The West Virginia University baseball team entered uncharted waters recently, earning its first ever trip to the College World Series in program history. In the process there were several team and individual records that were broken. There has been great debate centered around NIL deals and how it affects legacies which is a topic, and in may case, a story for another day. But for now, there are so many positives to take away from this trip to Omaha.
Mountaineer Head Coach Steve Sabins and his talent-laden roster were not content with making the trip to Cornhusker territory. They went with the purpose of making some noise. Speaking of making noise, the Mountaineer faithful that made the trip took over Charles Schwab Field during the four games their team played with chants of “Let’s Gooooo . . . . MOUNTAINEERS!!!!!” so loud at times they would drown out the broadcasters.
The singing of “Country Roads” after wins stole hearts of baseball fans like Armani Guzman stole home in the first inning of the game against Troy. It was the first time since 2000 it had been done in a College World Series game and it set the tone for the Mountaineers.
The Trojans were making their first trip to Omaha as well and they didn’t back down, holding a four to three lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. After a run in the bottom of the frame and another in the next inning, the Mountaineers regained the lead. Troy picked up a run in the seventh to tie it up.
Down to the last six outs, WVU pulled a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Bridgeport native Ben McDougal earned the save by getting the last out of the affair.
Game two was not kind to the Mountaineers as they dropped a five to two decision on the biggest game of the series. Tied two to two in the seventh inning, a pair of errors doomed WVU, forcing them to come out of the loser bracket after the setback to North Carolina.
Credit to Sabins and his group for not folding. They had to face Troy after a day’s rest and they put a Cal-Poly type beatdown on the Trojans with a 12 to nothing blanking. Three multi-run innings, capped by a five-run ninth sent West Virginia into another back-to-back scenario with the Tar Heels.
The result was more of the same as Carolina came out swinging, chasing WVU starting pitcher Chansen Cole early for the second consecutive time. The Tar Heels held a 10 to one lead after six innings, but just as they showed all season, there was no quit in this club. The Mountaineers scored the last six runs of the lock-up to make it respectable, but at the end of the day, North Carolina was just too much in a 12 to seven victory.
In his final game in a WVU uniform, Gavin Kelly connected on his 19th home run of the yar, tying him for the most in a single season. This year’s edition finished with a 47 and 17 mark. It’s the most wins in a season in school history, breaking last year’s record of 44 victories.
Now I’m not good at math, but that is 91 wins in two years for Sabins and I think that is pretty good!
I think maybe athletic director Wren Baker might want to lock the guy up with a long-term deal because it looks like this program might be pretty good for a while!
That will do it for now! Until next time . . . Take care and God Bless!!!
