Penn State infielder Michael Anderson (8) during an NCAA baseball game against Georgetown on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Tysons, Va. Georgetown won 8-2. (AP Photo/Mike Buscher)

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia baseball is rolling. The Mountaineers have won five of their last seven games, and even in the losses, they had chances to win. WVU hasn’t lost any of its first five series to start the season, and is hot off a Big 12 series win over Baylor.

After the series win and stomping a 10-win Maryland team, the Mountaineers were recently ranked No. 20 in the Division I Baseball rankings, which is their highest ranking of the season. WVU is the highest-ranked Big 12 team, with TCU crashing this weekend out of the rankings from spot 17.

The top team in the Big 12 has its third midweek matchup of the season, and its first rivalry game of the season, against Penn State on Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m., streaming on ESPN+. It would be the second one, but the Mountaineers’ game against Marshall was canceled a few weeks ago.

The Nittany Lions are in their third season under head coach Mike Gambino. Gambino quickly turned around a rough program and had a 33-23 record (15-15 Big Ten), the second-most wins in a season. PSU reached the 30-win mark for the first time since 2011.

This season, Penn State looks like the Penn State of the old. The blue and white are 5-13 to start the year. Penn State has lost seven of its last eight games, including a sweep by the Big 12’s Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were ranked 9th in the preseason Big 12 poll, where WVU was third.

Penn State’s pitching is one of its biggest flaws. In last weekend’s three-game series against Iowa, the staff allowed 10 runs in two of the three games. Over the season, Penn State’s opponents have scored 163 runs, which is a little over nine runs a game. WVU’s offense, who had scored over nine runs a game and averages about the same, should have a field day in the midweek matchup. The Mountaineers have scored at least 10 runs against Ohio and Maryland.

The Nittany Lions’ hitting isn’t any better. Penn State has only put up double-digit runs in two games this season, while WVU has in eight. The Nittany Lions do have some hitters to be cognizant of. Michael Anderson is Penn State’s top hitter. He is hitting .345 and has a whopping 22 RBIs with eight home runs this season. Spencer Barnett, who had a big 2025, has only played in 10 games this season and has picked up somewhat where he left off, hitting four homers and .333. The rest of WVU’s lineup, that’s played over 10 games, is hitting below .500.

If head coach Steve Sabins stays true to his four-man rotation, David Hagen will get the nod for the standalone game. Hagen hasn’t gone the distance in his first couple of starts, but the sophomore right-hander hasn’t had an earned run. WVU will probably use a lot of bullpen arms, especially since a lot of them rested this weekend, with the starting pitching going the distance. The Mountaineers used just two pitchers in the final game of the Baylor series. Maxx Yehl pitched eight complete innings.

The only thing going for Penn State in this week’s matchup is history. Since 2011, the Nittany Lions have won eight of the 14 meetings, and won the latest matchup last year, 3-2 in State College. The home team has won the last four matchups, and WVU has won the last two games at home. The last time the Mountaineers lost at home was in 2022.

This is a completely different WVU team with sights set on winning the Big 12 and heading to Omaha, so like Maryland, WVU shouldn’t struggle too much with the local rival.