Wetherholt

SHEPHERDSTOWN — With outfielder JJ Wetherholt leading the way so far this college baseball season, West Virginia has an 18-6 overall record in games through March 27as it prepares to open its Big 12 Conference schedule this weekend at Kansas State.

All the rest of the conference teams have already played league games.

The Mountaineers have played nationally ranked Maryland, Arizona and Georgia Southern in some of their non-conference games.

Wetherholt has been conspicuously consistent in his statistically powerful season to date. He is hitting .455 with a team-leading six home runs, 30 RBIs and has been successful on 23 of his 25 stolen base attempts.

The Mountaineers believe stealing bases and pressuring opponents that way will lead them to more wins and besides Wetherholt’s successes there have been shortstop Tevin Tucker (a career leading .319 batting average) with 11-of-12 successful stolen base attempts and Braden Berry (batting .309) also having stolen 13 bases in 14 tries. Braden also has five home runs.

Other team leaders in batting average are Ellis Garcia at .319 and Dayne Leonard at .299.

West Virginia pitchers Blane Traxel (5-1 record and 2.02 ERA) and Ben Hampton (1-0 record and 3.47 ERA in his six starts) have done well as the team has played in Georgia and Arizona, as well as in 48-degree weather in Morgantown.

In Big 12 Conference news, nationally prominent Texas is 18-7 overall with other flashy beginnings to their seasons from Oklahoma State (20-5), Kansas State (17-8), Texas Tech (18-7) and Texas Christian (15-9).

Oklahoma (13-11), Baylor (9-15) and Kansas (8-14) are the league’s other three teams.

The Mountaineers have a three-game series with every other conference team that determines the seeding for the league tournament. The winner of the Big 12 tournament receives the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that leads the way to the annual College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

West Virginia has never played in the College World Series, but hosted an NCAA Regional tournament in recent years. Last year, the Mountaineers barely missed receiving an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament, after failing to win the Big 12 tournament held in Oklahoma.

The team’s strength of schedule goes way up when it begins playing a high percentage of its games within the conference. At-large entrees into the NCAA tournament have their credentials based partially on strength of schedule.