Baylor baseball heads to Morgantown, W. Va., this weekend to face West Virginia in a three-game road conference series.
The Bears (19-22, 5-10) are coming off a walk-off win over Incarnate Word on Wednesday, but have lost five of their last six Big 12 Conference games.
Only 12 games remain. The Bears can still make a move in the conference standings as they currently sit at seventh.
“We control our own destiny,” head coach Steve Rodriguez said. “I’ve said before, we can lose to anybody but I think we can beat anybody. When we play well, we’re a really impressive team.”
The Mountaineers (21-18, 6-8) are also coming off a midweek win, but have similarly struggled in recent conference play, winning just two of six games.
West Virginia is led by freshman outfielder Darius Hill, who leads the team in hits, runs, RBI and batting average, each by a fairly wide margin.
The Bears are making changes in the weekend starting rotation by replacing freshman Kyle Hill with fellow freshman Andrew McInvale to start on Sunday.
“I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win the series,” junior pitcher Daniel Castano said. “I don’t really care when I pitch. I’m sure Drew [Tolson] or [McInvale] would say the same thing.”
The changes come after the starters have struggled in the past two weekend series, with Castano as the only pitcher to pick up a win.
The Bears look to their best offensive player, outfielder Darryn Sheppard, for a spark this weekend. Sheppard leads the team in batting average, home runs and RBIs.
Junior catcher Matt Menard has recently come on lately as an offensive threat. Menard had two home runs last weekend against Kansas State.
