GRANVILLE — Now that they’ve made history, the Mountaineers are making sure they prolong it.
West Virginia made the most of its first postseason home game in 64 years, rallying from a first inning deficit to down fourth-seeded Fordham, 6-2, Friday night at Monongalia County Ballpark. The game drew a program-record crowd of 4,355.
“Great win,” said West Virginia coach Randy Mazey. “That’s a stadium full of energy from the first pitch to the last.”
The win guarantees West Virginia of playing at least two more games. The Mountaineers face Duke in the 7 p.m. winner’s bracket game, with the winner guaranteed at shot at the regional championship on Sunday. The No. 3-seeded Blue Devils downed No. 2 Texas A&M, 8-5, in Friday’s opening game.
Big 12 pitcher of the year and all-American Alek Manoah (9-3, 1.85 ERA) will start for the Mountaineers.
Nick Snyder and Kade Strowd combined to make sure Manoah wouldn’t have to take the mound in an elimination scenario.
Snyder allowed one run on four hits and three walks in 5 innings. After a shaky first inning, it felt like an accomplishment for him to make it that far.
Snyder needed lots of help from his defense to limit the Rams to a single run after the first four Fordham batters reached base. Catcher Ivan Gonzalez threw out a would-be base stealer and third baseman Kevin Brophy robbed a would-be line-drive double before the inning ended with second baseman Tyler Doanes applying the tag in a rundown.
“I had to remind myself that there’s a great defense behind me and trust my stuff,” Snyder said.
Strowd, typically West Virginia’s third weekend starter, came out of the bullpen in the sixth to shut things down. The Mountaineers were still nursing a 3-1 lead when Strowd entered the game. He earned the save, allowing a run on no hits and four walks in four innings.
“Strowd is a lot tougher on righties and they only had one lefty in the lineup,” Mazey said. “That was just a perfect matchup for him. He knew he’d be in relief today. Getting four innings out of him was huge moving forward.”
Often scoring unconventionally during their historic regular season, the Mountaineers were true to form against Fordham. West Virginia broke the ice in the third when Tevin Tucker scored all the way from second on a John Stankiewicz wild pitch. Tucker was moving on the 3-2 pitch to Brandon White.
“When B-White was up there with a full count, that’s as loud as I’ve ever heard this stadium,” Mazey said. “It’s not easy to pitch under those circumstances. I tell our fans, don’t come watch, come help. I think they really helped win that game.”
The Mountaineers added runs on a Darius Hill sac fly and bases-loaded Ivan Gonzalez walk, chasing Stankiewicz from the game. Stankiewicz, the Atlantic 10 pitcher of the year, issued a season-high five walks.
West Virginia’s insurance runs came in a more conventional manner.
Tyler Doanes broke things open with a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning to make it 5-1. Gonzalez tacked another on with a two-out double in the seventh to score Paul McIntosh.
