A Look at LSU Baseball's Super Regional Opponent

The Mountaineers boast a 44-14 (19-9 Big 12) record and advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament before they were bounced by Arizona. It was one of the more successful regular seasons in program history, which helped them land the two seed in the Clemson Regional.

West Virginia was perfect in the Clemson regional, knocking off Kentucky 4-3 on Friday before beating Clemson 9-6 on Saturday and claiming the regional championship with a 13-12 win over Kentucky on Sunday. By going 3-0, the Mountaineers advanced to the Super Regional round for just the second time in program history and the second time in as many years.

Offensively, WVU is led by Sam White and Kyle West. White leads the team in batting average (.352) and has brought home 44 RBIs while West leads the team with 10 home runs on the year and has an on base percentage of .500. Surprisingly, neither of those guys lead the team in RBIs. That honor goes to Jace Rinehart with 51 on 60 hits.

On the mound, WVU has two very capable starters. Griffin Kirn started on Friday of the regional and was dominant, giving up one earned run and five hits in 7.1 innings of work. On the year, he boasts a 3.13 ERA and has struck out 100 batters in 95.0 innings.

Jack Kartsonas got the ball on Saturday against No. 11 Clemson, and he too looked very strong. He threw 5.1 innings where he allowed two earned runs on three hits while striking out seven, lowering his season ERA to 2.94. 

Their favorite reliever this season has been Reese Bassinger, who's made 29 appearances with no starts and has tossed 61.0 innings. He's given up 29 runs on 60 hits while striking out 43 batters in his time on the mound.

Bassinger might have the most innings, but David Hagen's stats are very impressive. In 23.0 innings, Hagen posted a 2.35 ERA while giving up six runs on 17 hits while striking out 13 batters. He can come in and close out a close game, so if one of these games come down to the wire, expect to see Hagen.

Despite not earning a national seed, WVU is a very good baseball team and will likely give LSU some trouble. I still have the Tigers taking the series, but it should be an entertaining weekend.