GRANVILLE — Ben Hampton says he’s been there, well, sort of.
As one of West Virginia’s top pitchers, he’s gone against the Mountaineers’ lineup in practice, a lineup that seemingly runs more than Army’s football team.
“I watch our team play offense, and I would hate to pitch against us,” said Hampton, who improved his record to 4-1 after picking up a win in the first game of a doubleheader against Youngstown State at Mon County Ballpark. “It’s frustrating. It would probably frustrate me if guys were stealing all over. No matter how quick you are to the plate, we’ve got guys who are going to take bases and lay down bunts. It’s got to be frustrating for the other teams.”
West Virginia (13-8) scored 28 runs in the three games against the Penguins, and needed only 21 hits to do it.
In the final game of the series, a 13-2 victory — WVU won the first game behind Hampton’s seven strong innings, 9-3 — the Mountaineers needed only eight hits to get there.
Rather than waiting on three-run homers that has become the style of play at the professional level, these Mountaineers literally wait on nothing.
They’re too busy running.
“When we get on base, pretty much everyone in the lineup is fast enough to steal a base,” WVU third baseman J.J. Wetherholt said.
Wetherholt, a freshman from Mars, Pa., would know a little something about that, he had four stolen bases against the Penguins (9-14) in the second game of the doubleheader.
That’s just one shy of tying the school record for a single game.
Wetherholt wasn’t alone. Victor Scott also had four stolen bases in the same game. The Mountaineers, who lead the Big 12 in that category, had 11 as a team.
It is small-ball at it’s finest. WVU had just 16 hits to score its 22 runs in the doubleheader, but then add in the 18 walks Youngstown State pitchers issued during the doubleheader and the five guys who were hit by pitch.
Then add in those 11 stolen bases and a timely hit here and there, and you have a potent WVU offense that is a tribute to an era that came well before any of these players were even born.
“We have a hitting board that measures our quality at-bats,” said Wetherholt, who finished
4 for 5 in the second game and is now batting .325 on the season. “It marks down every quality at-bat you have every game. If you hit a ball hard, get on base, whatever you do to help the team out. We try not to think about average or getting hits. It’s more about having a good at-bat, getting on base and seeing a lot of pitches.”
And those little things matter to this team. Sure, the Mountaineers have a budding bomber in freshman Grant Hussey, who hit two more home runs Friday to give him six over his first 21 college games, but WVU’s offense prides itself on being more of a track team rather than a Murderer’s Row.
“I think you have to, because of how well it fits our team,” Wetherholt said. “It’s what we are. We have a lot of speed guys. We don’t have a ton of guys who just go up and swing for the fences. It’s not our goal. We want to get on base, steal a bag, take one for the team, whatever we can to help this team win.”
WVU travels to Marshall on Tuesday, before starting Big 12 play at No. 19 TCU on Friday.
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