It was an interesting circumstance for West Virginia baseball last year. The Mountaineers lost 3-0 to Kansas at home, but it was still worth celebrating. Despite the loss, WVU became the Big 12 regular-season champions after Arizona State lost to Oklahoma State. It was the second time in three years the Mountaineers reigned supreme in the conference after the regular season.

In 2026, WVU is in pursuit of its 18th regular-season Big 12 title, and it starts this weekend with a road series against Baylor. The three-game series starts today, with first pitch set for 7:30 p.m. ET.

The Bears have had some tough games in the first couple of weeks of the season, and are still 10-6 on the year. Baylor has faced No. 7 Oregon State, No. 18 Southern Miss, No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 3 Texas and No. 23 UTSA. As of this week’s Division I Baseball rankings, all five of them are still ranked, and some have moved up in the rankings. In those games, Baylor is 1-4, with the only win against Ole Miss in extra innings, but the Bears played Texas and Oregon State close.

The Mountaineers haven’t played any ranked teams yet this season. But, WVU has taken care of business, and is currently on a three-game winning streak and just rolled 10-win Maryland 10-3. The Mountaineers are 11-3.

The Mountaineers’ offense is rolling. In the past three games, WVU has scored 35 runs. The bats should be tested against Baylor’s pitching, who only let up three runs against the Beavers, and five against Texas, Ole Miss and Southern Miss. The Bears allow an average of just over four runs a game.

Baylor’s offense is the weaker side of the ball. In those ranked games, the offense only scored one or two runs. There are some big bats in the lineup, like Travis Sanders, who hits over .400, and Tyce Armstrong, who has hit six home runs. Armstrong was the talk of the opening weekend after he hit three grand slams in Game 1. He was the second player since 1957 to hit three in a game.

The Mountaineers are expected to go with the same three starters for the series of Chansen Cole, Dawson Montesa and Maxx Yehl. Cole was recently named to the Pitcher of the Year watch list by the College Baseball Foundation. All three of them have proved to Sabins that they are ready for Big 12 play.

“I’ve seen with every one of those starters that they are getting better,” Sabins said. “That’s the key. If you can have kids in those roles that can throw enough strikes, compete, handle adversity, don’t let the game get to them and manage them. It’s like having a quarterback who manages the game. You have to have that out of your starting pitching. We’ve just seen those kids get better and have the correct mindset long term. I’m certainly going to stick with those guys heading into conference play.”

Most of the pitchers in that three-man rotation haven’t faced Big 12 play. Montesa and Cole were both at the Division II level last year, so it’ll be their first time facing the conference. But they both adjusted to the Division I level pretty seamlessly, so it might not be an issue.

This could be a big weekend for the Mountaineers after securing a big win over Maryland. Winning this series would be WVU’s fifth series win of the season and would keep the undefeated series streak alive.

Taking two of three could also push the Mountaineers back into the top 25, but it won’t be easy.