3 Up, 3 Down: WVU Baseball's Keys to Advancing Past Morgantown Regional

West Virginia won 11 of its final 13 games entering the NCAA Tournament, and by doing so, it earned the right to host a regional this weekend. Playing at your own park and sleeping in your own bed has its advantages, but it doesn't guarantee you'll breeze right through the weekend and onto the super regional round.

The Morgantown regional is probably one of the most challenging regionals in this year's tournament. So to advance to the supers for a third straight year, they are going to need some things to continue while improving in a few areas.

Today's 3 up, 3 down piece highlights six keys to West Virginia advancing to the next round.

Length from Chansen Cole

Paul Schoenfeld, Chansen Cole — WVU Athletics Communications

There doesn't seem to be much concern about WVU's chances to win game one on Friday night against Binghamton, and understandably so. They should win this game comfortably, but the key is going to be getting length out of starter Chansen Cole. Since his complete game against Kansas State, he hasn't gone more than 5.1 innings.

The last thing Steve Sabins wants to do is burn through his top options in game one against Binghamton, with all due respect. They are in a position to have a big pitching advantage in game two, with Maxx Yehl slated to start while Wake and Kentucky will likely throw their aces today. They can up that advantage by avoiding relief appearances by Reese Bassinger, Carson Estridge, and Ian Korn.

If Cole can go seven and WVU has a comfortable lead, they can work in some guys who haven't pitched recently to get them to the finish line.

Postseason Armani returns

Armani Guzman — WVU Athletics Communications

Guzman was scorching hot this time a year ago, collecting eight hits in the Clemson regional, two of which would be game winners for the Mountaineers. He has been solid at the dish all season long and has watched his average climb month over month. Can he come through in the clutch again and be one of the toughest outs in the regional? If so, it's going to be a problem for opposing pitchers who aren't going to be very successful in keeping him at first base.

Getting Matt Ineich back on track

Over his last nine games, Ineich is just 7/35 (.200) with one extra base hit. For the better part of the season, he was hitting above .340 while also drawing a bunch of walks. He is still working the count well, but hasn't been able to barrel much up. There have been several pitches that he has watched go by in favorable counts, which need to change. Batting leadoff, Ineich sets the tone for the order, and life for the Mountaineers is a whole heck of a lot easier when he is getting on base with Gavin Kelly behind him.

Sean Smith stays red-hot

Aside from Kelly, no one has swung the bat better of late than Sean Smith. An argument can be made that he has been the toughest out over the past three weekends, where he has combined to go 14/37 (.378). Even when he's not reaching base, he's making the pitcher work and putting the ball in play. He is a QUAB (quality at-bat) machine.

Estridge bounces back

Carson Estridge — WVU Athletics Communications

The Big 12 tournament was not a great showing for the veteran reliever. He couldn't find the strike zone in his outing against Arizona State, walking two batters and going on a long streak of not putting the ball over the plate. In the championship game against Kansas, he gave up a run on one base hit in 0.1 innings of work. Estridge is a huge piece to the puzzle for WVU, so they absolutely need him to return to form this week. Having the home crowd behind him should help.

Keep flashing the leather

Ian Korn, Tyrus Hall, Matt Ineich, Brodie Kresser — WVU Athletics Communicatons

Chansen Cole is going to pitch to contact, and a big part of his pitching deep into the game is going to be the defense behind him holding up their end of the bargain. The Mountaineers finished the year as the best defense in the Big 12 with a .980 fielding percentage. Continuing to play high-level defense will be critical to help keep Cole's pitch count down tonight, but also to limit traffic on the bases against two quality hitting teams in Kentucky and Wake Forest.

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