By Curtis Rockwell/Sports Director

A former Pascagoula High standout has the West Virginia University baseball team on the verge of an historic milestone.
Sean Smith, a 2021 PHS graduate, and his Mountaineers are playing for the Big 12 Conference championship Saturday night, and he is a major reason why.
On Friday night, Smith, in front of a hostile crowd, paced ninth-ranked and No. 2-seed West Virginia to a big win over 21st-ranked and No. 3-seed Arizona State 7-3 to advance to the Big 12 Championship game for the third time in program history. The Mountaineers improve to 39-13 with the win at Sunrise Stadium in Surprise, Az., while the Sun Devils fall to 37-19 in what ammounted to a hame game for them.

The Mountaineers will face the No. 1-seed Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday in the final. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT from Surprise Stadium, and the game can be seen on one of the ESPN family network channels.
For the second straight night, Smith had three hits to lead the team and scored two runs.
In a 4-2 win over Kansas State Thursday night in thed quarterfinal round, Smith also had three hits.
Despite being in just his first season with the Mountaineers, Smith wasted no time in making a name for himself as he was named Second Team All Big 12 recently.

Smith has primarily been the designated hitter for the Mountaineers this season and has played in 49 games with 47 starts. He was hitting .311 with eight home runs and 45 RBI, both second most on the team, coming int the league tourney.  He is hitting .328 in conference play while seven of his home runs have come against Big 12 opponents.in his first

Smith is a grad transfer after wrapping up a solid season at Georgia Southern last year. He earned second team All Sun Belt Conference honors last season as well.

After leading Pascagoula to the Class 5A state championship round in 2021, he spent two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast.
It is the first time since 2019 that WVU has advanced to the Big 12 title game and third time overall, having also reached the final in 2016. The Mountaineers will be looking for their first tournament title since winning the Big East Tournament in 1996.