 15 innings pitched, Hagen leads the team in WHIP (0.88) and is allowing the second-lowest opponent batting average (.179). In his last two starts, he threw 9.0 innings, allowed one earned run, surrendered three hits, walked just one batter and struck out five.
At the plate, WVU is sporting the No. 2 batting average (.317) in the Big 12. It is one of four teams with 700 hits on the season and one of five programs hitting over .300. The Mountaineers have scored seven or more runs in five of their last seven games and have recorded eight-plus hits in each of their last seven games.
Four Mountaineers are in the top 30 in the Big 12 in batting average. Jace Rinehart is No. 26 with a .346 average. Chase Swain’s .357 average is good for No. 20 in the Big 12. Skylar King is No. 12 with a .378, and Sam White is in the top 10 at No. 7 with an even .400 average. Though, White has missed the last four games after he dislocated his shoulder in the series finale against Arizona last week.
King and Brodie Kresser are also tied for fourth in the Big 12 in steals (11).
Pitt is currently No. 14 in the ACC standings with a 3-6 conference record and a 16-11 overall record. The Panthers are sporting the No. 11 batting average (.284) and the No. 10 ERA (5.08) in the ACC.
Senior Pitt outfielder Luke Cantwell leads the team and is No. 5 in the conference in batting average (.413). The Panthers’ projected starter on the mound is still to be determined.
