GRANVILLE — Not every underdog story has a happy ending, and sometimes Goliath grabs that stone in midair and hurls it right back at David.
That’s basically what happened Wednesday at Mon County Ballpark, as Kevin Dowdell and McGwire Holbrook combined to become the ninth-inning heroes for West Virginia, which recorded its fourth walk-off win of the season with a 3-2 victory against the University of Charleston.
That would be the Division II variety University of Charleston, located 155 miles down I-79, which agreed to travel north at the last minute only after WVU head coach Randy Mazey couldn’t find another Division I school to make the trip.
“They have a really great program,” said Dowdell, who hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth to tie the game 2-2. “They showed up today and they played with a lot of great energy. They executed with people on base. I really like that team. They were gritty.”
Gritty enough to hang with a WVU team that was coming off scoring a combined 20 runs in its final two games against Kansas last weekend.
Gritty enough to outhit and, at times, outplay the Mountaineers (27-16), who didn’t see a base hit leave the infield until the fifth inning.
“Piece of cake,” Mazey said afterward. “They were super excited to play against us and rightfully so. Every one of them were just counting the outs. When you get into the eighth inning, it’s like six more to go, five more to go. You count right down. It was fun to watch their excitement.”
That set the scene for the Golden Eagles (30-14) heading into that final inning, as the underdog story was setting up.
That was until Dowdell — a sort of utility-guy underdog in his own right sporting a .143 batting average entering the game — pinch hit in the ninth.
“I just tried to stay calm,” he said. “I tried to keep the heart rate down. I was just trying to get my timing right. After the foul ball I pulled, I knew I was locked in on him. I just had to make sure I was on time for the next fastball that came in.”
It came on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and Dowdell blasted it past the right field bullpen and out into the parking lot.
That only tied the game, though. West Virginia’s rally wasn’t complete until J.J. Wetherholt singled with one out and stole second.
He was originally called out on the play, but a review changed the call.
“I knew he was safe, if they were willing to apply the rule,” Mazey said in explaining a fielder can’t block the runner’s path to the base until after he has already fielded the ball. “I knew he was safe, but I didn’t know if they were willing to apply the rule. That’s textbook obstruction at second base the way it played out.”
That set up Holbrook, WVU’s leading hitter, who went 2 for 4. He laced Cole Peschi’s pitch to center field and Wetherholt easily beat Giano Zuccaro’s throw to the plate, which bounced off the mound and went straight into the air.
That set off a celebration in front of the WVU dugout, as if the Mountaineers had just captured the Big 12 title rather than avoiding what many would have viewed as a huge upset.
“We knew they were a good team coming in,” Mazey said. “They hosted a regional last year. They are at their level like we are at our level. They’re winning a lot at a high level. I believe after watching them they’re a good team.”
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