Well, West Virginia has earned their right to play in a regional, and as a No. 2 seed no less. Just a few short months ago, the Mountaineers were in the fast lane, headed straight to hosting their own regional. However, a lackluster month of May saw the Mountaineers drop out of that race and be forced to accept a No. 2 seed in a difficult Clemson regional. Read more: A Stark Contrast: WVU’s Hitting Against Varying Competition.
Many factors came into play for West Virginia’s fall from grace, but the disparity in their hitting between the varying levels of competition throughout the season certainly played a big role in this. With the Mountaineers set to play their first game in the regional on Friday, now is a good time to dive into that disparity.
Beating Up on the Little Guy
Let’s just take a moment and recall when the grass was a little greener for West Virginia—the first 23 games of the season, where they went 20-3. During this stretch, the Mountaineers looked virtually unbeatable. With an average of 8.4 runs per game, the West Virginia bats couldn’t be tamed.
While that number looks quite nice, the Mountaineers played against a lot of inferior competition during that stretch.
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Opposing foes like Queens, Kennesaw State and Towson were simply no match for the Mountaineers. In the 17 games that West Virginia played against these smaller schools, they scored 10 or more runs eight times.
These staggering numbers looked quite impressive at the time, but was it just a simple case of smoke and mirrors? As the season went on, the Mountaineers started to show that their offensive firepower may have been a product of who they were playing.
Here Comes the Real Test
Once conference play started, West Virginia still showcased their offensive firepower, but not as frequently or to the same extent as they did earlier in the season.
Take away the series against BYU in Provo, Utah, where the ball tends to carry in the thin mountain air, West Virginia’s average runs per game dropped to 6.8. After the BYU series, West Virginia scored six or fewer runs in 12 of the 21 conference games to cap off their season.
While West Virginia was still winning a majority of these games, their offense, once a strong point, became more of a liability. Look no further than the Kansas series to end the regular season: the Mountaineers lost two out of three, failing to score a single run in both losses.
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West Virginia also struggled to put up runs against Texas Tech, dropping two out of three. In both losses, the Mountaineers could only muster four and five runs. Even in the game they won, they could only reach home plate three times.
Even in midweek games, West Virginia showed inconsistent efforts from their batting lineup. In a losing effort to Penn State, they scored just two runs. Add a loss to in-state rival Marshall, where WVU scored six runs, you can see just how much the bats cooled off as they played tougher competition.
What’s the Reason Behind This Shift?
Now I’m not saying West Virginia’s bats suddenly disappeared, and they can no longer hit. They still sit just outside the top 50 in the nation in batting average (.298).
However, I would be lying if I said there is not a clear difference between the production at the beginning of the season compared to the middle and the end.
There are a number of factors that come into play for this drop-off. First, you have to look at the ones in the batter’s box. Grant Hussey, the program’s all-time home run leader, had just seven this year to go along with a .277 average. Brodie Kresser also cooled off for West Virginia as the season went on, ending the season with a .275 batting average and three home runs.
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One thing that both these players had in common was the sheer number of games they played. Head coach Steve Sabins opted to play his normal starters just about every game. Hussey and Kresser played in 55 and 54 games, respectively.
From Sabins’ perspective, he simply had to play the guys who were going to give them the best chance of winning. It’s hard to argue with that. Nonetheless, it doesn’t exclude the fact that those players certainly got plagued with fatigue as the season went on.
Too Many Questions, Not Enough Time for Answers
Coming off their appearance at the Big 12 Tournament, West Virginia showed both sides of what their hitting can be. In the first game against Cincinnati, they cruised to a 10-3 win. The very next day, they scored just one run in a losing effort to Arizona, who went on to win the Big 12 Tournament.
This stark contrast in just those two days perfectly encapsulates how the season has gone for West Virginia’s hitting. With their first game in the regional nearing, the Mountaineers simply don’t have enough time to solve this issue.
All they can hope for is that they can awaken the dominance they showed in the earlier part of the season. The only difference is they will have to do it against the likes of Kentucky and potentially Clemson, not Towson University.
West Virginia will take on Kentucky in the first round of the regional on Friday at noon ET. The game will air on ESPNU and be available to stream on ESPN+. All WVU games can be heard on WVU’s radio flagship WVST 100.9 FM and its nine affiliate WV stations and on WVTheTorch app.
A Stark Contrast: WVU’s Hitting Against Varying Competition
