Young Mountaineers Exceeding Expectations
The West Virginia Mountaineer baseball team has used a number of tactics to get out to a seven-win mark through the opening two weeks of the season.
In the last two games of the Central Virginia Challenge, the Mountaineers used the early innings to their advantage after plating five runs in the first inning against William & Mary on Saturday before dismantling Richmond on Sunday afternoon by scoring four runs in the top of the first.
The Mountaineers scored more runs in the last two games (26) than the last two weeks combined (22) and that's including a rare fourth game during last weekend's Brittain Resorts Invitational in Myrtle Beach, SC.
The top of West Virginia’s lineup can be looked at as the number one reason for these offensive explosions.
Senior outfielder Braden Zarbnisky knocked four hits against William & Mary as the leadoff hitter while second baseman Tyler Doanes registered two base knocks and catcher Vince Ippoliti had three hits on Saturday as well.
“That’s been the thing, we’ve been getting guys on base in the first inning, I think four of the five games we lost we had guys on base, multiple guys in the first inning and couldn’t drive them in, so we shuffled the lineup a little bit and got guys in the right spots,” said WVU head coach Randy Mazey following Saturday’s game.
Sunday afternoon saw right fielder Austin Davis earn four hits through his first four plate appearances as the Mountaineers brought home four runs in the first inning alone.
Doanes began the scoring rampage with an RBI single before Kevin Brophy knocked a double down the left field line and Paul McIntosh homered to left for the early 4-0 lead.
The season hasn’t always been as much of a scoring craze as the Mountaineers began the season winning their first few games behind stellar pitching performances.
Left-hander Jackson Wolf led West Virginia in their first victory over Jacksonville State on Feb. 14 with a seven-inning performance of one hit and eight strikeout ball. Freshman left-hander Jake Carr then followed that performance up by going five innings and only surrendering one run on three hits.
Right-hander Ryan Bergert went the distance as well in the Mountaineers win over Saint Francis on Feb. 22 after the Canton, Ohio native went eight innings while only giving up a lone run on a pair of hits.
The void left behind from last year's midweek starter, Nick Snyder, might be where West Virginia has to rely on its offense the most.
Mazey has turned to freshman right-hander Tyler Strechay, who in two games, has pitched 2.2 innings in his two starts with three earned runs on eight hits before handing the ball over to Skylar Gonazalez (1.29 ERA).
However, Mazey has relied on his bullpen for the fourth spot in his rotation. He used seven arms in the 15-8 win over Canisius in the Mountaineers home opener and nine in the 13-2 drubbing to Coastal Carolina in the second game of a doubleheader.
Last year, the Mountaineers got behind a veteran pitching staff and a scary top of the lineup to win 38 games and reach their first regional championship in years.
Current Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Alek Manoah, led the way for West Virginia in 2019 after winning nine games and only dropping four while also surrendering a lowly 2.08 ERA in 16 total starts on the bump.
Left-hander Nick Snyder also aided a strong pitching performance for West Virginia after pitching to the tune of a 2.65 ERA and earning nine wins to only one loss.
Throughout the season, West Virginia also had a slew of hitters who paced the way as Doanes led the team in batting average at .316 while Paul McIntosh slugged 10 homers to go along with a .497 slugging percentage.