WVU Baseball Keeps Finding Ways — And It’s Starting to Feel Like Destiny

Winning a national championship is extremely difficult to do, regardless of sport.

So before I get too deep in this piece, if it doesn't happen for the Mountaineer baseballers, just don't come back at me too hard for potentially jinxing it. The reality is, if it's not going to happen, I, you, or your best friend saying something has nothing to do with it.

But man, the way this club continues to scrap, fight, and claw is the mark of a championship team. And as I've stated on this week's episodes of Between The Eers and In the Gun, most teams who win it all usually have some special moments along the way. We are only one weekend into the NCAA Tournament, and I think there's been enough drama to fulfill three title runs at this point.

After losing to Kentucky in the 1-0 game on Saturday, the Mountaineers had to rip off three straight wins to advance and had to go through some stiff competition to do so. Wake Forest's power arms and bats were one problem, but it ended up being the least stressful of the three games. However, the performance by Dawson Montesa in that one was extremely clutch. He went 7.1 innings, giving the Mountaineers much-needed length, preserving the bullpen as much as possible with two games to go.

The Sunday night game against Kentucky was one for the ages. WVU trailed by three heading to the top of the ninth with the 7-8-9 hitters due up, meaning the likelihood of coming back was very slim. They strung together several quality at-bats to pull within a run, and then a balk brought home the tying run. A few moments later, Paul Schoenfeld came up with a massive two-run homer to give West Virginia the lead, and it would ultimately win the game. It can't be lost that the work Ben McDougal did out of the bullpen as well. He had pitched 5.2 innings all year and matched that total in that game alone.

If you thought that was a crazy game, Monday night's contest said, "Hold my beer."

West Virginia was leading 5-1 in the 8th inning with two outs, seemingly well on their way to victory. Ian Korn was cruising along, but a couple of mistake pitches gave up two home runs that would tie the game up at five. At that point, it felt like Kentucky captured all of the momentum and would find a way to break the Mountaineers' hearts.

Dawson Montesa came back in after throwing 122 pitches the day before to help get WVU out of an inning, leading to more magic in the bottom of the 10th, where Armani Guzman came through with the walk-off hit back up the middle.

To win it all, you're going to have to have brilliant performances along the way, a flair for the dramatics, the ball to bounce your way, and some heroic efforts from players you weren't expecting much out of. West Virginia got all of that during the regional and then some. It still may be early to think about the Mountaineers playing for it all, but they are two wins away from reaching Omaha, and anything can happen once you get there.

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