MORGANTOWN — West Virginia baseball’s game against Penn State was cancelled. It was the second time the game with the in-state rival was missed this season. Without the game, WVU has just 10 regular-season games left this season.

The Mountaineers have a lot of work to do if they want to host an NCAA regional. In terms of the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, WVU should be in good shape barring catastrophe. WVU is 28-12 on the season and 13-8 in the Big 12. The Mountaineers are currently ranked No. 18 in the Division I Baseball rankings. Seems solid.

But WVU is 27th in the RPI, which won’t cut it in terms of hosting. The Mountaineers are also on a two-game losing streak, losing the last two to Cincinnati, and are coming off their worst week of the season, going 1-3 over four games. WVU needs to start stacking wins, especially in the final three series.

This weekend, WVU has a chance to get back on track. The Mountaineers have a three-game series against Kansas State, starting on Friday, May 1, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. at Kendrick Family Ballpark. The games will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Wildcats are the lesser of the three opponents to come in the final three series. WVU heads to the best team in the conference next weekend against Kansas and then hosts TCU, who is a top team, to close out the season. Kansas State is still 9-12 in the Big 12 and 26-19 overall. The Wildcats are just behind Cincinnati in the standings.

Kansas State has one of the top offenses in the Big 12 and has the second-best batting average. The Wildcats have scored 409 runs this season, which is the most in the conference.

Infielder Dee Kennedy is one of the top all-around offensive players in the Big 12. He leads Kansas State in batting average, hitting .392 on the year, which is fourth in the Big 12. He has hit the fourth-most home runs in the Big 12 with 19. WVU has 27 home runs as a team this season. Kennedy is also second in the Big 12 in hits, second in RBIs and third in stolen bases. Kennedy is a weapon at the plate and on the bases. He was recently named a semifinalist for the 2026 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award, which recognizes the nation’s best shortstop.

WVU’s pitching has struggled as of late, too. The Mountaineers allowed 40 runs in four games, and still don’t know if starter Maxx Yehl will be healthy to pitch in the series. If Yehl’s not ready to go, it’ll be Ian Korn, Dawson Montesa and Chansen Cole for the second-straight weekend. Korn didn’t pitch too badly, but starting him takes him out of the bullpen. Cancelling the midweek game against Penn State helps get the arms some extra rest for the weekend.

Kansas State’s pitching is where the team takes a little bit of a backseat, but still formidable. The Wildcats’ pitching is ranked 9th in the conference. Kansas State’s ace is 6-foot-2 left-hander Lincoln Sheffield. Sheffield pitched six innings and two outs in his last outing against Kansas, the top team in the Big 12. He allowed just two runs and struck out seven. He’s got strikeout stuff. Sheffield’s teammate is even better at raking up Ks. James Guyette has 81 strikeouts on the season, which is fourth in the Big 12. Guyette just pitched four innings against Nebraska in a midweek game, so he might not go this weekend.

Kansas State isn’t a terrible team. At this point in the season, and with WVU projected as a 2-seed, according to Baseball America, the Mountaineers can’t lose another series and might even need a sweep this weekend, with what is to come in the next two weeks, a series at Kansas and hosting TCU.