A spot in the Big 12 Conference tournament championship is on the line tonight for West Virginia as it will take on No. 21 Arizona State. You may want to squeeze in a nap at some point throughout the day and have your caffeine ready to roll to help you stay awake for his late-night battle.Who wins and why? Let's dive into the matchup and drop a prediction.Key to the GameWest Virginia: Wreak havoc on the basesWVU's speed and ability to execute bunts put a ton of stress on a defense, as we witnessed last night, where the Kansas State third baseman collided with the pitcher trying to field the safety squeeze. Heck, even just the threat of running has opposing teams on their toes. The Mountaineers were a perfect 7/7 on stolen base attempts against ASU during the season, six of which came in the two games they won. Arizona State's pitching staff will help you out if you let them, too. They have issued the fourth-most walks of any team in the Big 12. In the loss to ASU, WVU batters walked just twice. In the two wins, they walked five times in each game.Arizona State: Get to Chansen Cole earlyCole is expected to get the start for West Virginia, and the one way this thing can quickly shift to the Sun Devils is by knocking him out of the game, getting into the Mountaineers' bullpen. WVU's top relievers are available, but their long relief option, Ian Korn, just pitched last night. I wouldn't completely rule out Korn from appearing again, but getting into a high-scoring affair favors Arizona State greatly. Prediction: West Virginia 5, Arizona State 4WVU Athletics CommunicationsI'll be honest with you, since I woke up this morning and saw the Mountaineers would be getting the Sun Devils, my gut has been telling me to go with ASU here. The offense is explosive, and having the game in their backyard will help. Not to mention, I'm sure there is some revenge factor for them, considering they lost two of the three games to WVU at home earlier this season. That being said, I'm going against my gut here. Chansen Cole has been rock solid all year long, and as long as he gives WVU five to six innings of quality work, the Mountaineers will be in a great spot with Carson Estridge and Reese Bassinger both available to work the late innings.First pitch between the Mountaineers and Sun Devils is set for 11 p.m. ET. Check out our game preview for viewing and listening information.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow