Sabins Open to Using Multiple Starting Pitchers in Big 12 Quarterfinals if Necessary

Trying to map out a pitching plan for a weekend series almost never goes to plan. Someone you expect to get length from may have control issues or get barreled up, getting yanked way sooner than you anticipated. Or the opposite could happen, and you may get seven or eight innings of strong work, only leaving the final one or two frames for your bullpen.

Structuring a pitching plan for a conference tournament is even more challenging because you're trying to do everything you can to win the game you're playing while also making sure you have enough quality arms to pitch the next game and potentially two or three days later, depending on where you are seeded.

WVU head coach Steve Sabins has not announced a starter for Friday night's quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Kansas State/TCU, but he did hint at how he plans to approach the weekend.

"You want your pitchers to throw. I don’t think it’s always in their best interest to have two weeks off to then go throw in the most important game of the season, which is a regional," he said during an appearance on Big 12 Today. "I think those best pitchers touching the ball is important, so I told our team, ‘Hey, we’re going to name a game one starter, and then everybody else is available.’ If we need to throw a game two starter in game one because we have a chance to win the game and he’s our best option, we’ll do that. If we need to throw the game three starter in game one, we’ll do that. I think their ability to just continue to touch the ball, have feel, be in competition probably outweighs being so obsessed with pitch count and so obsessed with recovery. We’re going to always prioritize that, but pitching, playing, competing probably outweighs all that.”

Sabins could still go the conventional route, where he gives the ball to his best pitcher, Maxx Yehl, tomorrow night and goes as deep as he can before turning it over to either Ian Korn, Reese Bassinger, or Carsen Estridge, and then having the same approach with Chansen Cole in the semifinals if they were to advance.

With Ian Korn getting the start last Thursday, it wouldn't surprise me to see him getting the start, and if he runs into trouble, to Yehl. Ideally, he'd probably like to keep Yehl on the same 7-day schedule, starting him in the semis.

“You can’t go wear your team out and go push the limits on everybody physically and then go try to win a national title," Sabins stated. "We’re all in this because you want to be the last team standing, so there’s some sort of balance there. But when you have an opportunity to win a championship, there’s not many of those, right? You got a regular season, you got a (conference) tournament, you got a regional, you got a super (regional), and then you got the whole damn thing. You get an opportunity to do each one of those, so you do it to the best of your ability and go try to win."

It will be key for West Virginia to get the bats going early on Thursday, create some cushion, and allow the starter to pitch close to a normal workload, if not identical. That will go a long way in ensuring you win the game, know you have options for day two, and can have more arms available for a semifinal matchup.

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