No. 24 West Virginia has produced six road victories over the course of its current 10-game win streak.
To up each total by one, the Mountaineers must do something they’ve never done come 6 p.m. Tuesday in a matchup with Marshall — win at Jack Cook Field.
The Thundering Herd’s on-campus baseball stadium opened for the 2024 season and perhaps the most memorable contest at the venue thus far is Marshall’s 3-2 victory against the Mountaineers last April.
WVU first-year head coach Steve Sabins was associate head coach at that point, but recalls the matchup well.
“I always really like playing those guys, just because it’s great energy and they’re coming after us,” Sabins said. “They beat us last year at their place and had a light show for 30 minutes as we walked to the bus. In general, that’s what college baseball is about. Let’s go sell out stadiums, set records for attendance, get as many Country Roads Trust lagers in that place and go play high-end baseball. I’m all for it.“
The Mountaineers have won 19 of 24 previous matchups with Marshall, but have lost twice in their last three tries in Huntington.
WVU (30-4, 10-3 Big 12) secured a 7-0 home win over the Herd (18-18, 6-9 Sun Belt) back on March 25. The Mountaineers lost their next game two nights later in a series opener at BYU, but have rattled off 10 consecutive victories since, including a three-game sweep at Houston last weekend.
West Virginia’s two Division I schools are scheduled to meet for a third time this season April 30 in a neutral site contest at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston.
The home-home-neutral three-game series throughout the season is a model Sabins says he wishes the Mountaineers could adopt more of against non-conference opponents.
“I would like to schedule three-game sets with the biggest schools within 2 or 3 hours from here, because midweek games are very difficult to find quality opponents, because there aren’t a lot of Division I schools within driving distance of here,” Sabins said. “If I had it my way, we’d play those good schools in midweeks and probably play a home-home-neutral. It would make scheduling a hell of a lot easier for me.
“It’s a scramble for multiple years to fill out a 56-game schedule. It’s really difficult for us, especially often times needing four-game sets in the beginning of the year and many southern schools don’t want to play four games, because they can play a Tuesday game and get rested. We don’t have that luxury, so if we could play three-game sets against the best schools in this area, I’ll sign up for it every year for the rest of my career. Marshall has always been willing to do that. It’s a win-win. They’re in a very good baseball conference and now they have a really good facility.”
In the first meeting between the teams this season, the Mountaineers got four shutout innings from starting pitcher David Hagen. The freshman is the probable starter Tuesday as well.
Marshall’s probable starting pitcher is Peyton Jackson, who threw a scoreless sixth inning at Kendrick Family Ballpark last month.
WVU got two-hit performances from Jace Rinehart, Chase Swain and Armani Guzman in the first meeting with Marshall, while Swain, who hit the only home run in the game, joined teammate Skylar King as players with two RBI in that contest.
Following its loss in Morgantown, the Herd dropped two of three in a Sun Belt series at Troy, before winning four of its next five, including two of three against nationally-ranked Southern Miss. Marshall lost two of three games last weekend at home against Appalachian State, but has a 13-6 record in Huntington and is just 5-12 away from home.
“They’re going to be a quality opponent. It’s great for the fans and great for the state,” Sabins said. “The reality from Marshall’s standpoint, at least how I see it, they have nothing to lose, because West Virginia is going to be favored in those contests regardless of sport most of the time. They should go play great competition.
“At the mid-major level, you play the best competition you possibly can and your RPI will probably go up whether you win or lose. Normally, mid-major schools need to win their conference tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament anyways and it helps prepare their team playing good competition. They’re in a good situation regardless. The relationship has been great.”
The Mountaineers boast the top winning percentage and road mark of any team in the country.
Sabins described the sweep at Houston as “really clean baseball.” That’s been a staple of his team over the season’s first two months, and while letdowns and poor performances are inevitable when playing four or five games most weeks, the head coach attributes much of the team’s success to an ability to not beat itself.
For the season, West Virginia has 38 errors compared to 51 from its opponents. Mountaineer batters have drawn 186 walks, while pitchers have issued 152 base-on-balls. WVU is responsible for 18 wild pitches while its opponents have 47, and Sabins’ team has had a major edge on the base paths with 86 stolen bases on 105 attempts to 22 on 31 attempts for the opposition.
“There’s a million things like that in the fall that you either concentrate on or don’t. If you don’t, you’re going to have a lot more of it happen in the spring,” Sabins said. “It’s hard to do it consistently in the fall, but good staffs try to push themselves to not look past little things that get you beat. Most of the time, the game is about not beating yourself.”
Tuesday’s contest will air on ESPN+.