After ending the regular season with four straight losses, the West Virginia Mountaineers (41-13, 20-9) will go head-to-head with the Arizona Wildcats (37-18, 18-12) in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Baseball Championship. WVU punched its ticket to advance by trouncing a red-hot Cincinnati squad by a final score of 10-3. Read more: WVU Baseball Advances, Will Face Arizona in Semifinal.
Setting the Scene
West Virginia will meet Arizona for the fourth time this season, as the Wildcats were one of only two teams to steal a Big 12 weekend series from the Mountaineers at home all season. Arizona took two out of three contests at Kendrick Family Ballpark, including a 16-inning thriller in game one. WVU took game two in a dominant 11-3 outing, but Arizona won the rubber match, 11-4.
The Mountaineers’ quarterfinal win was the program’s first victory at Globe Life Field after losing its first six contests there. WVU will aim to make it two in a row in the semifinal against Arizona, the #4 seed in the tournament field. The Wildcats were victorious in their quarterfinal game on Thursday as well, knocking out the #12 seed BYU, 4-1. Back-to-back first-inning home runs courtesy of Mason White and Adonys Guzman put Arizona ahead 2-0, a lead the Wildcats never surrendered.
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Arizona has strung together three consecutive victories, taking the final two regular-season contests against Houston before getting a first-round bye and eventually winning the aforementioned quarterfinal.
Arizona’s baseball program is in its first year as a member of the Big 12 Conference, but it is no stranger to winning titles. The Wildcats won the Pac-12 championship in 2024 and are four-time national champions (1976, 1980, 1986, 2012). History alone could show anyone that Arizona is one of the “blue bloods” in college baseball over the past 50 years. Needless to say, the Mountaineers will have their work cut out for them.
Players to Watch
Brodie Kresser is coming off an efficient performance for WVU on Thursday, finishing the game with three RBI despite only recording one hit. Two sacrifice fly-outs and an RBI single rounded out Kresser’s solid day at the plate. Overall, the senior infielder finished the regular season batting .270 in 185 plate appearances and started all 52 games he played in. Kresser also tallied 11 doubles and 37 RBI. Keep an eye on the Iowa native to try and string together a second straight respectable outing.
For Arizona, Mason White had the hot hand in the quarterfinal round. The shortstop went 2-3 in the victory against BYU, slugging a home run and a triple. White also drew a walk against the Cougars, making the most of his time in the batter’s box. The junior infielder leads Arizona in hits (71), RBI (60), home runs (14), and triples (8), while also being a constant presence in the center of the infield defensively.
Tune In
The semifinal showdown between the top-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers and the #4-seeded Arizona Wildcats is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start, the first of two games at Globe Life Field on Friday. ESPN+ will have the traditional television broadcast beginning at the time of first pitch, and the radio stream will be on 100.9 FM The Torch, alongside its nine affiliate stations.
