How WVU Can Stave Off Elimination Against Wake Forest

This afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers will fight to keep their season going in an elimination game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Should they win, they will move on to the regional final, where they will need to beat Kentucky twice to advance to supers.

But first things first, you have to find a way to beat Wake to keep that dream alive. What are the keys to doing so?

Get back to clean baseball

Defense has been West Virginia's strength all year long. They ended the season ranked 1st in the Big 12 with a fielding percentage of .980, yet had some issues here and there in the conference tournament and early on in this Morgantown regional. Second baseman Brodie Kresser had two critical errors last night, each of which eventually led to Kentucky scoring multiple runs. The one he had in the first inning was a big back breaker because it was a tailor-made double play that would have wiped out the early threat. The second, he rushed the throw after mishandling the grounder, although he had plenty of time. WVU is going to have a challenge finding 27 outs because of the pitching situation; you can't give Wake any more to play with.

Limited freebies

This is partially what killed West Virginia on Saturday night. They walked two batters, but also hit six of them. Kentucky will make you pay with their speed on the base paths, but Wake can change the game in one swing with their power. Walks of any kind can be dangerous against this lineup, but the last thing you want to do is walk someone with two outs. Don't gift them an opportunity to start a rally and put up a crooked number when they were well on their way to heading back out to the field. Whether it's Dawson Montesa who gets the start or someone else, they are going to have to be able to keep hitters off balance with their off-speed/breaking ball and not fall behind in counts where Wake is sitting dead red fastball. If you don't, they'll barrel you up all game long.

Traffic, traffic, traffic, and more traffic

Because of where West Virginia stands pitching-wise, it's very unlikely they are going to win this game the way they have many times throughout the year, limiting teams to just a few runs. You're going to have to get five or so turns through the lineup and constantly get guys on base. WVU may not have the power to match Wake Forest, but they can apply pressure on the bases with their speed. Drawing walks, laying bunts down, whatever it takes to get guys on and force Wake to make a play. The Mountaineers left nine runners on base last night, but it's the ones in scoring position that sting more. If someone reaches second with less than two outs, that run has to score more often than not if you want to take down the Deacs.

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