The Mountaineers dropped two out of three at home against Arizona and moved to 19-3 on the season. They also suffered two key injuries during the series, which will impact the season. WVU will welcome the Marshall Thundering Herd to Morgantown for the first of three games this season. Marshall is 12-12 this season and 3-9 on the road. They have lost their last two games to James Madison, losing the series 1-2. It should be fun for fans in attendance and a vital game to evaluate how the Mountaineers will move on without two of their best players for some time. Read more: WVU Baseball: Game Preview vs. Marshall
WVU Baseball: Game Preview vs. Marshall
In Saturday’s game against Arizona, catcher Logan Sauve injured his shoulder sliding into home and missed Sunday’s game. In Sunday’s game, second baseman Sam White hit a two-run homer but suffered an unfortunate injury. As he was celebrating with Skylar King, they locked arms as usual and was later seen in a sling. Head coach Steve Sabins has not given a timetable for either player to return but held Sauve out of Sunday’s game as he felt “tender” that morning. He did say there was no structural damage to Sauve’s injury but did not offer a recovery period.
READ: WVU baseball collapses in eighth inning to drop series to Arizona
These injuries leave a big hole in WVU’s lineup. They batted second (Sauve) and third (White) and were batting .308 and .400, respectively. The situation became more complicated because Logan Sauve was the starting catcher, and Sam White was third behind Gavin Kelly. White has yet to catch in a game this season but caught in 16 games last season. Kelly will takeover as the starter, and Jace Rinehart is set to be the backup if Sauve and White are sidelined for a while. He caught 42 games at USC Upstate before transferring to WVU this season. He should provide some depth at the position as the duo recovers from injury. The hole left in the top of the lineup will certainly be felt unless a couple of players step up in their absence.
Marshall’s last game was a 2-1 loss to James Madison in Huntington. They committed three fielding errors in that game, which could be an issue against the Mountaineers. Maika Niu leads the Herd with 30 hits this season (.306 average), 21 runs, and eight stolen bases. Eddie Leon leads the team with a .318 average while hitting four home runs and six doubles. Ethan Murdoch is Marshall’s power hitter. He is batting .263 with seven home runs. The weakness of Marshall is their pitching staff. They have a team ERA of 5.09, which ranks 89th in the nation.
West Virginia vs. Marshall Game Times
Game 1: Tuesday, March 25
- Start Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
- WVU Starter: RHP David Hagen (2-0, 3.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 10 K)
- Arizona Starter: RHP Fenix DiGiacomo (1-3, 8.46 ERA, 22.1 IP, 11 K)
- Watch: ESPN+
WVU used 15 arms against Arizona, so Sabins must conserve his pitchers before a three-game series against BYU later this week. The Mountaineers rank eighth in the nation with an ERA of 3.28. WVU also ranks 34th with a team batting average of .310, while the Thundering Herd ranks 210th at .261. WVU needs a solid outing from Hagen and for him to go several innings to save arms for a quick turnaround against BYU on Thursday. The lineup will also be different, with Sauve and White out. Kelly hit second for WVU on Sunday, but it is still unclear who will hit third for White. Armani Guzman replaced him on Sunday after the injury, but we will have to wait for Sabins to release the lineup to see for sure. It should be a fun start to the season-long series with Marshall. The first game will be in Morgantown, the second in Huntington, and the third will occur on a neutral field in Charleston.
