ARLINGTON, Texas – Resilience has been the WVU baseball team’s hallmark all season long.
“Tomorrow has kind of been our thing — we’ve had our backs against the wall before,” said Mountaineers head coach Randy Mazey after a 6-4 loss on Wednesday night to third-seeded Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field. “A key factor in the game was our 11 walks. OU didn’t walk any of our batters.”
Sixth-seeded WVU (33-21) is 15-5 in games after a loss, and it’ll face seventh-seeded Kansas State (27-28) in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Globe Life Field.
The Mountaineers swept K-State last weekend at Monongalia County Ballpark, outscoring them 35-9, but Mazey isn’t overlooking the Wildcats, who lost to second-seeded Texas Tech 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s hard to beat a team four times in the same season,” Mazey said. “They’ve had more rest than we have, having played earlier in the day. They’re well-rested, confident, and it won’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination.”
It will be a challenge for West Virginia to win its first conference tournament since the 1996 Big East tournament, but Mazey is confident the Mountaineers will reach their third NCAA Tournament since 2017.
“I don’t worry about things I can’t control,” Mazey said. “We finished four games over .500 in the Big 12. In the last 10 years, there hasn’t been a team in the ACC, SEC or Big 12 to do that and not make the tournament. I think we’ve done enough. We’re not playing according to that right now. We’re going out to play a game and see what happens.”
West Virginia had a tough second inning as Sooners redshirt senior outfielder Tanner Treadway hit a grand slam, in returning to his home county, at the Texas Rangers’ home stadium.
Mountaineers junior pitcher Jacob Watters (3-7) gave up five runs on six hits, along with five walks in two innings.
Sophomore reliever Carlson Reed and senior reliever Zach Ottinger allowed a total of one run and three hits over the final six innings of the game.
WVU rallied late, scoring four runs over the final two innings. Senior outfielder Austin Davis, an All-Big 12 first team selection, scored in the eighth inning.
Then, freshman first baseman Grant Hussey, a Parkersburg South graduate, hit a solo home run in the ninth inning (his 11th of the season), followed by a two-run, two-out home run by freshman second baseman J.J. Wetherholt, who made the All-Big 12 Freshman Team, has 20 multi-hit games this season. The home run was his fifth of the season.
“Scoring those late runs will help us carry momentum into the next game,” Mazey said.
The Mountaineers’ 156 stolen bases are first in the Big 12 and second nationally.
Prior to Wednesday’s loss, the Mountaineers had won the opening game of their past five Big 12 tournaments. WVU is 15-15 all-time in the Big 12 tournament, since its first Big 12 tournament in 2013.
By MICHAEL SUDHALTER
