2022 WVU Baseball Season Preview

The West Virginia baseball program opens its 127th season Friday morning versus Central Michigan, with the first pitch scheduled for 11:00 am. It's the first of four games for the Mountaineers in the Baseball at the Beach Invitational in Conway, South Carolina, and will wrap up the event Monday against the host team, Coastal Carolina.

The Mountaineers finished the 2021 season with a 25-27 overall record, marking the first time the program finished below .500 since 2012 and the first for head coach Randy Mazey since arriving in 2013.

West Virginia will have to replace three of its top hitters from last year but return the leading hitter Austin Davis. The right fielder hit .320 with a team-leading 56 hits and swiped 17 bases a season ago.

"Super fun kid to watch," said Mazey. "Great personality. Great energy on the field. Has really, really turned into a great college baseball player - defensively, offensively. Can steal bases. Can hit. Can drive the ball. Can bunt. He literally can do it all. He has played great for us."

West Virginia also returns its stolen base leader Victor Scott (20), and utility player Vince Ippoliti was third in batting average, hitting .272.

West Virginia lost the bulk of its home run production in the offseason either through the NCAA Transfer Portal or graduation. As a result, 32 of the 49 home runs from last year are missing from the lineup. However, the Mountaineers have never relied on power-hitting. The Mountaineers are a speedy group looking to get on base by any means necessary, whether it's drawing a walk, bunt, or simply slapping the ball in play, while using their speed to take extra bases and, more importantly, runs. Some are dubbing the style of play "Mazey Ball".

"That's the kind of player that I was. I was a two-way guy that liked to steal bases and put pressure on the defense, and I guess you just kind of gravitate toward liking to coach the way you were as a player," said Mazey. "So, I like to let guys run and give them the freedom to do things. It's kind of like the old Press Virginia that Huggins had. People hated to play West Virginia when every player on the court was in your face. I want people to hate to play us in baseball because every guy that gets on base has an opportunity to run and make some things happen. It makes the pitchers and other teams uncomfortable and makes them do stuff they normally wouldn't do. It's kind of fun to change the way people play."

Mazey may get some power from incoming freshman Grant Hussey out of Parkersburg High School and played in Morgantown over the summer for the West Virginia Black Bears of the Major League Baseball Draft League.

"Grant had some pretty good success in the draft league last summer," said Mazey. "I think he hit .277 with eight triples and eight homers with a wood bat against predominantly professional pitching. He struck out exactly half of his at-bats, so that's one thing he needs to work on, but that kid has made progress since then."

Naturally, Mazey noted playing for the Black Bears "sped up his timeline pretty quick."

"Normally, a kid from West Virginia comes in here, and the jump from West Virginia high school baseball to the Big 12 takes a long time but Grant having played three or four months and having made that transition is phenomenal for his progress. I think he only hit like .306 in high school as a senior with limited production, and then to step in and do what he did for the Black Bears last summer is phenomenal."

However, Mazey still has question marks at left field, catcher, and he is awaiting someone to step up as the designated hitter.

"I went into spring practice thinking there are two guys battling out for DH, and those two guys haven't swung the bat all that well, and some other guys have emerged. It changes daily," said Mazey. "We won't know our lineup probably until about the halfway point, which is not unusual for us."

West Virginia traditionally gets off to a slow start compared to baseball programs from the south. The unnecessarily early college baseball schedule that starts mid-February has schools to the north at a severe disadvantage in the offseason.

"It's really hard as a northern program to come out of the gates smashing the baseball. It's just notorious that you get off to a slow start offensively. It's hard to ever get in a rhythm and get in a flow," said Mazey. "You can't stand in an indoor facility hitting in a batting cage and expect to be super consistent when the season starts. We just have to manage it and just try to win as many games as we can until we hit that point that guys catch their rhythm."

"That's the catch 22 here. When we finally catch our stride in the middle of the season and start swinging the bats and pitchers are in their rhythm and getting pitch counts up, then all of a sudden you run into the number one team in the nation in Texas and Texas Tech and TCU I think are both in the top 10," later added Mazey. "So, I think this is the best the league has ever been at the top, so that can nullify some things when you get going. Hopefully, by the time we get to those teams, we are operating at a high level."

West Virginia has plenty of potential taking the mound this season. The Mountaineers have a closer in Preseason All-Big 12 Conference selection and Preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America Jacob Watters. The reliever collected four saves on the season while also picking up a 4-1 record with a 3.33 ERA. The junior right-hander held opponents to a .165 batting average, logging 53 strikeouts in 27.0 innings, but for Watters to live up to the expectations, Mazey says he'll need to be consistent on the field, and off the field.

"If he's going to be consistent on the field, he's got to be consistent off the field with eating habits, sleeping habits, taking care of his body," Mazey said. "If he can clean all that up and steer clear of injury reports and bad nights of sleep and that type of thing, I think he can flourish in the role he is in. The stuff that he throws up to Homeplate is as good as anybody pitching in the entire nation, but it's got to be consistent for him to be a big winner for us."

West Virginia returns starting pitcher Ben Hampton. The sophomore went 4-3 in 14 appearances (10 starts) with a 4.83 ERA last season to earn a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. The Mountaineers also hit the transfer portal for immediate help from three fifth-year seniors, landing right-handed pitcher Trey Braithwaite from Navy, Pitt right-hander Chase Smith and Zach Bravo out of Lamar.

"We have a choice of four or five guys back there before we flip it to Watters," said Mazey. "We have Trey from Navy and Smith from Pitt. Noah Short's had success for us, Ben Abernathy and Keven Dowdell, a new guy from the left side, looks like he's going to give us some quality innings. So, a lot of options there, but it could be a situation where we're not as fun to watch on defense this year when we're on defense because there's probably going to be a lot of pitching changes, and we should be, hopefully, a lot of fun to watch on offense with some of the dynamic players we have on offense."

"We're going to try a lot of different guys, and guys are going to have roles, and hopefully, they'll get excited about the roles that they're in, even if they are short-lived roles," continued Mazey.

West Virginia has won its last two season-opening games and is 4-5 on opening day under Mazey.

2022 West Virginia Baseball Schedule

Baseball at the Beach (2/18-2/21)*

Feb. 18 Central Michigan* 11:00 am

Feb. 19 Kent State* 11:00 am

Feb. 20 Central Michigan* 11:00 am

Feb. 21 Coastal Carolina* 12:00 pm

Feb. 25 @ Charlotte 4:00 pm

Feb. 26 @ Charlotte 3:00 pm

Feb. 27 @ Charlotte 1:00 pm

March 1 Canisius 3:00 pm

Cambria College Classic (3/4-3/6)#

March 4 Minnesota# 8:00 pm

March 5 Illinois# 4:00 pm

March 6 Michigan State# 11:00 pm

March 9 Rider 3:00 pm

March 11 Ohio State 6:00 pm

March 12 Ohio State 2:00 pm

March 13 Ohio State 1:00 pm

March 15 @ Duke TBA

March 16 @ High Point TBA

March 18 @ Campbell 6:00 pm

Mar. 19 @ Campbell 3:00 pm

Mar. 20 @ Campbell 2:00 pm

March 23 Marshall 6:30 pm

March 25 Youngstown State 6:30 pm

March 26 Youngstown State 4:00 pm

March 27 Youngstown State 1:00 pm

March 29 @ Marshall TBA

Apr. 1 @ TCU 7:00 pm

Apr. 2 @ TCU 3:00 pm

Apr. 3 @ TCU 2:00 pm

April 8 Baylor 6:30 pm

April 9 Baylor 4:00 pm

April 10 Baylor 1:00 pm

April 12 @ Penn State TBA

April 15 Oklahoma State 6:30

April 16 Oklahoma State 4:00

April 17 Oklahoma State 1:00

Apr. 19 @ Pitt TBA

April 22 @ Texas Tech 7:30 pm

Apr. 23 @ Texas Tech 3:00 pm

April 24 @ Texas Tech 2:00 pm

April 27 Penn State 6:30 pm

April 29 @ Kansas 7:00 pm

April 30 @ Kansas 3:00 pm

May 1 @ Kansas 2:00 pm

May 6 Texas 6:30 pm

May 7 Texas 4:00 pm

May 8 Texas 1:00 pm

May 10 Pitt 6:30 pm

May 13 @ Oklahoma 7:30 pm

May 14 @ Oklahoma 3:00 pm

May 15 @ Oklahoma 3:00 pm

May 19 Kansas State 6:30 pm

May 20 Kansas State 6:30 pm

May 21 Kansas State 12:00 pm

May 25-29 2022 Phillips Big 12 Conference Championship^

*Baseball at the Beach is hosted by Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina, at Springs Brooks Stadium from Feb. 18-21

#Cambria College Classic is hosted by Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota from March 4-6

^2022 Phillips Big 12 Conference Championship takes place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

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