GRANVILLE, W.Va. — As John Denver blared over the speakers at Monongalia County Ballpark on Tuesday, — not for “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” but for “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” during the seventh-inning stretch — there were exactly 15 fans left in the stands during WVU’s home opener.
It was the earliest home opener ever for the Mountaineers, and while it was a seasonably warm day for mid-February in the upper 40s, it was a rainy and misty evening as WVU eventually — after a 40-minute delay and four-hour game — finished with a 15-8 win over Canisius.
It was clear from the start West Virginia coach Randy Mazey had a plan for his pitching staff going in as freshman Tyler Strechay got the start. Five of the next six pitchers for the Mountaineers (3-1) were also freshmen — Skylar Gonzalez, Carter Lyles, Tim Wynia, Jacob Watters and Noah Short — the lone outlier being sophomore Madison Jeffrey in the eighth inning.
It wasn’t the prettiest performance — WVU allowed seven earned runs and walked nine — but Mazey knows he’s going to need his newcomers to pitch meaningful innings at some point.
“Early on, you’ve got to see who can pitch for you,” he said. “We didn’t pitch great, we walked nine. That wasn’t too good but hopefully we can get those first-game jitters out of there. It’s good to get those freshmen out there, and if you’re going to have a bad game, the best time to do it is a game you win. Those guys will get better from that. Just the experience of getting out there and toeing the rubber against some other teams will help those guys.”
Wynia picked up the win after finishing the fifth inning, although he did allow the game-tying run to make it 6-6. Canisius scored first to make it 2-0 in the first inning, but the Mountaineers scored in the first three innings to jump out to a 6-2 lead before the Golden Griffins ran across four runs in the fifth.
However, Braden Zarbnisky’s RBI triple that scored Austin Davis gave WVU the lead back in the bottom of the frame and the Mountaineers didn’t look back the rest of the way.
Zarbnisky, after missing all of last season with an injury, is hitting .529 from the leadoff spot in his first four games back. Along with junior Tyler Doanes and freshman Matt McCormick at the top of the order, the trio combined for nine hits and eight RBIs in the win.
“Zarbs is just a great college player on both sides of the baseball,” Mazey said. “He’s our leader on offense. He can drive runs in, he can lead off, he can steal bases and he’s our closer. He’s super valuable and he never gets rattled. He’s been around for five years and he knows the ropes really well.”
McCormack, a 6-foot-2 lefty hitter, was a 40th-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in 2019 but decided to go the college route. He hit his first career home run in the second inning against Canisius (1-4), a shot to right field that nearly cleared the WVU bullpen.
“Having Matt McCormack really swing the bat well is really going to help us down the stretch,” Mazey said. “He’s super calm in there and never gets rattled, either. He doesn’t chase bad pitches, he takes a lot of walks and we have to get him some time at catcher.
“He was our player of the game for us not just because what he did on offense for us (four hits, three RBIs and a run scored), but also what he did on defense.”
The Mountaineers will head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., this weekend for the Brittain Resorts Invitational. The first three games Friday-Sunday against Kennesaw State, Saint Joseph’s and Illinois will be played at Pelicans Park, while Monday’s finale will be against Coastal Carolina at the Chanticleers’ home ballpark in Conway, S.C.
