THE SHOTGUN THROWDOWN: West Virginia starts Big 12 Championship play

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CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

After sweeping Kansas State to close out the regular season, the West Virginia baseball team will start the Big 12 Championship today with an opening game against #22 Oklahoma at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. The Mountaineers enter the tournament as the six-seed, while the Sooners are the three-seed. WVU won one of its three regular season games against the Sooners. This game will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ at approximately 8:30 p.m. EST.

The winner will face the winner of #8 Texas Tech versus Kansas State, while the loser will play the loser of the TTU/KSU matchup.

ALL-CONFERENCE

Fifth-year senior Trey Braithwaite and senior outfielder Austin Davis of the West Virginia baseball team have been named to the 2022 All-Big 12 First Team, while sophomore catcher McGwire Holbrook was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team. This is the first time since 2014 that WVU earned multiple first-team selections. Infielder JJ Wetherholt and pitcher Chris Sleeper were both selected for the All-Big 12 Freshman Team. Redshirt junior Noah Short, junior pitcher Jacob Watters, sophomore pitcher Ben Hampton, and Wetherholt also earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.

WEST VIRGINIA ROUNDUP

• The West Virginia football team has gained a JUCO defensive back, Jaylon Shelton, who will have three years of eligibility remaining.

• Former West Virginia linebacker David Long has been named one of the NFL’s “best kept secrets.”
• Former Mountaineer pitcher Alek Manoah is continuing to light it up with the Toronto Blue Jays.

AROUND THE BIG 12

• The Big 12 Conference saw a decrease in revenue over the previous fiscal year.

AROUND THE NCAA

• College football coaches, and West Virginia natives, Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher have started a feud that is headlining college football news.

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