MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 6 West Virginia (39-13, 15-6 Big 12) has emerged as arguably the best team in the Big 12 Conference, and one of the best teams in the nation, this season.

WVU’s lineup leads the Big 12 in four statistical categories, including stolen bases (118) and hit batsmen (94). Meanwhile, the West Virginia rotation tops the league in wins (39), lowest opposing batting average (.241), and fewest hits allowed.

With the latest national Top 25 rankings and NCAA Tournament projections all placing the Mountaineers among the best teams in the nation, and the postseason just a few days away, it is a great time to take a look at how West Virginia stacks up amongst the rest of the teams inside the Top 10.

D1Baseball.com Top 10

1. Wake Forest (42-8)
2. Arkansas (38-13)
3. Stanford (34-14)
4. Florida (40-12)
5. LSU (39-12)
6. West Virginia (39-13)
7. Clemson (35-17)
8. Coastal Carolina (33-17)
9. UConn (38-12)
10. Oregon State (36-15)

Hitting comparisons

Fifth-ranked LSU boasts one of the most explosive lineups in the country. Only two of the nation’s ten best teams have a team batting average below .300. Sixth-ranked West Virginia leads all teams ranked in the Top 10 in steals.

Randy Mazey’s squad holds the same batting average as No. 1 Wake Forest, has scored 36 more runs than No. 2 Arkansas, collected nearly 40 more extra-base hits than No. 10 Oregon State, and tallied the third-most hit-by-pitches among any of the teams in the Top 10.

You can see a full comparison among the Top 10 teams in 10 different statistics in the table below. The best numbers in each category are in bold.

(Note: If viewing this article on the app, click here for an image of the table)

	AVG	R	H	XBH	HR	SLG%	BB	HBP	OBP	STL
Wake	.304	470	530	214	100	.544	329	67	.427	37
Ark	.280	397	463	171	77	.483	275	60	.396	44
Stan	.313	408	552	213	92	.545	221	51	.400	43
Fla	.304	446	525	221	106	.565	240	67	.404	54
LSU	.314	501	540	217	104	.568	309	113	.443	22
WVU	.304	433	541	207	72	.510	293	94	.423	118
Clem	.306	387	562	175	52	.462	254	55	.400	80
CCU	.308	483	551	220	93	.539	260	106	.419	73
UConn	.303	415	530	196	68	.500	295	67	.417	108
OSU	.281	386	502	168	66	.453	311	44	.397	79

Pitching comparisons

Wake Forest easily has the best earned-run average in the country — more than one run per game better than the next-closest pitching staff. The Deamon Deacons possess what many believe is the best overall pitching staff and starting rotation in college baseball.

The Mountaineers are among the best 20 staffs in the country in ERA. When comparing WVU to the rest of the Top 10, the West Virginia arms stack up well, just like the bats. Mazey’s pitching staff boasts the second-best ERA, second-fewest runs allowed, third-fewest walks surrendered, and fourth-best opposing batting average among teams ranked in the Top 10 in the country.

You can see a full comparison among the Top 10 teams in 10 different statistics in the table below. The best numbers in each category are in bold.

(Note: If viewing this article on the app, click here for an image of the table)

	ERA	SHO	SV	IP	R	BB	K	HR	B/AVG	HBP
Wake	2.48	9	15	446.2	155	133	587	44	.200	47
Ark	4.78	1	16	442.2	258	220	453	66	.257	49
Stan	5.87	–	14	434.0	318	239	515	59	.253	42
Fla	4.98	5	16	441.0	275	231	535	53	.234	55
LSU	4.68	9	12	438.1	254	210	570	46	.226	45
WVU	4.13	3	12	460.0	240	195	449	52	.241	44
Clem	4.47	–	14	467.1	266	209	496	65	.252	59
CCU	6.39	1	10	454.2	369	268	548	74	.280	91
UConn	4.97	2	9	447.0	279	203	466	53	.271	43
OSU	4.30	2	14	462.2	241	190	498	41	.244	56

In conclusion

As you can see, West Virginia matches up well, statistically, against the best teams in the country. Aside from what the Mountaineers do on the basepaths, they don’t have any major stats that jump off the page — both positively or negatively.

West Virginia has been consistent all year long. With players like JJ Wetherholt, Tevin Tucker, Blaine Traxel, and Carlson Reed leading the way, the numbers that this team has produced this spring back up the national rankings.

WVU belongs among the best teams in the nation.