West Virginia Mountaineers Vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Preview: Up and Down I-79

The Mountaineers start their six-game non-conference stint with two against historic rival Penn State

By JohnLowe24@JohnEverett24 May 9, 2017, 8:30am EDT

OPENING THOUGHTS

I’m just going to start with this fact:

To start the season, Penn State played TCU.

Not only did the Nittany Lions get swept, but they got outscored 27-4 over the weekend by the Horned Frogs.

In April, WVU beat TCU in a three game series including a walkoff win on Friday night.

So even before playing Penn State, you can accurately guess that the Mountaineers are a significantly better team.

Now let’s prove that we are.

WHEN/WHERE

Game 1: Tuesday, May 9th at 6:30 PM ET at Monongalia County Ballpark, Granville, WV

Game 2: Wednesday, May 10th at 7:00 PM ET at PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates

Tickets: General Public (Game 1, Game 2); WVU students free with valid ID (Game 1 only)

WATCH/LISTEN

Streaming Video: MountaineerTV (Game 1 only)

Radio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Affiliates)

Streaming Audio: Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on TuneIn Radio (or the TuneIn Radio app for smartphones)

STARTING PITCHERS (WVU VS. PSU)

Game 1: Carter Camp (0-1, 6.75 ERA) vs. Schuyler Bates (2-3, 4.71 ERA)

Game 2: TBD vs. Myles Gayman (0-2, 6.48 ERA)

BIG 12 STANDINGS

TEAM	RECORD
TEAM	RECORD
#6 TCU (35-11)	15-6
#4 Texas Tech (39-13)	13-8
Oklahoma (32-17)	10-8
West Virginia (27-19)	11-10
Kansas (27-22)	9-9
Texas (31-19)	9-11
Baylor (27-17)	8-10
Oklahoma State (24-21)	6-11
Kansas State (26-22)	5-13

THE ENEMY

Where are they from? State College, Pennsylvania

Series History: Penn State leads the series 68-41

Last Time: Penn State 5, West Virginia 4 on March 22, 2016 in State College

SB Nation Blog: Black Shoe Diaries

Record: 14-32 (2-16 Big Ten)

Head Coach: Rob Cooper

KEYS TO THE SERIES

Pitching. The bullpen really grew up against Texas Tech, let’s keep it up over the next six games with Penn State, Gardner-Webb, and Pitt.
Stay cool. Don’t get shaken up by playing in PNC Park. It’s just another ball field.

HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE? (SCALE 1-10)

One. I’m as afraid of the Nittany Lions as I am of Pac-Man.

PREDICTION THAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE RIGHT

WVU’s RPI is 13, Penn State’s is 227. These two teams are worlds apart right now, and it favors the Mountaineers.

West Virginia crushes Penn State in both games