OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — West Virginia won’t learn its opponent for Sunday afternoon’s Big 12 championship game until, well, Sunday afternoon.
The opposite-bracket semifinal between Oklahoma State and TCU was postponed late Saturday when thunderstorms and tornado conditions surfaced minutes after WVU eliminated Texas Tech.
While the Cowboys (34-18) are projected to host an NCAA regional, the Horned Frogs (32-25) must win the Big 12 tournament’s automatic bid to stay alive. That game was rescheduled for 9 a.m. Central.
Home regional in the bag?
Baseball America and D1Baseball project West Virginia will be among the top 16 teams selected to host an NCAA regional. Most people associated with the Mountaineers program presumed reaching the Big 12 final would sew it up.
“We’ve had baseball at WVU for 130 years or something like that, and have never hosted a regional,” Mazey said. “We’ll put 4,000 or 5,000 people in our stadium and they’ll be screaming and chanting ‘Let’s go Mountaineers!’ That will be one of the best atmospheres in all of college baseball.”
White’s unsung catch
Brandon White laid out to save a couple runs and jumped to his feet with a fist-pump.
Another key defensive play wasn’t so noticeable.
When left fielder TJ Lake momentarily lost a shallow fly ball in the fourth inning, White ranged over from center field to make the chest-high catch.
“There’s always a point in these evening games at dusk where it’s hard to see the ball,” coach Randy Mazey said. “It doesn’t matter if the corner guys don’t see it — Brandon will just run over there and catch it.”
Quotable
“The split doubleheader is a challenge. I don’t think either team was as good offensively as they would’ve been if you had turned around and played 30 minutes later. You go sit around and it’s hard to get going again. Not an excuse, though, by any means.” — Red Raiders coach Tim Tadlock, on the five-hour break between games against WVU on Saturday.
“Those two guys are polar opposites. Bergert has a straight fastball with a high spin rate and pitches up in the zone. Otter cuts his fastball and keeps it down. That’s a tough transition.” — Mazey on the different approaches of WVU’s freshman tandem
