GRANVILLE — All the good vibes from West Virginia’s first postseason home game in 64 years evaporated in the third inning of the second game as both Randy Mazey and a Mountaineer fan were ejected following replay reviews.
Mazey was thrown out after a replay review overturned a called third out at home plate. Pitcher Alek Manoah had thrown home after fielding a dribbler to the left side of the mound, and it was initially ruled that catcher Ivan Gonzalez stepped on the plate for the force out. However, the review determined that Duke’s Joey Loperfido slid in before Gonzalez touched home.
Mazey immediately argued, and was promptly ejected by crew chief David Uyl.
Another play at the plate which resulted in the actual third out was also reviewed. In that instance, Gonzalez tagged out Michael Rothenberg, who was trying to score a second run on Chris Crabtree’s RBI single.
While umpires gathered for the video review, a belligerent West Virginia fan hopped on the Mountaineers dugout and started shouting at the umpires. He then marched across the dugout, flipped the middle finger in the direction of the umpiring crew, and was escorted from the stadium upon his departure from the dugout. It was a peaceable departure — he made his way up the stairs to the concourse towards security, clearly aware he had written his fate.
On the road at home
Due to the arcane rules of NCAA baseball, West Virginia played as the visitors against Duke despite occupying the home dugout in its home ballpark.
Because Duke was the visiting team in its first-round win over Texas A&M, the Blue Devils got to play as the home team in their second game. Likewise, the Aggies played as the visiting team against Fordham in the Saturday elimination game.
The home team for Sunday’s elimination game against Texas A&M will be determined by coin flip because the teams have played an equal number of home games.
Baker recovering from HBP
Fordham left fielder Jake Baker did not play against Texas A&M a day after getting hit in the face on an errant pitch from West Virginia’s Nick Snyder.
Rams coach Kevin Leighton said that Baker is doing fine, though.
“He got hit pretty good, obviously,” Leighton said. “[He] got a few stitches, so it definitely looks like he was in a pretty good fight last night. As far as we know, he was in uniform today and he was active, but I felt it best that he didn’t play.”
Pick a winner
After guiding Fordham to its first NCAA regional for the first time since 1998, Leighton was asked how he felt the remainder of the Morgantown Regional would play out.
“It’s hard for me to say,” he said. “We saw West Virginia [on Friday]. They were impressive. The Manoah guy (West Virginia junior pitcher Alek Manoah) is going to go tonight. From all accounts and from what I’ve heard, he’s very impressive. Duke, pulling off a win [Friday], was very impressive.
“It’s a hard one to pick. I am very impressed by all three teams in this region. I think whoever wins this is going to give the next team some fits. Texas A&M has tremendous pitching, so I think they have a chance.”
