The West Virginia Mountaineers (27-4) are going on the road to take on the Houston Cougars (19-14) in Big 12 baseball action starting Friday, April 11th, at 7:30 p.m. EST in Houston, Texas. WVU will stroll into town on a seven-game winning streak and aim to extend it throughout the series. Read more Mountaineers and Cougars Set To Square Off On the Diamond.
Setting the Scene
The Houston Cougars will play host to the oft-ranked Mountaineers for three consecutive days and will try to upset the visitors and stop the red-hot bats of the boys from Morgantown. Houston is coming off a 4-3 loss to McNeese State on Wednesday. This non-conference home loss dropped the Cougars to 19-14 on the season. WVU is returning to action after almost a week off, as Tuesday’s game against Penn State was canceled due to frigid weather conditions. This past weekend, the Mountaineers completed a three-game sweep against the Utah Utes in Big 12 play.
Conference Implications
This weekend’s series can greatly impact the trajectory of both teams in terms of Big 12 standings. As of April 10th, Houston holds a conference record of 5-7, while WVU touts a 7-3 record in conference play. The Mountaineers’ conference record is good enough for 2nd across the Big 12 but the Cougars are all the way down in 9th place out of 14 teams. West Virginia trails Kansas in the conference standings, as the Jayhawks are 9-3 in conference play.
READ: AROUND THE BIG 12: JAYHAWKS WIN STREAK ENDED AT NINE
As for Houston, a lot of ground needs to be made up in the final five weeks of the season for the Cougars to be true competitors in the fierce Big 12. At 5-7, there is little to no room for error if UH wants to climb the ranks. The comeback would have to start this weekend, and that is a tall order against a WVU team that is averaging 10.1 runs per game in its last 10 outings.
Storylines
As of now, West Virginia will at least begin the series without the services of Sam White. The Mountaineers’ best hitter has been sidelined since the final game of the Arizona series on March 23rd, and while White’s presence is sorely missed, WVU is 8-1 since the day of the injury. The Mountaineers benefit from having a deep batting rotation that is consistent from top to bottom. As a team, WVU bats are averaging .320 at this point in the 2025 campaign, an impressive statistic to support the idea that the Mountaineers are making up for White’s absence.
On the other hand, Houston is in the middle of a six-day span that includes five games. So far, the Cougars have split the first two games of the stretch. It started with a 10-7 win over Rice on April 8th before dropping the contest to McNeese State the following evening. The homestand does not get any easier with West Virginia heading south for the weekend, but Houston has home-field advantage to work with for three more games. Houston is 10-8 at Schroeder Park, which is a respectable feat. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the Mountaineers are 15-1 on the road.
How to Tune In
The three-game series between Houston and West Virginia gets underway at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Game two will take place at the same time on Saturday, and the series will wrap up at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be streamed on ESPN+, and the radio broadcast can be accessed here.
