MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s opening matchup in the NCAA tournament at 3 p.m. Friday comes with maybe the biggest warning label in all of college baseball.
Dallas Baptist, a Division I member of the NCAA in baseball since only 2005 and with an enrollment of less than 5,000, may have the look and feel of a little Cinderella school.
“It’s outside of the city (Dallas) and its tiny,” said WVU head coach Randy Mazey, who coached against the Patriots while as an assistant at TCU. “They have very few students. It’s sort of a niche school, a certain type of kid has to go there.”
It’s an atmosphere head coach Dan Heefner has thrived in since taking over as head coach in 2008.
How good have the Patriots been? Well, WVU (33-22) has had two 40-win seasons in school history. Dallas Baptist (44-13) has won 40 or more games in eight of the last nine seasons that weren’t affected by COVID-19.
This will be the Patriots’ 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. They advanced to the super regional round (Sweet 16) in 2011 and 2021.
“That’s the team, after you play them, you back to the office and say, ‘Why are we playing DBU?’ ” Mazey continued. “From the outside looking in, they’re not a Power Five team, so people are going to think we got a good draw. They have no idea how good Dallas Baptist is. You’re expected to beat them, only because the average fan doesn’t know much about them, but they are really really good.”
Now a member of Conference USA — Dallas Baptist has also played as an independent, as well as in the WAC and Missouri Valley Conference — the 25th-ranked Patriots have already gone 7-3 against Power Five schools this season, including a 4-3 win against Arizona, the top seed in the Tucson Regional.
“In those midweek games, they’ve beaten all the teams,” Mazey said. “They’ve beaten Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU a lot. They’re very talented and very capable.”
Heefner is 651-324-1 in his 17th season at the school. In 2015, he turned down Baylor to remain at Dallas Baptist. He was interviewed by Texas a year later.
“Coach Heefner is one of the best coaches in the United States,” Mazey said. “He’s had multiple opportunities to go to other places and has chosen not to do so. He’s a perfect fit for their school and has done an unbelievable job.”
Heefner has accomplished that by developing talent. Dallas Baptist has had 14 players selected by major league teams over the last two drafts.
And the Patriots can absolutely hit.
“He absolutely gets more out of his kids than any other coach in the United States,” Mazey said. “I think he’s one of the most brilliant minds in all of college baseball.”
Dallas Baptist’s team batting average is .302 and its 111 home runs ranks 15th in the country.
The Patriots have five players who have hit at least 10 home runs, led by sophomore catcher Grant Jay, who has 21 home runs and 57 RBIs.
In those 10 games against Power Five schools this season, Dallas Baptist outscored them by a combined 71-52.
“Baseball is a sport where the whole Power Five thing isn’t as important,” WVU shortstop J.J. Wetherholt said. “Oral Roberts played in (the College World Series) last year. Power Five schools might have more money and they should win, but they have a really good program, and this will be exciting for them.”
