Big 12 Baseball Roundup: West Virginia Stumbles, Arizona State Lurking?

The Weekend Recap

As all Frogball fans know and likely watched, TCU (35-16) took the series against Cincinnati (29-22), only missing the sweep of the Bearcats by a couple of runs. TCU took the series-opener as Kirk Saarloos and his squad boat-raced the Bearcats in the 17-11 win.

In the series-clinching victory on Saturday, Anthony Silva played the role of superhero with a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning with a final score of 7-6. The Bearcats would take Game 3 on Sunday in another shootout, the final score being 9-8.

As for some of the more shocking results, Arizona (34-17) and West Virginia (40-10) dropped their conference series during the weekend against Utah (20-26) and Kansas State (30-21) respectively. The Arizona Wildcats salvaged the series with a win on Sunday after dropping the first two games, but the series loss puts them at risk of not earning a bye in the Big 12 tournament that begins next week.

After the Mountaineers and Kansas State Wildcats split the series 1-1, the series decider turned into a slugfest that saw multiple lead changes throughout the game. The most notable lead change came in the 8th inning when West Virginia led 8-7. In the bottom half of the inning, Pete Hughes's squad exploded for seven runs to take a commanding lead heading into the 9th inning.

Both Arizona State (34-18) and Kansas (39-14) were given a scare against their opponents, Houston (28-22) and BYU (24-25), as they dropped their respective series-openers.

Antoine Jean was once again electric out of the bullpen for the Cougars, as he ended the night with 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 Ks, while earning the save. Luckily for the Sun Devils, Jean can only pitch so many innings in a given weekend, so they eventually took the series by winning Games 2 and 3.

After the Jayhawks lost Game 1 of their series against BYU by a score of 7-5, Dan Fitzgerald and his squad recovered nicely with wins on Friday and Saturday to take the series. Cooper Moore helped fuel the win on Friday for Kansas as the righty turned in a stellar starting pitching performance consisting of 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 10 Ks.

Oklahoma State (24-22) and Baylor (31-20) squared off down in Waco, where the Cowboys continued to piece together wins in their quest for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. The Pokes took Games 1 and 2 and nearly secured the sweep if it wasn't for the Bears walking it off in 10 innings on Sunday.

In Lubbock, Texas Tech (18-30) continued their struggles as they lost the series again UCF (27-24). After splitting the first two games of the series, the Knights would take Game 3 with a dominant 15-run performance on offense. Antonio Jimenez led the way for UCF on offense going 5 for 5 at the plate with 5 RBIs.

Big 12 Conference Standings

Biggest Takeaways from the Week

The college baseball regular season is just about wrapped up, and that means that regular season champions have already been decided or will be decided in the next week. While a few conferences have multiple contenders for a title, the Big 12 is relatively cut and dry. West Virginia is, and has been for a while now, in the driver's seat.

As most people who follow Big 12 baseball closely know, West Virginia has had multiple games get cancelled due to weather. Make no mistake, West Virginia is a good team and now holds the highest number of wins in the conference. The Mountaineers currently hold a 19-6 league record and are ranked #16 in the country. Not only that, but Steve Sabins and his squad hold an extremely impressive 23-5 record when they play on the road.

As previously mentioned in this article, West Virginia dropped the series at Kansas State, which plays into one of my takeaways from the week. With the Mountaineers moving to 19-6 in conference play, they've opened the door for Arizona State to swoop in and steal the regular season title. While it is a slim chance, crazier things have happened in the Big 12 this season. West Virginia hosts a really good Kansas team, while Arizona State visits a desperate Oklahoma State team looking to make one last push for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Upcoming Series to Watch

There are two series to watch this coming weekend. TCU and Utah face off in a 3-game series for the first time since 2010. The Frogs have won the last five matchups in a row and will look to lock up a first-round bye in the Big 12 tournament, barring some crazy stuff happens around the league.

Another series to watch this weekend is the one in Morgantown between Kansas and West Virginia. With a single win, the Mountaineers will secure the regular-season title in the Big 12. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks are looking to earn a top-four seed in the Big 12 tournament. Kansas baseball is also looking for its first 40-win season since 2006.

Upcoming Schedule

In preparation for the Big 12 Tournament next week, all teams will be starting their conference series on Thursday.

Baylor @ UCF
Kansas State @ Cincinnati
Kansas @ West Virginia
Arizona State @ Oklahoma State
Arizona @ Houston
TCU @ Utah
Texas Tech @ BYU