Kansas Treks to West Virginia to Face Mountaineers

Ben Krauth is coming off a career-high 9.0 innings pitched and nine strikeouts.
Kansas at West Virginia
Date: April 24-26, 2015
Ballpark: Monongalia County Ballpark
Location: Morgantown, W.Va.
Audio: Baseball Hawk Talk
Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network
Live Stats: Kansas Live Stats
Notes: Game Notes
Impact Players
Kansas AVG AB R H RBI
C. McKay .349 166 32 58 17
M. Tinsley .345 148 24 51 34
West Virginia
K. Davis .365 159 32 58 25
J. Fox .310 155 30 48 17
Rotations
Kansas W-L ERA IP K
B. Krauth 5-3 4.09 66.0 60
D. Morovick 3-3 4.83 50.1 21
TBA
West Virginia
B. Meyers 2-2 3.42 47.1 43
R. Vance 6-2 3.15 68.2 53
C. Donato 5-4 2.69 67.0 44

LAWRENCE, Kan. – After wrapping up a 10-game home stand with an 11-6 victory over Wichita State Tuesday night, the Kansas baseball team travels to West Virginia to face the Mountaineers in a three-game Big 12 series April 24-26, at Monongalia County Ballpark in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Jayhawks have faced off with the Mountaineers eight times and each team has taken four of the contests. The first meeting between the two schools was in 2013 when Kansas made their inaugural trip to Morgantown and got swept, losing by one run in each of the contests. The two met again in Oklahoma City in the Big 12 Championship tournament that year and Kansas got revenge with a 7-2 victory to eliminate WVU on their way to the title game.

Last season was a complete flip of the script, as West Virginia was swept in Lawrence in a three-game series and went on to beat the Jayhawks in the first round of the Big 12 Championship.

Scheduled to start on the mound for the Mountaineers in the 5 p.m. contest Friday night, is right-hander B.J. Meyers. The freshman holds a 2-2 record and 3.42 ERA in 47.1 innings pitched across 10 appearances. The righty has struck out 43 batters and allowed 23 walks.

Meyers will face off against junior lefty Ben Krauth, who sports a 5-3 record and a 4.09 ERA. The southpaw is coming off arguably his best performance as a Jayhawk. Although the team ended up losing the contest, Krauth pitched nine innings striking out nine batters against Texas last Friday night (April 17).

The Jayhawks will look to senior Drew Morovick to lead the way on the mound Saturday. Morovick is 3-3 with a 4.83 ERA in nine starts this season.

Morovick’s counterpart on the bump Saturday will be Ross Vance. The left-handed junior is 6-2 on the season, with a 3.15 ERA. Vance has started 10 games this season and is averaging close to six and two-thirds innings in his 11 total appearances.

The Mountaineers plan to start Chad Donato on Sunday. Donato has started 10 games for WVU and has pitched 67 innings, allowing 20 earned runs for a 2.69 ERA.

Offensively, WVU ranks sixth in both team batting (.277) with utility man Kyle Davis paving the way with a .365 batting average, good enough for second in the league. Davis ranks fourth in hits (58), third in runs scored (32), second in doubles (15) and fifth in slugging (.535) in the conference. Shortstop Taylor Munden leads the squad with nine bombs, while five players have 20 or more RBIs with Davis and outfielder Shaun Wood leading the way with 25 apiece.

With no television broadcast or video stream available, fans of the Jayhawks can listen to all three games of the weekend series on the Jayhawk Radio Network through KUAthletics.com/Radio or on the official Kansas Jayhawks mobile app with Steven Davis and Shane Jackson calling the action.

KU returns home for a Wednesday night game at Hoglund Ballpark against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on April 29 at 6 p.m., before hosting Baylor, May 1-3, for a conference weekend matchup.

KUAthletics.com:  The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.